Ideal TV viewing distance
Tuesday 18 January 2022
Are you looking for a new television? Then be sure to read this article about the ideal viewing distance for a TV. This way, you avoid coming home with either a too small or too large TV screen. The distance between the TV and the couch plays an important role. In this article you can read which size screen is best in your situation.
A comfortable viewing distance TV
As a rule of thumb, you can say that a comfortable viewing distance in centimetres is about 2.4 times the screen diagonal of a television. This viewing distance TV emerged from a practical study in which the test persons themselves were allowed to determine at which distance they would sit from the TV. A distance that was as comfortable as possible. Three different picture sizes were tested with a viewing distance TV of 55 inches, 48 inches and 40 inches. Although sometimes quite different viewing distances were chosen, all test persons sat further away as the screen became larger. On average, the ideal viewing distance TV was approximately 2.4 times the screen diagonal of a television.
The table below shows the most comfortable viewing distance between your television and the couch or your seat, for example for a viewing distance of 55 inches.
Distance between television and couch Screen size in inches
200 cm 32 - 40 - 43 inches 81 - 102 - 109 cm
250 cm 40 - 43 - 48 - 49 - 50 inches 102 - 109 - 122 - 124 - 127 cm
300 cm 43 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 55 inch 109 - 122 - 124 - 127 - 140 cm
350 cm 48 - 49 - 50 - 55 - 58 - 65 inch 122 - 124 - 127 - 140 - 147 - 165 cm
400 cm 55 - 58 - 65+ inch 140 - 147 - 165+ cm
What size screen fits my situation best?
Measuring is knowing. Before buying a television, measure the distance between the couch (where your eyes would be when watching TV) and the imaginary TV in centimetres. Then divide this result by 2.4. This is an indication of the picture diagonal in centimetres and the most comfortable viewing distance TV.
Please note that the result is usually not an existing TV format. In that case, choose the picture format that comes closest to the result. For example, is the distance you measured 280 centimetres? Divide that by 2.4 and the result is 116.6 cm. A 43-inch TV with an image size of 109 cm comes closest.
Of course, it also works the other way round. Do you want to know what the viewing distance should be for a 55-inch TV? Multiplied by 2.4 it is 132 centimetres.
Inches
Because the size of a television is not expressed in centimetres but standard in inches, you can also calculate directly how many inches a television should be for the ideal viewing distance.
To do this, you have to divide the desired or measured distance in centimetres by 6. The result is the number of inches. The same applies as to calculating the screen size in centimetres. For example, is the measured distance 280 centimetres? If you divide that by 6, the result is 46.6 inches. In that case, you can choose a TV of 48 inches.
Do you want to know how big the TV should be with a viewing distance of 5 metres? That is 500 divided by 6 = 83 inches. This size is not available, but a 70-inch TV would be appropriate.
Try
When you think you have determined your ideal TV size, you can easily test in the shop whether your ideal viewing distance is actually ideal. Take your time, compare different picture sizes with your measured ideal viewing distance and take a tape measure with you.
Hanging the TV
As soon as you have your new TV at home, you want to enjoy it as soon as possible. You can choose to have the TV stand or mount it on the wall.
Hanging your TV on the wall is something you can do yourself, if you are handy and have a few extra hands around. You can also leave this to the professional of Zoofy. You can book them quickly and easily and you know exactly what the costs are. The fixed price for hanging a TV at Zoofy is € 79. You don't have to pay any call-out charges at Zoofy. Your TV is quickly and professionally mounted. Only professionals are connected to Zoofy's platform. They score an average of 9.2, something we are very proud of at Zoofy.