Television - Shapes and Sizes

Believe it or not, a few inches in diagonal screen size can make a large difference in overall viewing size. Compare a 40” widescreen to a 50” widescreen; those extra 10 inches make the screen 56% larger. Add another 10” for a 60” widescreen and get 125% more viewing area. As you can see, a few inches does make a huge difference, but is a bigger screen necessarily the better choice for you?

An optimum screen size for you will depend on how you answer these two questions. How big is your room? And how far will the seating area be from your new TV?

You will get the best viewing experience from choosing the biggest screen that will fit your room size. Determining how far away from the screen your seating can be in this situation will help you decide the biggest size that will fit the room.

Viewing distance is very important. Sit too close to the screen and see all the pixels and scan lines; sit too far away and lessen the viewing experience and possibly experience eye strain. General advice is to sit 2 feet away from the screen for every 10 inches of screen size. For example, if you’re watching a 40” screen, you would need to sit approximately 8 feet from the TV.
Viewing Distance Charts show an approximation of the smallest optimal viewing distances and largest optimal viewing distances for traditional and widescreen TVs according to measurements based on the diagonal screen size. Take a look to help you get a better idea of which screen sizes will work best for your room.

4:3 TV Screen Size

Smallest Optimal Viewing Distance

Largest Optimal Viewing Distance

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


 

16:9 TV Screen Size

Smallest Optimal Viewing Distance

Largest Optimal Viewing Distance

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



Screen shape, or aspect ratio, is another variable to think about when choosing a new TV. The aspect ratio is the relationship between the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the TV screen. There are two choices currently on the market when you’re looking for your new TV.

We all grew up with the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, 4 inches of width for every 3 inches of height. These screens are almost square in design, and are mostly seen on the older analog TVs. Widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio is the future of television. These screens have 16 inches of width for every 9 inches of height and are about 30% wider than the more traditional 4:3 TV sets. Most HDTV and EDTV screens are this screen shape.

What are the benefits of this type of screen shape? The most noted benefit is that they are better suited for the reproduction of most movies and for a broader visual of sporting events,etc. Movies are filmed in a widescreen format; a 4:3 screen cuts off the sides of the image, while widescreen 16:9 shows the entire image. Eventually all TV programming will be in the widescreen 16:9 format, so a widescreen TV will allow you to see the programming content without any black bars on your screen.

No matter what size is chosen, neither will give a picture that fills the entire screen every time due to the fact that video is shot in various aspect ratios depending on the project and the director. Video for regular TV is usually 4:3 while films and HDTV programming are both usually 16:9. Some movies, music videos, and other content on DVDs can come in a wide variety of aspect ratios. Use your preference to decide which screen shape will be best for you.

Traditional 4:3 aspect ratio programming includes:

Widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio programming includes:

[ back to buyer's guide menu ]


Furniture