My Cart - ‘Tis very nearly the season of festive giving, and if you’re the generous sort you may be thinking of treating your loved one to a fantastic new tellybox; alternatively, you may just be thinking of treating yourself to one in time for your favourite festive specials. The question is, which one do you get?
Here at Electronic World, we can help you narrow down the field a bit; not just with our fantastic smart TV deals but also with a bit of sound advice on how to pick the right size screen to give you the perfect cinematic experience in your living room.
Now, some will always say that bigger is better, but that’s not the whole story. If you get a TV that’s too big, it’s just going to dominate your entire room, you’ll end up sitting too close to it, and you won’t get the best view. That awesome 110 inch TV? Not going to suit most living rooms.
There’s actually a scientific way to determine the right size TV for your room, one which will give you that sought-after cinematic experience. All it takes is a little maths. (Sorry about that.)
Step 1: Viewing Angle
The first thing you need to know is your viewing angle; how much of your field of vision you want to fill with the screen. If you want to recreate the feel of the cinema in your home, THX suggest 40° for the ultimate experience, whilst the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) suggest 30°, so anything within that range should do you nicely.
If all this talk of angles and degrees is giving you flashbacks to school maths lessons, don’t worry – you don’t need to get your protractor out. A couple of simple sums will give you the answers you need.
Step 2: Viewing Distance
The next thing you want to know is how far from the screen you plan to sit, so get that measuring tape out. For our example, let’s say that we’re sitting a cosy 6 feet (or 72 inches) away from the screen.
Step 3: The Maths Bit
Take the distance at which you’re going to watch your TV in inches and times it by 0.84 for a viewing angle of 40° or by 0.625 for a viewing angle of 30°. This will give you the ideal screen size in inches. We suggest working out both, to give you a range of sizes to choose from.
Therefore, if you’re 6 feet away from your screen:
72 x 0.84 = 60.48
72 x 0.625 = 45
Your ideal TV screen is therefore between 45 and 60 inches!
Incidentally, this means that if you do want that 110 inch TV, you’d want to be sitting between 11 and 14 feet away from it!
Step 4: The Subjective Bit
Of course, just because the maths says that’s the right size, does that really mean it’s right for your room? This is where your own personal decorative tastes come into the fray. One way of testing it out is to cut out a piece of cardboard the size of the TV you’re considering and tape it to your wall, then you can decide whether it’s overwhelming or not. This may also be the step where you have to convince your loving other half that yes, you should have a screen that size – it’s mathematically proven!
Of course, there’s often also one final step after that – the budgeting bit. When the sums say your screen should be a certain size, does your wallet agree? Here at Electronic World, we can help you with this step, offering some fantastic prices on TVs in a wide range of sizes. For more information, get in touch with us on 0121 327 3273 to speak to our team! You can also keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter.
