HDTV viewing distance

by Natalie
(UK)

I have a 44inch pioneer plasma tv and i would like to know how far i should sit from this television as to not damage my eyes?

Comments for
HDTV viewing distance

Click here to add your own comments

TV Viewing Distance
by: Paul - The Home Cinema Guide

Natalie

Firstly, unless you are planning on doing something extreme like sitting a few inches from the screen, I don't think you need to worry too much about damaging your eyes.

There are a number of ways to get a rough idea of the best viewing distance for your screen. The method I like is to multiply your diagonal screen size by 1.5 and 3. This gives you an idea of a reasonable minimum and maximum distance to work with.

For your 44 inch TV this would give a ballpark figure of between 5.5 and 11 feet.

Using this as a guide, you can then decide a good distance for your room.

You might want to be slightly closer if you watch a lot of high-definition TV, and further away if you still watch a lot of standard definition TV. But ultimately it will just come down to your personal preference - there is no perfect distance that everyone must follow.

You can find more detail on this in our guide to TV viewing distance and HDTV screen size.

All the best.

Paul