Size up your TV screen

Whether you want a new bedroom set or a massive home-theater centerpiece, our CNET editors' guide gives you the full picture on shopping for a new TV.

Updated February 5, 2008
After you have your budget squared away, you need to decide how large of a screen you want. Usually, the largest screens cost the most, but regardless, the TV should deliver the right-size picture for where you'll sit relative to the screen. Sitting closer to a smaller TV means you won't have to spend as much on a big screen. But if you sit too close, the picture will look poor. See the charts below for recommended seating distances per screen size for both 4:3 and wide-screen TVs, then consult our handy tool to find TVs in our database by diagonal screen size.

Size factors: Regular TV-viewing distances | Wide-screen TV-viewing distances |
Size and your room | Screen sizes and display types

Regular TV-viewing distances

Most viewers feel comfortable sitting away from the set at a distance that's between three and six times the width of the screen. The following chart can give you a rough estimate of the minimum and maximum viewing distances for regular 4:3 televisions.

4:3 TV diagonal screen size	Min. viewing distance (in feet)	Max. viewing distance (in feet)
13	2.6	5.2
19	3.8	7.6
20	4	8
24	4.8	9.6
27	5.4	10.8
32	6.4	12.8
36	7.2	14.8
40	8	16

Wide-screen TV-viewing distances

You'll notice that we said regular televisions. Wide-screen televisions showing high-resolution DVD and HDTV look better than regular sets, allowing you to sit closer and experience a more immersive, theaterlike picture.

With wide-screen sets showing DVD or HDTV, you can sit as close as 1.5 times the screen's diagonal measurement and still not notice much of a loss in quality, while sitting farther away than three times the screen size means you're likely to miss out on the immersive feel. Here's a rundown of minimum and maximum recommended viewing distances for wide-screen sets.

16:9 TV diagonal screen size	Min. viewing distance (in feet)	Max. viewing distance (in feet)
26	3.3	6.5
30	3.8	7.6
34	4.3	8.5
42	5.3	10.5
47	5.9	11.8
50	6.3	12.5
55	6.9	12.8
60	7.5	15
65	8.1	16.2

Size and your room

Generally, 30-inch and smaller sets are great for bedrooms or guest rooms but too small for the main living room. Sets with bigger screens are large enough for the whole family to enjoy and will probably be too much for most small bedrooms. Remember that tube TVs are also fairly deep and get bulkier as the screen size increases. You'll want to pick out a deep-enough spot for the TV so that it doesn't protrude awkwardly into the room.

If you're mounting the set inside an entertainment center, be sure it fits in every dimension; also, leave an inch or two on all sides so that the TV has enough ventilation. If you're getting a bigger set, you may want to consider a dedicated stand; many TV makers sell matching stands that increase the aesthetic appeal of their hefty boxes.

Screen sizes and display types

Tube televisions have screens that measure between 5 and 36 inches diagonally. Above that, TVs switch from standard tubes to rear-projection or flat-panel models. Flat-panel LCDs can range anywhere from 5 inches to more than 60 inches diagonal, plasmas are between 37 and 103 inches, and rear-projection sets start at 37 inches and go to as large as 70 inches. These different TV types have their own strengths and drawbacks, which we detail in "Four styles of HDTV."

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