Easily Determine How Far To Put A TV From Your Couch With Consumer Reports' Advice

Television viewing habits have changed dramatically in recent years to match audience preferences. Traditional cable and local TV signals are now joined on the screen by streaming services and social media consumption (almost certainly led by funny cat videos). Regardless of what they're watching, one thing that hasn't changed is that people want huge TVs. However, one of the biggest mistakes people make when buying TVs at the maximum size is not considering the optimal layout for the room.

Rather than risking eye strain, neck strain, and headaches by installing the television in the wrong location, Consumer Reports has advice on where to place a TV in order to optimize the viewing experience. According to the Consumer Reports formula, it's best to sit at least 1 foot away from a 4K TV for every 10 inches of screen size. 

When selecting the right TV size for your kitchen, living room, theater room, or bedroom, focus on a size that allows for comfortable seating positions relative to the screen, based on the room size. Placing a 75-inch TV in a room with only 6 or 7 feet of space could cause the picture on the screen to look odd. With a screen size that fits the room, though, you can better determine the optimal positioning of the TV and furniture. Consumer Reports says no specific TV size is perfect for every person's situation. Instead, focus on your personal preference for screen size and adjust your furniture positioning to create the best possible field of view.

While many people rely on Consumer Reports for choosing the right TV, the consumer advocacy organization also has advice on how to get the best possible viewing experience from that television. When considering a TV with 4K resolution, Consumer Reports says it's important to pay attention to your field of view (FOV). The FOV measurement determines how much of your vision is occupied by a screen or other object, measured in degrees.

Relying on FOV when positioning your television in the room improves your chances of receiving an immersive experience while not being so close that it detracts from the programming. Consumer Reports relies on standards from audio/video experts at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and THX for its FOV recommendations. THX, short for Tomlinson Holman's Experiment, is a certification for home theater equipment that ensures the highest possible audio and video quality.

The SMPTE recommends placing your television at a distance that creates at least a 30-degree FOV. According to Consumer Reports, this means you should sit no further than 7.5 feet away from the screen of a 55-inch 4K television for the most enjoyable results. The SMPTE notes that the most immersive viewing experience can be achieved with a maximum FOV of 62 degrees, which equates to sitting 3.3 feet away from a 55-inch 4K television. This provides an IMAX-style viewing experience, but shouldn't be utilized for prolonged periods of time for obvious safety reasons.

For its part, THX recommends using an FOV of roughly 40 degrees for an experience that fills more of your vision, making it feel more like you're at the movies. To achieve THX's 40-degree FOV, Consumer Reports calculates the ideal distance to sit from a 55-inch 4K television to be 5.5 feet.

If you'd like to match the THX 40-degree FOV recommendation for a 4K screen, you can simply follow Consumer Reports' formula of sitting about 1 foot from the screen for every 10 inches of screen size. For a 50-inch 4K TV, sitting 5 feet from the screen matches the 40-degree FOV rule. For a 75-inch 4K TV, you should sit about 7.5 feet from it.

If you prefer following the 30-degree FOV recommendation that Consumer Reports mentions, the math is a little different. For a 4K TV, you should sit about 1.63 feet from the screen for every 10 inches of screen size. If you have a 50-inch 4K TV, you could sit about 6.75 feet from the screen to match the 30-degree FOV rule. If you purchased a 75-inch TV, you can sit a little more than 10 feet from it.

Consumer Reports says it's important to remember that a 4K television has about four times more pixels, or the tiny individual dots that make up the picture, than an HDTV. With more tightly packed, smaller pixels in the 4K screen, you can sit closer without negatively affecting your viewing experience. If you placed your furniture at a certain distance in the past based on your HDTV, you can move closer when you purchase a newer 4K TV.