TV Mounting and Connections

I am planning on mounting the TV in my living room above the fireplace, but have a few questions/concerns. My current setup consists of a Samsung LCD TV (not a smart TV), a Samsung blu-ray player that is wired and used to stream Netflix, etc., an older home theater system that is wired and I wouldn't mind parting ways with or replacing, and DirecTV cable that is likely going to be replaced by AT&T service.

I don't have any issues regarding mounting and getting a power source behind the TV. I'm most concerned with the best route to have cable and a streaming source connected to the TV with little or no wires exposed. I have done a similar setup in the past and just mounted a shelf just under the TV to house the devices, and ran the wires vertically. However, this time I'm leaning toward having the devices in a closet or shelf away from the TV. Any suggestions and/or specific product recommendations? Also, does anyone know if the wireless receiver offered by AT&T would work in this situation?

Thanks in advance.

For streaming content:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome...FUJlMgodgEoA_Q

For sending a HDMI signal with the least headaches -
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

The AT&T U-Verse device is one that doesn't need to be hooked to a cable jack to work as it works over wifi. However you do still have to hook up the HDMI to the TV.
Now if it has a RF remote like a lot, but not all providers have for their service, at the very least most offer options with an IR extender.
You could get away with having power behind the tv and just using some industrial strength velcro and sticking the cable box to the back of the tv and just hiding the wires behind the tv. I have done that for friends of mine before who wanted a very clean install.

The Chromecast device looks like it would do all your blueray player would do, well you know, except playing bluerays. That looks like something I would do, since it's brought up, I may snag one for myself soon.
I was looking for a better option than using my 360 and paying for Gold just to use the streaming features since I don't do online gaming anymore.

The setup I currently have is a 55" LG LCD on the wall above my fireplace. I then have a vertical entertainment center to the side of the fireplace, this houses my cable box, game systems, power strip, router, etc, as well as obviously movie and game storage.
I have the HDMI cables and the power cord running horizontally into the back of the entertainment center. You can barely see the wires since it is such a short run. I think there is about 12-18" between the edge of the TV and the entertainment center.
I have thought about covering it with some of that wire concealer strip, and have also played around with the idea of installing a power outlet behind the TV and using really long HDMI cables to go from behind the tv, up into the attic, and down to behind the entertainment center. The cost of long HDMI cables is what is keeping me on the fence from this, but it is definitely an option for installs like this.

If you did want to do a setup like in a closet, you can definitely do that. Fishing wire isn't all that hard if you have the right tools and enough cable. The HDMI cabling will definitely be the spendy part of the project depending on distance. Also if you do that, make sure to get and run wire for an IR extender. They have ones you mount in the wall next to the TV and relay the signal to a unit that directs the signal to whatever device you put the sending units on.

This is actually my line of work doing this stuff, so feel free to ask any more detailed, specific questions.

BTW: In theory, the wireless HDMI sending units work, in practice they aren't that great. Also I think for his application, it wouldn't help and have him in the same scenario since he would need power to the HDMI receiever and HDMI from there to the TV. The wireless box from at&t would do the same thing, but without the middleman.

I just hung my tv above fireplace and had to run power cable as well as hdmi from a player in the room behind the wall, ie no electronics in my living room except the tv. I had no idea how to go about this since my test drilling above the fireplace hit cement, so behind the drywall and wood mantle, was a cement structure, the chimney/fireplace/flu. After much investigation and even disassembling the wood trim on the mantle, I found the cement tapered off from 4 feet where the visible fireplace was to 3 feet where the chimney began. And the drywall was held out about 4 inches from the cement using metal cross bars. This gap inside my walls is where I ran all my wires. I could see the gap from my attic and it was easy at that point to run wires anywhere in the house. maybe yours has the same gap that can be used.

^ That makes me so glad that my wood fireplace is actually framed out away from the chimney.

Thanks for the replies.

My electrician buddy and I are going to get in the attic tomorrow and take a good look at the area. I'm thinking that my fireplace is framed away from the chimney.

As it stands, I'm leaning towards housing the devices in a small box to the right of my fireplace. I have an electrical outlet in that area. This would require me to run an HDMI cable or two up and then down the wall, but that shouldn't be too much of a hassle. I was looking at the Google Chromecast as an easy replacement for the blu-ray player. Although it obviously won't play blu-rays, I wouldn't have to run the extra HDMI cable. Also, having the box in this area shouldn't require an wireless transmitter or IR extender.