Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Thanks to4 K and 8 K UHD , we can nowsit closer to our TVsthan ever . This is because a TV expose a 4 KB germ ( and even some 1080p HD mental object ) usesquadruplethe amount of pixels of an HD television set to showcase your favorite picture show , display , and picture plot . And while this signify you ’ll be able to sneak a few inches confining to thatOLED screenwithout noticing individual pixels , as you would on a non - UHD TV , we would n’t advocate buying the biggest TV your living room can correspond and then sitting just 5 foot in front of it .
Fortunately , the age - old question of “ what sizing tv set should I buy ” has been asked the macrocosm over for many years , which means there are numerous AV experts that have weighed in on this debacle , including the staff here at Digital Trends . So , today , we ’re drop dead to cover everything you should know about shopping for a TV that ’s the good sizing for you .
Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
How to calculate TV size for your room
Before youdecide whatkindof telecasting you ’re interested in purchasing , you ’ll wantto decide where you want your novel television to live in your place ( please , do not mount it over your fireplace ) . Once you ’ve chosen the locating , measure the height , width , and deepness of that spot ( there may be limitations due to the sizing of an entertainment center or the amount of space on a wall ) .
When shop around , you’re able to match these dimension up with the measuring of the whole TV , ( not just the screen size of it ) to make certain it will outfit . You ’ll find that some tv have footprints that are physically bombastic than others of the same screen size , so always see at the merchandise dimensions to see whether it will check into the distance available .
Fortunately , most TV manufacturers and consumer tech retailers ( including Amazon ) will also list these dimensions online and on sales event base production posting . If you ’re looking for dimension on a store product tag , try look at the bottom of the card . Product dimension are often address as little footnotes ( just like online ! ) at store like Best Buy , Walmart and Target , so the altitude , width , and profoundness may be twice as modest as the other glasses on that piece of theme .
TV feet, TV pedestals, and your TV furniture
If you are n’t goingto mount your new telly on a bulwark , you ’ll need to consider where the two feet of your fresh boob tube are go to be place . In most cases , a TV ’s total breadth ( measured from one side of the top or bottom part of the human body to the other ) will give you a great ballpark idea as to how long of a shelf your video furniture should have . But there are rare lawsuit where the boob tube ’s feet can really extend beyond the remaining and veracious sides of the TV . In these cases , you ’ll want to either measure the distance between the furthest - extended point of the left over foot to the right foot , and use that measurement to determine what form of TV piece of furniture you should be looking at ( or if what you already own will work ) .
For situations where you ca n’t wall - mount your TV , and you also ca n’t see yourself depart ways with a treasured piece of music of home theatre furniture because it ’s not broad enough , you may always prefer for auniversal TV stand . alike to a standard TV wall mount , VESA - certified implements of war are screwed into the back of your television , while a mounting angle bracket is fixed to the groundwork of the stand . Many oecumenical stands will also careen up and down and pivot from side to side .
How far away will you be sitting?
Next , think about where you ’ll be sit in relation to where your TV will be climb or perched . There areTV see distance calculators(here’sanother one ) that recommend a TV screen size based on watch distance . If you do n’t want to bother with an on-line calculating machine , here ’s a simplified figuring that you may do to function it out yourself ( although we do recommend using one of those calculators no matter what ):
Measure the distance from your seat to the tv in inches and multiply by 0.84 . This will give you a rough mind of how large of a telly your quad can wield . This method is n’t perfect , of line . For model , if you are sitting eight feet away from the TV , the computation calls for an 80 - in projection screen , and that ’s just not naturalistic for most folks .
Realistically , you may desire to use that grating - idea equation , and then take off 10 or 15 inches from the resultant role . Generally speaking , the average screen door size for most living room TVs is right around 65 inches , and the median size of it of most living way is justly around 16 feet by 20 substructure . But not every living room is design the same , and obstacles like fireplace , inner wall , and loading - bear beams are get going to factor out into where your TV can be placed , too .
Factoring in field of view and viewing angles
Field of view have-to doe with to how much distance your TV concealment takes up compare to what else your eyes can or will be drawn to in your viewing blank space . For example , in a motion-picture show theater , the bailiwick of opinion is very large because there ’s not much else you could see . In a animation elbow room , the field of panorama run to be on the smaller side , because residential coarse areas are typically compact to the brim with window , furniture , lighting fixtures , family decor , and other eye - catching object and body structure . Experts generally recommend a champaign of view around 30 academic degree to 36 degree . For a 50 - inch TV , that would mean sit down around 5.6 feet away . If you have limited space , you could always use field of study of view in reverse to peck the sizing of your telly based on where people will be sitting .
Do n’t confuse field of view with viewing angle though ( or how easy it is to see the television when sit down off - midpoint from the screen ) . A video ’s see slant depends on the display type , with OLED TVs generally having the best viewing angles you could find on modern sets . But overall cover size is helpful , too . After all , the bigger the display , the easy it should be to see it from multiple advantage . However , ambient lighting and how it contributes to screen glare is another variable quantity you ’ll require to consider when call up about your television set ’s viewing slant .
Size versus quality
If you ’re trying to maximise screen material landed estate on a plastered budget , you ’re go to have to sacrifice some picture quality for a big sieve ( in most case ) . As such , we urge ( as per our comprehensiveTV purchasing guide)striking a symmetricalness between screen size and quality . So instead of pass away for that massive 85 - inch QLED from an up - and - come brand name that ’s on the shelvesfor just $ 500 , consider opting for the smaller , 55 - inch big - name model next to it for $ 550 . chance are the latter use far better word-painting processing and lighting technologies — and brand like Samsung and LG are render - and - true TV companies that fork over bully sets year after year .
You ’ll also want to keep in mind the type of subject you ’ll be viewing . If you ’re aBlu - ray enthusiastor 4 K streaming cognoscente , your 4 KB or 8 K TV is get going to have more picture information ( and thus greater contingent ) to deliver than someone watching mid-90sCrash Bandicootspeed - runs on YouTube . There ’s nothing wrong with the latter , but the fact remains that low - polygonal shape marsupials just are n’t as pel - packed as our favorite blue fighter from 2022’sAvatar : The Way of Water .
Leverage the power of your wall mount
If you ’re break to mount your tv set , you ’ll have a few different mount expressive style to choose from . humble - visibility and tilting mounts will keep your television set closest to the wall . There ’s also full motion branch , which are unremarkably the most expensive models you could bribe , but for good intellect . These mounts tilt up and down , but they can also swivel from leave to right , and reach out out toward the viewer . So turn over this : Even if you ’re only climb a 55 - in TV , if you ’re using a full motility wall mount , you ’ll literally be able to pull in the screen nearer to your eyeball .
As you may reckon , full move mounts are trade by legion companies , but we ’ve gota few recommendationsandinstallation tipsfor you to peruse .
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular TV size?
broadly verbalise , we ’d say most folk end up with a 65 - inch idiot box in their living room , with other common sizes let in 55 , 60 , and 75 - inch sets . But all homes are different , and while a large - sized screen may work for Household A , it may all eat up the be space in Household B.Measure twice , and purchase once , friends !
How far away should you sit from a 65-inch TV?
For those of us sway a 65 - inch QLED , OLED , or traditional LED - LCD , you ’ll get the best viewing experience by sit between six to seven feet away from your tv set .
