Staged pics focus on the composition, not practicality. Pics of kitchens are usually the most glaring examples.

Dytecture & acroteria....I'm new on Houzz and I'll browse photos to illustrate. May take me a while to get the hang of this!

A lot of situations are caused by furniture too big for a room and nowhere to put a big TV directly in front of a couch due to an "open concept" plan..

Some day people will catch on to small media rooms instead of forcing the living room to work around a monster screen.

I think I'm going to get moving on my problem and take photos of the room. I need advice on furniture placement and where the TV should be. My house is an older, smallish colonial. Fireplace & windows make it difficult to place a flat screen & the furnishings. I'm open to all advice & suggestions. We LIVE in the living room. NO family room.

Decoenthusiast - current plan is for a tv in the den and nothing in the living room, in part for that reason. We may eventually add a projection system in the living room, but that will be with a drop down screen over the fireplace wall so the furniture arrangement stays the same. (To clarify, the screen will be mounted on the ceiling and come down a little bit in front of the fireplace/mantle, so that the projected image is at the proper viewing level given the size of the image.)

So den will be for casual TV watching, living room will be for social events and movie nights.

Yes, deco- one day we will go back to having a "den" to watch TV. Remember those?
Madamgray- please post a sketch with some basic measurements and show the windows and F/P. We will help you figure it out.

Whatever you do , just not above a fireplace.

yes, please don't put it over the fireplace!!!!!

I Agree. Not over the fireplace.

I don't have a particular p.o.v. but am curious why not over the fireplace (btw, we don't have a fireplace...so no motive here).

[Edit: Lightlink Lighting - oh, practical reasons! I was anticipating there was some design etiquette reason people were following.]

Various reasons: the viewing angle is too high to watch comfortably for long periods. The light and movement from a fire competes with the tv and acts as a distraction (different lumen output and flicker rates - its no wonder people describe feeling stressed after watching excessively at that angle). The smoke and heat can affect the tv adversely if not vented properly, just as you wouldn't want to be smoking around sensitive electronic gear of any sort. The wall behind the tv has to be drilled out for mounting and cable which isn't to everyones liking, especially when they finally decide to tv isn't placed right after all. Not everyone agrees with all this but Why even put a tv on the same wall as a fireplace? (each has its own purpose why compete?) Unless you think you have to. I'd rather use a tv to temporarily cover a fireplace when not used if possible. Or hide the tv in a media wall. A tv isn't a display piece, it's a media outlet.

You may want to consider TVCoverUps. Framed art(including your own) or mirror adds to the room's decor with the hidden TV and Entertainment Consoles beneath.
See how EASY it really is:

If the television will be viewed off axis when there are multiple people watching, you should buy a plasma. LED/LCD sets are generally poor off axis. When you look at TVs in a store, move side to side and see if the picture washes out. Unless the room has a lot of light, the plasma will have a better picture in the daytime and will be way better in a darker room.