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Calculating the ideal screen size from your seating position

Calculating the ideal screen size from your seating position

The key to any home theatre setup is optimum seating placement. With it, you get an enjoyable viewing experience that makes watching high-definition movies and TV shows a pleasure. Without it, you may be left wondering what you're missing out on. By knowing how to properly calculate your viewing distances for plasma, LCD, LED and projector set-ups  you can easily set up your living room or home theatre to deliver an optimal viewing experience that is worthy of breaking out the popcorn.  

Size and Location Matters

Many homeowners use their dens or other similarly-sized spare rooms, although home theatre set-ups aren't just limited to these types of rooms. Many people opt to set up their systems right in the living room or family room. The size of these rooms usually dictates the size of the TV as well as where people tend to sit. The last thing you want to do is sit too far away or too close to your TV screen. For instance, if you're sitting too far away from a TV that happens to have a small screen, you won't be able to enjoy the type of viewing quality that you would get out of a larger screen. However, sitting too close makes immersing yourself in the viewing experience difficult and may also result in distorted audio.  

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Frequently asked questions

How big a screen should I get?
It depends on how far you sit. As a rough guide, for a 16:9 screen the diagonal in inches is about your seating distance in inches divided by 1.5 to 2 (cinematic to mixed use). Our screen size calculator does it for you.
What is the SMPTE and THX recommendation?
SMPTE suggests about a 30-degree horizontal viewing angle for a balanced picture; THX prefers around 36 degrees for a more immersive, cinema-like field of view.
Can a screen be too big?
Yes, sit too close to too large a screen and you'll notice pixel structure and have to move your eyes and head to take it all in.
Does content resolution matter?
Yes, 4K lets you sit closer to a larger screen without seeing pixels than 1080p does, so you can go bigger or sit nearer.

Put this into practice

Get a system matched to your room and budget, or talk it through with a specialist.

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