TVs Have Changed. Shouldn’t Your Family Room?

Reposition your furniture for optimal viewing

Are you mature enough to remember black and white console televisions – the ones that weighed a ton? Well, once upon a time, TV time used to be when the entire family would pile onto one chair within three feet of one of those things to catch a glimpse of a grainy picture. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way from black and white, to high-definition LCD, plasma and the new LED flat-panel TVs.

While in the olden days our families used to sit close, it’s pretty uncomfortable to sit up close when you have a 65” TV on the wall! So where is the best place to position your furniture? And how do you find that "sweet spot?"

First, the correct answer to this question is “where it looks best to you.” We can provide some rules of thumb, but it really comes down to a matter of personal preference.

With a good HDTV, where detail is precise, you can sit as close as 1½ times the diagonal screen size. For example, if you have a 46” TV, you can sit as close as 69” (5’ 8”) from the screen. The maximum you want to go is about 2½ times the screen size (or about 9’ 6”).

In terms of vertical placement, the ideal location is to have the screen positioned so that the center of the screen is at your eye-level when you are in your viewing spot. Slightly higher or lower is usually fine, but you might find that watching a TV that is too high is uncomfortable.

Now the big question: Where is that “sweet spot?”  That would be in the dead center of the video and audio field, about 2x the screen width away. Unless, of course, somebody else has the remote control in which case, you’re at their mercy!

Now that you know the proper way to view your big screen with comfort in mind, head to the family room and make those necessary furniture moves!

Happy viewing!