How wide and tall is each TV size?
A 65 in TV’s screen is 56.7 in wide and 31.9 in tall (144 × 81 cm), measured across the picture, not the frame.
An example: type over either one. Screen sizes in inches or centimeters.
The next common size, 75 in, is 8.7 in wider and 4.9 in taller and has 33% more picture, though its diagonal is only 15% longer.
How far to sit: for a 65 in screen, THX’s range is about 6 ft 6 in to 9 ft 6 in (2 to 2.9 m), where the picture fills 40° to 28° of your view; the common rule of 2.5 times the diagonal says 13 ft 6 in (4.1 m).
An example distance: type yours, in feet or meters, for the screen sizes that suit it.
From 9 ft (2.7 m) away, THX’s range suits a screen of about 62 to 90 in; the 2.5 times rule says 43 in. Of the common sizes, 65, 75, 77, 83 and 85 in are in THX’s range.
| Size | Picture width × height |
|---|---|
| 32 in | 27.9 × 15.7 in (71 × 40 cm) |
| 40 in | 34.9 × 19.6 in (89 × 50 cm) |
| 43 in | 37.5 × 21.1 in (95 × 54 cm) |
| 50 in | 43.6 × 24.5 in (111 × 62 cm) |
| 55 in | 47.9 × 27 in (122 × 68 cm) |
| 65 in | 56.7 × 31.9 in (144 × 81 cm) |
| 75 in | 65.4 × 36.8 in (166 × 93 cm) |
| 77 in | 67.1 × 37.8 in (170 × 96 cm) |
| 83 in | 72.3 × 40.7 in (184 × 103 cm) |
| 85 in | 74.1 × 41.7 in (188 × 106 cm) |
| 98 in | 85.4 × 48 in (217 × 122 cm) |
| 100 in | 87.2 × 49 in (221 × 125 cm) |
Reading the sizes
A TV’s size is the diagonal of its picture, corner to corner, not its width and not the set’s outside edge. Sets are sold by a size class, and the real diagonal can be up to half an inch smaller, so a “65 inch” TV may measure 64.5 in. Every size here is a 16:9 picture, the shape of today’s TVs; a picture of the same diagonal in another shape is wider or narrower.
Before you buy, measure the space, not the screen: the set is wider than its picture by its frame, and its stand adds height. The maker’s specification sheet gives the set’s width, height and depth with and without the stand.
Sizes: the diagonal of the visible picture, as Wikipedia’s “Display size” defines it; the width and height of a 16:9 picture are worked from its diagonal. Seat distances: THX’s range and the 2.5 times rule, as Wikipedia’s “Optimum HDTV viewing distance” gives them, worked from the picture’s width. To draw yourself beside anyone else, compare heights; for the bed that fits you, see the bed sizes.