TV size comparison, viewing area, and optimum viewing distance

Recently I am researching Televisions (TVs). TV price has decreased drastically in last few years and new technologies are introduced into new TVs at an affordable price. Anyway, I will write more on the TV later. Here, I have compiled a chart that illustrates the size of the TV and it’s viewing area and optimum viewing distance.

The first question to answer while TV shopping is the size. Most shoppers begin their search with a specific TV size in their mind or debate about getting a bigger TV. Usually the bigger is better as long as it’s in your price range. 

TV size and viewing area: TV size in the inch is measured diagonally from the one side corner to the opposite corner of the other side in the panel. Therefore, if we compared 28-inch TV to the 32-inch TV as an example, it’s not simply 4-inch bigger. Instead, it is diagonally 4-inch bigger with a corresponding increase in length and height. Overall, increase in the viewing area is hard to get by from this simple numbers. Please refer to the below chart that indicates approximate viewing area of different TV sizes.

As indicated in the above table, 28-inch TV has the viewing area of approx. 335 sq. inch. When you upgrade it to the 32-inch TV, you would get 438 sq. inch viewing area. That is about 30% bigger or 30% upgrade in terms of the screen size. Likewise, if you upgrade 40-inch TV to the 46-inch, it’s a 32% update.

Optimum viewing distance: While considering the TV size, it’s also important to note the room size and the area you have that will ultimately become a viewing distance. A simple rule of the thumb is to multiply the TV size with 1.5 to get approximate minimum viewing distance. As in the table, if you would like to buy a 55-inch TV, you do need at least 6.8ft of the viewing distance in the room. Please consider this important factor in your TV buying research because TV is more affordable today and most people would like to go bigger within their budget. If you have a small room and viewing distance will be the only 5ft, and you get 55-inch TV because you can afford it, you will be disappointed at picture quality because you can see individual pixels and overall picture will look not as sharp as you like.