Remember when our TVs were CRT and we had that space on top of the box to use as a functional shelf? Well, that’s gone now with ever-thinning LCDs. If you miss having that handy storage area, you can bring it back with ScreenDeck.
A literal small shelf that goes on top of your LCD or Plasma TV, the contraption lets you put small home theater items where they won’t be obscured from sight. That way, your set-top box can finally live up to its name — you know, a box sitting on top of your TV set.
The ScreenDeck is a simple shelving solution designed for most flat screen televisions with displays between 37 to 47 inches. Designed for DIY installation, you get a pair of brackets that screw into the TV’s VESA mount and a shelf that attaches to them. Just slap them as directed and you’re good to go.
What I don’t understand, though, is why they decided to make the shelf so small. You’re already adding distracting things on top of your TV, so why not just run the entire length and have space for more stuff? At any rate, the resulting area looks like a great place to set up that Kinect camera or that jailbroken Apple TV 2 you’ve been playing with all week. Just keep the Xbox 360 away from there — the product page says there’s a 5-lb maximum recommended total weight for anything you throw on top.
There are probably better shelving solutions out there for home theaters. If you must reclaim the space on top of your TV, though, the ScreenDeck is definitely the way to go. It’s available now, priced at $39.99.