At what height should your flat screen be mounted?

How High should you mount your TV on the wall? Great question. Let’s get after it.

In order to determine the ideal mounting height of your TV, we first need to know the size of the TV, the viewing distance from the TV, the eye level height from the floor and the reclining sitting angle.

Size of the TV (TVS)

The size of your TV greatly effects the  TV mounting height. When you buy a TV the size is marked on the box like 42″, 55″, 60″ etc. If you have an existing TV and do not remember the size then you can measure it . You can find the size of your TV by measuring it diagonally and just the screen not the bevel.

Viewing Distance (VD)

The Viewing distance also contributes to the mounting height of your TV and is the distance between the TV screen and where you are sitting. The viewing distance can be based on the size of your television for optimal viewing or it can be measured from where you sitting to the wall where the TV will be mounted(in inches). The optimal VD can be calculated from the following formula:

(1)Viewing Distance (VD)=TVS*1.67. This is the optimum TV Viewing distance which is based on your TV size or it can be measured if you can’t sit at the optimum distance because of your room layout. See side view pic below.

For example if your TV size (TVS) is 55″ then the optimal Viewing Distance (VD) should be 92 inches (55*1.67).

Eye Level Height from the Floor (ELH)

Your eye level also contributes to the TV mounting height and is the distance, in inches, of your eyes from the floor while you are sitting watching TV. You can easily measure this from the floor to your eyes. For example when i sit on my couch my eye level from the floor is 40 inches.

Reclining Angle (RA)

The reclining angle also effects the height of mounting your TV. If you sit up straight at your seat or couch while you are watching TV and  your torso forms a 90 degree angle with the floor then the reclining angle is zero. If you lay back then the reclining angle is not zero and is  measured from the vertical.  In other words the more you recline the higher the TV mounting height. See side view pic below. Couch manufacturers reclining angle range for casual sitting is 10-15 degrees.

TV Mounting Height (TVMH)

So now that we know all the parameters that contribute to the TV mounting height we can calculate it with the following formulas:

(2)TV Mounting Height (TVMH) =0.22*VD+ELH
This formula assumes 12.5 degrees of reclining angle for simplicity and is the distance in inches from the floor to the middle of the TV. If you want to find the height between the floor and the bottom of the TV, then measure the vertical height of your TV divide it by 2 and subtract it from the above result.

As a rule of thumb , a 42 in television should be mounted about 55 inches from the floor to the TV center, a 55 in TV should be 60 inches, a 65 in should be 65 in and a 70 in television should be mounted about 67 in from the floor to the center of the screen.

A more accurate formula is the following:

TVMH=tan(RA)*VD+ELH
Please notice on the above formula, that if the tan(RA)=0 which means that there is no reclining angle or you sit up straight, then the TV Mounting Height equals to the Eye Level Height.

For example when I sit on my couch my ELH from the floor is 40 inches and the VD is 92 inches (see previous example) so my TVMH is 0.22*92+40=60 inches from the floor to the midpoint of the TV. So here is a table:

Formula 1 is based to about 30 degrees of viewing angle that are within the limits of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, THX  and manufacturers’ recommendations for 16:9 HDTV’s.

Formula 2 is based on the average reclining angle of about 12.5 degrees from vertical ( sitting up straight) for casual sitting. Manufacturers range for casual sitting is 10-15 degrees.

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