TV Viewing Distance Calculator
Viewing distance is a trade-off between immersion and comfort. Sit too far away and the picture loses detail; sit too close and your eyes have to sweep to follow the action. The distance scales with the screen height, not the diagonal.
Recommended distance
40.4466
- Screen height
- 26.9644
- Screen width
- 47.9367
- Closest comfortable seat
- 34.3796
- Furthest comfortable seat
- 46.5135
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
distance = screen height x viewing multiple, screen height = 9 x diagonal / sqrt(337)
- d
- The screen diagonal, as advertised in inches
- h
- The screen height, the number that actually matters
- m
- The viewing multiple, roughly 1.5 to 2.5
- distance
- How far the viewer should sit
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Confirm the screen is 16:9
Almost every modern television is. If yours is 21:9 ultrawide or an older 4:3 set, the height no longer follows from the diagonal the same way.
- 2
Convert the diagonal to a height
Multiply the diagonal by 9 and divide by the square root of 337. A 55 inch screen comes out at 26.964368179790743 inches tall.
- 3
Pick a viewing multiple
Use about 1.5 if you want immersion and 2.5 if you want comfort. The honest answer is usually somewhere in between.
- 4
Multiply to get the distance
For a 55 inch screen at 1.5 that is 40.446552269686116 inches, and at 2.5 it is 67.41092044947686 inches.
- 5
Check against the room
Measure from the seating position to the wall, not the other way round. If the actual distance falls outside the range, adjust the screen size rather than the multiple.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Calculate TV Viewing Distance page.