HDTV may be the closest thing to reality on TV, but it still falls short of the real thing. That's what Frank and Debbie Consoli found when they tried to position their prized 50-inch rear-projection TV in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook their suburban Philadelphia yard. "They had this beautiful view of woods and trees from the family room, and they didn't want to block it," says Harry Blanchard, systems designer for installation company HiFi House of Broomall, PA.

So Blanchard performed the disappearing TV trick, designing a box that conceals a 50-inch Fujitsu plasma monitor inside a custom-designed half wall when the TV is not in use. A motorized lift is operated by a remote control so Debbie can bring up the TV while she's preparing meals and then motor the screen around to the family room during prime time.

The biggest challenges were staying below the lift's 175-pound limit and carving a 9-by-50-inch slat in the granite countertop. "It had to look as good when the plasma was down as it did when up," Blanchard says. "It's seamless."

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1. The Auton 1002-PS motorized plasma lift has a swivel base that directs the monitor to the kitchen, dining room or family room.
2. Fujitsu’s 50-inch PDS-5004 HD plasma panel is housed in a birch box with a false wall to hide wiring and connectors, and it’s finished to match the kitchen cabinets.
3. The Marantz RC5200 takes control of all remote operations from a Marantz audio/video receiver, Marantz DVD player, TV, cable box and Mitsubishi VCR.
4. One pair of Niles in-wall speakers delivers sound to the family room, while a pair of Niles in-ceiling speakers does kitchen duty.
5. The Niles infrared repeater system enables the Marantz remote control to operate equipment stored in another room.

Rebecca Day has been writing about consumer electronics for longer than she can believe. Her articles have appeared in HOME, Rolling Stone, Popular Mechanics, Ladies' Home Journal and many other consumer and trade magazines.

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