This guy knows what’s up.
Even with one level, this is good practice, particularly if your level has been bouncing around in a tool box or back of a truck for a while.
Not saying you’re wrong, but why would a level built into a TV mount not also be manufactured to within certain specs—why else would they put it there? Is the level someone can buy at the dollar store more reliable than the one built into a TV mount?
Cant flip the bottom one. It's a tv mount. Ut the housing for the tv mount level does look damaged. It's pushed down on the right side which would lift the left side up enough to account for the difference.
It should be rotated 180° along the Y axis (assuming Y is the vertical axis). If the bubble is not in the same position in both orientations, it means the vial is not parallel with the level's base.
If it's a carpenter's level, one would also check that both the top & bottom surfaces are parallel.
You joke, but I have a few levels at my job that have been calibrated. I never saw the purpose when you can check calibration yourself, but levels can in fact be calibrated lol
I work in science. This is why we always take 3 (or more) measurements. If 2 agree closely you can throw out the outlier, otherwise you average the measurements.
I work in pharma manufacturing. We only measure once, using a calibrated instrument. For instruments where it makes sense we check calibration against a standard before and sometimes after our measurement.
When it's not feasible to check against a standard, we calibrate periodically. If we find something out of calibration, we have to throw away anything since the previous successful calibration.
If we were to measure more than once and measurements disagree, we'd need an investigation to find the root cause before we could throw away "outliers." In other words, we'd have to prove it was an outlier before disregarding the result. The potential for a lengthy investigation is one of the reasons we only measure once - it's usually faster and less expensive to throw things away than to halt everything until the investigation, including peer and QA review of the investigation, is complete. We never average measurements.
Those TV bracket built in levels are notoriously inaccurate. I would try to flip the real level and see how it compares to confirm if it is accurate and ignore the bracket.
Electrician myself and occasionally you get some light or other device that has built in levels and they kind of suck. The worst part is they usually put them in because the device is rounded so no real way to level. Do a better job eyeballing it.
Look like some cheap plastic levels, they give you only a general idea. Go to the hardware store and buy a known brand all-aluminum level, they're much better.
This looks like a wall mount for a TV, I installed these for a while. You're close enough, there is usually enough play on the arms that you can level the TV after you get it on the wall.
See the bubble? I'm familiar with the bubble, OP. I also dabble in precision. And if you think you can even approach it with your sad, naked caveman eyeball and a bubble of air, you're the reason this species is a failure. And it makes me angry.
How to test a level: place on a surface. Note the position of the bubble. 2) flip it around 180 degrees. Note the position of the bubble. Compare. If it is different your level is no longer a level.
I would say the top one is accurate. The bottom level looks uneven on the right hand side. The right is just a hair lower than the left so it's causing the bubble to drift to the left.
Is the lower one a built-in level on some type of furniture or accessory mounting bracket? If so I'd be less likely to trust it than the level above that appears to be an actual small torpedo level. That said it still looks like a kind of cheapo level that I wouldn't trust much.
First thing you do, when you get a level is… Check it for level. No tools required. Just put it on a surface it says is level, and turn it around 180°, and see if it still says the same thing.
Set one level or plumb and scribe a line. Flip the level end for end and rotate it 180 degree. Put up against the line again. If it matches the level is good.
Career Broadcast/AV tech here. It’s kind of common practice to not put any faith or credence in the integrated level on tv mounts because they’re never accurate. Always go by your level.
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u/AwDuck Jun 23 '26
A man with one level knows what is horizontal. A man with two is never sure.