Key points at a glance
- What is it about? In our new offices, we mounted a 100-inch digital signage display (i.e. a professional large screen for continuous operation) on a corridor wall just 1.39 m wide. It would not fit in landscape, but it did in portrait.
- Why portrait? The 100-inch display we used is around 2.23 m wide in landscape. Rotated, it needs only about 1.29 m of wall width at a height of around 2.23 m – and suddenly it fits the narrow wall.
- What is the crux? Not every screen is allowed to run in portrait and in continuous operation. A signage display is approved for this; a normal TV usually is not. The wall mount must also be suitable for portrait orientation.
Planning a similar installation? To our digital signage displays or straight to advice.
On this page
- The narrow wall at the end of the corridor
- Which display can be used in portrait mode?
- The display in detail
- Preparation: power, cables, drill points
- The right portrait wall mount
- Installation
- The result
- Checklist before portrait mounting
- Frequently asked questions
The narrow wall at the end of the corridor
We have only just moved into our new offices in Cologne. At the end of a corridor, opposite the main entrance, there was a wall that initially remained unused. The reason: at 1.39 m it is narrow, but at 2.52 m it is pleasingly high. That is too narrow for a large display in the usual landscape format.
Yet spaces like this are valuable: anyone entering the corridor looks straight from the entrance at this wall at the other end. Many buildings have narrow, highly visible spaces like this, for example in reception areas, office corridors, showrooms, branches or waiting areas. A small landscape display would have fitted, but it would have wasted most of the tall, prominent space – and from the length of a corridor, you could hardly have made out what was showing on it. Instead, we wanted to make a statement and use the whole wall: a large display area remains easy to read even from a distance.
The solution was to mount a large display not in landscape but in portrait – in technical jargon, portrait mounting, i.e. installation rotated vertically. What counts for the wall area is the actual housing dimensions, not the picture area: in landscape, the 100-inch display (16:9) we used is around 2.23 m wide, in portrait only around 1.29 m. This means the display fills the 1.39 m wide wall to within a few centimetres; in height it takes up around 2.23 m, leaving room to spare with a wall height of 2.52 m. This turns a narrow, unused wall into an almost completely utilised display area.
Which display can be used in portrait mode at all?
This is the point that decides between success and a complaint – and many underestimate it. Not every screen is approved for portrait operation. Many consumer TVs are designed – structurally, thermally and in terms of warranty – for landscape operation only; rotated to portrait, heat can build up, endangering service life and warranty.
A professional digital signage display is designed for this: the manufacturer explicitly approves both landscape and portrait orientation and designs the device for continuous operation – depending on the model, 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, or round the clock. For the corridor, we chose a Hisense 100DM66E , a 100-inch model approved for portrait and for continuous 24/7 operation – the highest of these levels. You will find the right size for every wall among our digital signage displays, which range from around 20 inches to over 100 inches.
The display in detail
Even though our corridor is a comparatively simple signage application, it is worth looking at the display’s features – because they are what decide whether it is suitable for your application.
The 100DM66E has a resolution of 4K UHD and covers a wide colour gamut with 90% DCI-P3; 256-zone local dimming ensures rich blacks and clear contrast. With 500 cd/m² and an anti-glare panel, the picture remains easy to read indoors even in daylight – a shop window in direct sunlight would require a much brighter model, but in the corridor the brightness is more than sufficient.
Handy in everyday use: with Android 11 , the display has its own media player, so no external player is needed for standard content. Content can also be mirrored wirelessly from a notebook or tablet – for example, to quickly put a presentation on the screen. Wireless transmission runs in Full HD; for true 4K content, use a cable connection. If you run several displays, you can control content centrally via the optional VisionInfo cloud software instead of going to each device individually.
Preparation: power, cable routes, drill points
Before a single hole is drilled, the wall has to be prepared. The first hurdle in our case: the socket, cover frame and cable duct were in the lower part of the wall – but the display needs the connection at the top, hidden behind the housing.
Moving sockets is electrical work and may only be carried out by qualified electricians. In our case, the existing power supply was adapted accordingly so that the connections would later be hidden behind the display.
Next, the wall is measured: working from the exact centre, the installers determine and mark all the drill points for the mount. The display is to hang centrally and plumb – with a device of this size, the wall does not forgive rough estimates.
To ensure high-resolution signals arrive later, HDMI cabling was also needed. For this, the installers drilled another access point into the ceiling, ran two HDMI cables through it and combined everything in a new cable duct fitted flush to the ceiling.
Why a portrait wall mount and not a normal display wall mount?
