TV Size & Mounting Height Calculator

How to use the TV size and mounting height calculator

1. Measure from your eyes to the wall, sitting where you usually watch. The front edge of the sofa is close enough.
2. Enter your TV’s size, the diagonal it is sold by, or the size you are thinking of buying.
3. Choose where it goes: on a plain wall, or above a fireplace (add the height of the mantel).
4. Read the answer: the size range for your seat, how much of your view your TV fills, and the heights of its center, bottom edge and top edge. Copy link keeps it for mounting day.

The rules the calculator uses

What size TV for your distance

Two published standards frame the answer. SMPTE, the film and TV engineering body, recommends a screen that fills at least 30° of your field of view. THX recommends about 40° for a cinema feel. For a 16:9 TV, that works out to a diagonal of about 0.61 × your seating distance at 30°, and 0.84 × at 40°, with both measured in inches. Below the range, the picture feels small. Above it, you turn your head to follow the action.

Does resolution change the size?

It changes how close you can sit. With 20/20 vision you can see detail down to about one minute of arc. On a 65″ 1080p TV, each pixel shrinks below that at about 8.5 ft, so closer than that you can see the grid. A 4K TV has four times the pixels, and they vanish from about 4.2 ft. That is why 4K is what makes a big screen at a normal distance look sharp.

How high to mount a TV

Put the center of the screen at your seated eye height, so you look straight ahead, the way you would at a computer monitor. Seated eye height on a standard sofa is about 42″. A deep, low sofa can bring it down to 36–38″, so measure yours. The bottom edge sits half the screen’s height below that center.

How high to mount a TV above a fireplace

The TV’s bottom edge has to clear the mantel. The calculator leaves 6″ for heat and for anything standing on the mantel. That pushes the center well above your eyes. The calculator gives the angle you would look up at. Mounting guides put the comfortable limit at about 15°. A tilting mount angled down helps with glare and aims the screen at you. A pull-down mount brings the TV down to eye level when you watch.

TV size by viewing distance

Best viewing distance by TV size

TV dimensions by size

A TV’s size is its diagonal. For a 16:9 screen, the width is 0.87 × the diagonal and the height is 0.49 ×. These are the screen sizes; the frame adds a little, so check the listing before you build a niche around it.

TV mounting height by size

The center is at 42″, seated eye height on a standard sofa:

Three worked examples

A sofa 8 ft from the wall. The range is 65″ to 77″. A 65″ TV fills 33° of your view, inside the range. Mounted with its center at 42″, the bottom edge is at 26″ and the top at 58″, so it sits comfortably above a low media console.

A 65″ TV above a fireplace, seen from 10 ft. With the mantel top at 54″, the bottom edge goes at 60″, so the center is at about 76″, 34″ above your eyes. That means looking 16° up, just past the comfortable limit. A tilting mount angled down 15° helps; a pull-down mount, or a mantel 6″ lower, would bring it within the limit.

A small bedroom, the bed 7 ft from the wall. The range is 55″ to 65″. Sitting up in bed, your eyes are higher than on a sofa, so measure them and enter that height. The calculator raises the whole TV to match.

Common TV mounting mistakes

• Mounting it where it looks balanced on the wall. Centered on the wall looks tidy but is usually too high. Mount for the seat.
• Measuring to the mount, not the screen. The height that matters is the screen’s. Measure from the TV’s mounting holes to its bottom edge before you mark the wall.
• Buying the size that fit the old room. A TV that was right at 6 ft looks small at 9 ft. Measure the new distance.
• Forgetting the soundbar. A soundbar under the TV needs 3–5″ of wall below the bottom edge.
• Putting a TV over a working fireplace with no clearance. Leave room above the mantel, and check the manufacturer’s heat limits.

Read next

• Fireplace TV wall designs
• TV wall decor ideas
• Accent wall ideas behind the TV
• Media wall ideas for the living room
• Living room layout ideas

TV size and height questions

How high should a TV be mounted?

With the center of the screen at your eye height when you are seated, which is about 42″ from the floor on a standard sofa. For a 55″ TV, the bottom edge is then about 28½″ from the floor; for a 65″ TV, about 26″.

How high should a 65 inch TV be mounted?

Center at about 42″, bottom edge at 26″ and top edge at 58″. The screen is about 32″ tall. Above a fireplace, the bottom edge goes 6″ above the mantel instead, and a tilting mount helps.

What size TV should I get?

Multiply your seating distance in inches by 0.61 for the smallest size that feels immersive (30° of your view) and by 0.84 for the largest comfortable size (40°). From 8 ft, or 96″, that is 59–80″, so a 65″ or a 75–77″ TV.

What is the best viewing distance for a 65 inch TV?

Between about 6.5 ft (the screen fills 40° of your view) and 8.8 ft (30°). A 4K 65″ looks sharp from about 4 ft back; a 1080p one needs about 8.5 ft before the pixels disappear.

What is the viewing distance for a 55 inch TV?

About 5.5–7.5 ft. From farther back, a 65″ fills your view better.

What are the dimensions of a 65 inch TV?

The screen of a 65″ TV is about 56.7″ wide and 31.9″ tall (144 × 81 cm). The frame adds a little on every side, so check the listing for the exact outside size before you build shelves around it.

What size TV for a bedroom?

Measure from the pillows to the wall and use the same rule. A bed 7 ft from the TV suits a 55″ to 65″ screen. Mount it higher than in a living room, because your eyes are higher when you sit up in bed.

How high should a TV be above a fireplace?

With its bottom edge about 6″ above the mantel, and no higher. Then check the angle: past about 15° above your eyes, use a tilting or pull-down mount, or sit farther back.