Your Cart
£0.00
What Size Television Do I Need?
When it comes to buying a new television, it is easy to fall into the assumption that ‘bigger is always better’.
After all, who doesn’t dream of curling up in front of a cinema-sized screen to binge the latest Netflix boxset? Most modern films and series provided by streaming services are lush, lavish and beautifully shot. Viewing them on the biggest screen possible is a sensible way to fully appreciate them. The only way to catch every last intricate detail, every last blade of grass, every last drop of rain.
Under these circumstances, how can bigger not be better?
To help you avoid this potential pitfall, here’s our guide to finding out what is the correct TV size for you. We’ll cover the common size options available, as well as the factors that will affect which one is right for you.
How Are Televisions Screens Measured?
Before getting into the (many) details surrounding TV sizes, it’s important to understand exactly what the measurements mean and how they are taken.
TV screens are measured diagonally, corner to corner, across the front of the screen. The measurements only include the screen itself, and won’t account for the plastic frame around the screen.
Generally, these frames are very thin and won’t add anything substantial to the size of the television overall. However, if you have a particularly tight space to fit your TV in, or any other specific requirements surrounding size it can be useful to physically measure the TV to be certain of its size..
The measurements of TV screens are always given in inches.
What Sizes Do TV’s Come In?
It can feel like televisions are forever getting bigger.
To some extent, this is because they are. As technology improves, resolution increases and screen size increases. Gone are the days of a small screen in the corner, the most common sizes of televisions are now 42”, 50”, 55”, 65” and 75” inches.
There are other options available, starting as small as 32” and stretching as big as 85”. Certain brands might have one or two outliers to the standard sizes as well.
32”-50” TVs are generally considered small, 55”-65” televisions are medium and anything bigger than 65” is called large (usually up to 75″ screens).
What Size TV Screen Is Right For Me?
Finding the right TV size for you will always be dependent on a couple of different things.
The most important factor to help you decide on a television size is how much space there is between the TV and its viewers.
To get technical, it is said that the best viewing experience comes when 40 degrees of your field of vision is taken up by the television screen. This means that the further away you will be sitting from the TV, the bigger you will need it to be. The closer you are, the smaller the screen should be.
To work out the optimal distance to sit from a screen, you can multiply the size of the screen by around 1.4x. For example, a 65” screen is best viewed from around 91” away – or 2.3m.
If this all seems a bit complicated to work out, there are plenty of online calculators to help do it for you.
The next thing to consider is screen resolution.
While deciding whether you want full HD, 4K, 8K etc is another decision entirely, it can affect your choice of size too. The higher resolution of a 4K or 8K TV will allow you to sit much closer to the screen without getting eyestrain. Get a higher resolution, and you don’t have to worry so much about that magic distance equation if you want a large TV in a smaller space.
Similarly, if you want a high-quality viewing experience but don’t have the space for a 75”+ TV screen, the visual benefits of an 8K screen can make a 65” feel more luxurious.
Again this is a decision that will stand on its own too, but a limited budget is likely to reduce the size of screen you can get.
While it might be tempting to use your budget to get a large but lower quality television, this is a bad idea. A big screen with a low resolution will just mean each pixel is bigger. This will affect picture quality. Try to find a happy medium, or prioritise clarity through resolution over size.
What Is The Most Popular TV Size?
This is a commonly asked question, but it shouldn’t be. Popularity should realistically be irrelevant to your decision, as personal needs should be more important.
According to market research, the most commonly purchased screen size is 65”.
This is quite a large screen size that reflects the modern appetite for immersive viewing.
It appears this is a size that sits neatly at the intersection of affordability and viewing experience.
What Size TV Is Too Big For A Room?
Having a massive TV in a small room is a bad idea for two reasons. Firstly, you’ll be sacrificing the viewing experience – if your TV is too close, you may start to spot imperfections in the display and also develop eye strain.
But secondly, it can affect the aesthetics of the room. A large TV can dominate a small space, making it feel cramped and cluttered. When it’s switched off, the blank black face can sap energy from the space, but when switched on it can make the room feel busy.
This isn’t always a problem as flat screens and smart TV’s are so slim, and a wall-mounted screen can blend smoothly into a room. You should bear this in mind when picking for a small room though.
Tip:
If you’re struggling to picture the impact a certain screen size will make on your room, you can always make a paper template and fix this in position. This won’t help with dimensions but will give you an idea of how the screen itself will look.
What is the correct TV size?
There is no definitive size of TV screen that is ‘correct’. The answer is always dependent on a range of factors that will be different for every person.
Here is a reminder of the things you must consider before deciding which size you want:
Once all these factors are decided, the size of TV you need will probably be obvious. Still, if you need any extra support, you can always contact our customer service team with any questions.
