Tim and I were watching television last week when a short film came on about how to determine the correct distance to be seated away from the screen when viewing your tv.
The programme’s ‘expert’ recommended a range of different measurements dependent on screen size.
I decided to Google the ‘question’ and was amazed to discover that there are hundreds of articles written about ‘optimum size to distance viewing of television’ with some of the information looking far more complicated than my teenaged son’s algebra homework. There are mathematical calculations, complex diagrams and even YouTube tutorials all to help you decide where to sit when watching television. The SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers) kindly offer a recommended viewing distance should you be unable to do the maths yourself!
We are asked this question almost every day at Moss of Bath when visiting client’s homes to install televisions.
This is our ‘expert’ advice:
There is no mathematical formula.
There is no ‘rule of thumb’.
It is down to personal opinion.
We always let the client choose exactly where they want to put the television.
And then, in the interest of science, I measured the distance between our own TV and the sofa, seems we’re breaking all the mathematical formulas by sitting too far away but… it works for us and that’s how we like it.