Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture

This simple chart shows you how to choose the right size TV for your living room

What size TV do you need? This handy chart tells you

By

Whether you recently moved into a new space or are planning to upgrade your entertainment setup, you may be asking yourself, “What size TV do I need?” It’s tempting to buy the biggest screen you can with the highest resolution. But, if the screen isn’t the right size for your room, it can overpower the space and may cause unnecessary strain on your eyes. Thankfully, this TV size chart from Reddit makes it easy to choose the perfect-sized television for your living room, bedroom, or den. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about TV size, distance, and more.

modern living room with tv on a stand
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Quick tips for finding the right TV size

Here are a few simple tips to keep in mind before tv shopping:

  • Understand screen size measurements: Screen size is measured diagonally from corner to corner; be sure to check the dimensions when deciding where to place the television set.
  • Bigger isn’t always better: Though nothing compares to a large screen, if the TV is too big, it won’t fit your room.
  • Consider screen resolution: Most TVs nowadays are available in either 1080p, 4K, or 8K resolution. The higher the resolution, the more expensive the TV and the further you can place it from your sofa.
  • Plan in advance: To find the right size television, you’ll first need to decide where you want to place it; then measure the room to find the perfect fit.
Recommended Videos

Use this TV size chart to create the perfect setup

Thanks to Reddit, purchasing the right size television for your home is easy. The TV size chart posted on the r/coolguides subreddit provides an easy cheat sheet for choosing the best television—no math required. All you need to do is take a few measurements.

Related

How to measure your room

Before you can use this super simple chart, you must first decide where you want to place your television. Then, use a measuring tape to calculate the distance between your future TV set and your couch or primary seating area. Mounting the TV on the wall will create a further distance between your seating and the screen, which will allow your space to accommodate a larger TV.

When measuring the space, note that the distances on the chart are in meters, so you’ll need to take your measurements in meters or convert your measurements from imperial to metric before using the reference guide.

Calculating the right TV size

Now that you know the distance between the couch and the screen, you can refer back to the chart to select the right TV size. Keep in mind that this is just a rough guideline—your room measurements likely won’t be exactly the same as the ones included in the chart. If you want to be as specific as possible and do your own calculations, one commenter noted that the distance was about 1.77x the screen size (in meters).

And of course, your personal preferences matter too. The best screen size depends on what setup is the most comfortable for you.

Choosing a television screen size shouldn’t be a complicated process. And thanks to this handy TV size chart from Reddit, buying the right size television for your living room will be a breeze!

Editors’ Recommendations

Shannon Cooper
Shannon Cooper
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Shannon Cooper has written about everything from pet care and travel to finance and plumbing in her seven years as a writer…
7 shows like The Sopranos for your next binge
These series all learned from HBO's best drama
The cast of The Sopranos

The Sopranos finds itself in a rare pop culture place right now. Most people know what the show is, whether you're a younger TV fan just getting into the HBO series or a veteran who is on their ninth rewatch in the last 25 years. It's a pioneering classic that is fresh and a relic of its time simultaneously. David Chase's crime drama about a mobster who goes to therapy during the day and kills capos at night brought an entirely new dimension to television that didn't exist before. The show broke barriers that other programs have tried to imitate, but very few have ever accomplished. On the other hand, the shows that have gone shot-for-shot with The Sopranos have improved upon some of the older, more outdated parts of the series.

Because The Sopranos was the original crime drama of the Golden Age of Television, it's not hard to compile a list of copycats. Simply boiling these successors down to their similarities to The Sopranos would be disrespectful, though. These shows like The Sopranos are some of the best TV series of all time and have won Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and more. Time to wake up this morning and get yourself a Sopranos-adjecent binge-watch.

Read more
8 high-stakes shows like Squid Game you can’t miss
Death, drama, and game shows are quite a mix in these Squid Game-like series
The cast of season 3 of Squid Game.

Squid Game surely superseded any expectations the creators had when the South Korean drama series premiered in 2021. Now the most popular show in the history of Netflix, the series follows a group of desperate contestants who will sacrifice anything to win a massive cash prize in a long line of lethal games and activities. The concept seems more like something that would be on reality TV than scripted, but the creators more than make everything work. Squid Game is able to grapple with a lot of thought-provoking issues while never shying away from addicting devices and unique episodes that beg to keep viewers hooked to the screen all night long.

There's nothing exactly like Squid Game, or at least nothing that has equaled it in popularity. We've dove into the deepest parts of the TV landscape to find series that resemble the South Korean phenomenon in the way they create drama, the setting they take place in, or the genre elements they imitate. These are shows like Squid Game that you need to watch right away.

Read more
The best crime shows on Hulu to binge right now
Love an immersive crime drama? Here's what you should check out
Kaitlin Olson stars in High Potential

The thrill of watching people solve crimes for our entertainment never seems to go out of style. Anytime a TV executive wants to find the next big hit, expect them to craft a plot about cops, detectives, or even everyday people debunking the big questions. Crime dramas let fans live vicariously through the fictional characters without having to be involved in the stress of actual murder in the real world. Not many streamers have more crime dramas to indulge in this fantasy than Hulu.

The best crime shows on Hulu feature great characters, unique mysteries, and a ton of creativity. Hulu has also served as a fantastic hub for network shows and forgotten crime dramas from yesteryear. These shows are all on the more serious side of the genre, so if you're wondering where Only Murders in the Building is on the list, you're not going to find it. No comedy here, just drama. Time to dive into Hulu's expansive crime drama library for an addicting, binge-worthy weekend of TV.

Read more