TV size calculator by viewing distance

What size TV should I get?

What matters is how much of your field of view the screen fills. SMPTE, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, recommends at least 30° for mixed use (news, sports, shows), as RTINGS explains, and 40° is the target for movies. From your viewing distance the calculator works out the 16:9 screen that fills 30° and the one that fills 40°, then picks a size on sale in that range: the smallest for mixed use, the largest for movies.

Measure from your eyes to the screen, not from the back of the couch to the wall.

A worked example

In feet (US). The calculator opens with the couch 8 ft from the screen.

• At 8 ft a screen fills 30° at 59 inches and 40° at 80 inches
• The sizes on sale in between are 65 and 75 inches
• Mixed use: a 65 inch TV; mostly movies: 75 inches

In metres (UK and elsewhere). At 2.5 m the range is 61 to 82 inches: again a 65 inch TV for mixed use, 75 inches for movies.

TV size by viewing distance

Viewing distance	Range	Mixed use	Movies
5 ft	37-50"	40"	50"
6 ft	44-60"	50"	55"
7 ft	52-70"	55"	65"
8 ft	59-80"	65"	75"
9 ft	66-90"	75"	85"
10 ft	74-100"	75"	98"

Viewing distance by TV size

TV	For movies (40°)	For mixed use (30°)
43"	4.3 ft (1.31 m)	5.8 ft (1.78 m)
50"	5.0 ft (1.52 m)	6.8 ft (2.07 m)
55"	5.5 ft (1.67 m)	7.5 ft (2.27 m)
65"	6.5 ft (1.98 m)	8.8 ft (2.69 m)
75"	7.5 ft (2.28 m)	10.2 ft (3.10 m)
85"	8.5 ft (2.59 m)	11.5 ft (3.51 m)

Sit farther than the last column and the screen looks small and 4K detail is lost; sit closer than the first and you have to move your eyes to follow the action.

Common mistakes

• Buying too small. Old rules of thumb were made for low-resolution sets: with 4K you cannot see the pixels even up close.
• Measuring from the wall. What counts is the distance from your eyes, which is always a bit less than from the TV wall to the back of the couch.
• Mounting it too high. The center of the screen should sit at eye level when you are seated.
• Forgetting the stand. A 75 inch TV is about 5.5 ft wide: check that it fits.