As with the display itself, it is not enough to simply rotate a standard mount by 90 degrees. Here, however, the issue is not heat but construction: most standard wall mounts use a hook-on mechanism. The display is hooked onto the wall rail from above and held securely in position by its own weight. If you rotate the setup to portrait, this weight no longer pulls downwards into the rail but to the side, and the secure hold is lost. A portrait wall mount is designed specifically for this.
Then there is the most frequently overlooked point: the VESA hole pattern, the standardised screw pattern on the back of the device. The 100DM66E has a different pattern depending on orientation: landscape 600 × 600 mm, portrait 600 × 1,000 mm. If you order the wrong mount here, you will not be able to fix the 59-kilo display properly, because the screw points of the mount and device do not match.
For our installation, we used the B-Tech BT9923 from the System X range, a heavy-duty wall mount designed specifically for large-format displays in portrait orientation, carrying loads of up to 200 kg – many times the weight of the display. It combines a dual-rail carrier system with horizontal mounting rails and two vertical VESA adapters that sit directly on the display. A dry run on the back of the display showed that the ideal position of the mounting rail did not coincide exactly with the geometric centre of the wall. We therefore deliberately moved it up a little; this does not affect the load capacity, and the centre of the picture remains at a comfortable eye level.
We can supply the right mount together with the display, including advice on alignment; for an overview, see our display wall mounts.
Installation: two people, 59 kilograms
Now comes the moment when it pays to be two experienced people. The display weighs around 59 kilograms. The installers carefully stand it upright and place it on a dolly for transport; the underside remains protected by the polystyrene cover from the packaging. This way they push it along the corridor to the installation point.
Placing it on the wall rail is the trickiest step: because of the display’s width, the two work largely by feel, with the second person checking visually – routine for a well-practised team, but not something you do alone or on the side. The cables disappear inconspicuously into the new cable duct, and the sockets are hidden between the display and the wall.
The result
As soon as you enter the corridor, the display catches your eye: the 100-inch display fills the previously unused wall almost completely in portrait format, and the content is clearly visible along the entire length of the corridor. A space nobody had paid attention to for a long time has become the building’s first eye-catcher.
Checklist: what needs to be clarified before a portrait installation
If you are planning a similar installation, clarify these points in advance – they decide whether the installation goes smoothly:
- Wall dimensions: Does the display fit the wall in the chosen orientation? Check the width and height of the panel against the free wall area beforehand.
- Display approval: Is the device approved for portrait and continuous operation? Consumer TVs usually are not.
- Mount and VESA: Does the mount match the VESA pattern for portrait orientation, and does it carry the weight safely?
- Wall condition: Can the wall safely bear the weight, plugs/anchors and leverage forces? With around 59 kg plus the mount, this is a decisive point.
- Power connection: Is the socket in the right (hidden) position? Otherwise plan for electrical work.
- Signal feed: Are cable routes for HDMI or network available, or do they need to be laid?
- Handling and transport route: Can the device (weight, width) be moved through doors, lifts and along the route to the installation point?
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Can any TV be mounted in portrait?
No. Only devices that the manufacturer explicitly approves for portrait operation are designed for it. With normal TVs, heat can build up in portrait – which costs service life and warranty. Professional digital signage displays are designed for both orientations and for continuous operation.
Which mount do I need for a display in portrait?
A wall mount explicitly designed for portrait mounting. What matters is the load capacity, the correct VESA hole pattern in the chosen orientation (it often differs from landscape on the same device) and a locking mechanism that holds the display securely even when rotated. Large displays are chosen not by diagonal but by weight, hole pattern and mounting type. You will find suitable models under display wall mounts.
At what size does installation become critical?
Weight, width and the room situation matter more than the diagonal. A 100-inch device weighing around 59 kg with an edge length of over 2.2 m is always a two-person job with suitable equipment – and secure wall fixing belongs in expert hands.
Does content need to be specially prepared for a portrait display?
Yes. For the best effect, images, videos and layouts should be created in portrait format. Landscape content can be displayed but wastes space or appears with black bars.
For very special wall shapes, such as square or unusually wide areas, there is an even more exclusive option: LED walls can be freely assembled from individual panels and adapted to almost any size and aspect ratio. This is the tailor-made solution for areas no standard display can cover.
Need advice?
Whether it is a narrow wall, portrait format or an entire display wall: our team plans and installs professional digital signage solutions, from choosing the right display to professional installation. For an overview of the devices, see the category Displays; you will find accessories for wireless content sharing under wireless presentation. Call us on 0221 – 719981 – 0, write to vertrieb@beamer-discount.de or use our contact form.
Matching product categories in our shop:
Further guides:
- Projector buying guide using the BEAM method – overview of all guides
