The location of your TV is more important than you might think. It has a major impact on comfort, sound and image quality. During assembly, height and seat spacing are decisive.
- Mount the TV on the wall or stand it up?
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Mounting height: This is how you determine the ideal distance to the floor
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Determine seat distance for TV
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5 final tips
Neck pain, back problems and blurred vision are just a few examples of the health problems that are often associated with sitting incorrectly in front of the screen. Most of the time it’s about the PC at work, the television is often forgotten.
Because surely many of you sit in front of the smart TV for several hours a week or even a day. It is not uncommon for it to simply be placed somewhere in the living room. If your TV is poorly installed or in an unfavorable position, not only will your evening in front of the TV become much more uncomfortable for you, but the picture and sound quality can also suffer.
If you buy a new television or move your Smart TV at home, you should first determine the ideal location. You can use a few simple tips and calculation formulas as a guide. With it you can find out in a few minutes where to put your smart TV.
Mount the TV on the wall or stand it up?
Almost every TV these days comes with an optional wall mount. You are therefore always faced with a choice: should you place the Smart TV on a TV cabinet or rather mount it firmly on the wall.
wall mounting
Basically you can go here according to your own taste. Wall mounting has the advantage that your TV takes up less space in the room and, depending on the mount, you can tilt it a bit to adjust the viewing angle. However, you need at least basic manual skills to mount it on the wall and some of you may find the dangling cables annoying. In addition, some walls are not suitable for mounting a TV.
If you want to decide on the wall bracket, you should first take note of our most important tips for wall mounting your television. Among other things, you will learn which types of walls are suitable for wall mounting and what you should consider in terms of cabling and safety. If you have internalized the tips there, you can continue reading here to determine the ideal position for the wall bracket.
Put the TV on a stand
It doesn’t matter whether you hang your TV on the wall or place it on a TV cabinet with the stand, in both cases you can use the following information and tips as a guide.
If you want to put your smart TV down, you should definitely make sure that you can set it up at least a meter above the floor. If your TV cabinet is too small, you should rather buy a new one. If you are particularly talented with your hands, you can of course use tools and give the cabinet a little more height. However, make sure that everything is stable.
Also important: Your TV should always be placed on a stable surface, such as wood or marble. Surfaces such as metal or plastic are also alternatives, but the base can leave unsightly scratches over time. You should also avoid surfaces with fabric or similar textures, as your television usually does not have a secure footing.
Last but not least, make sure that the base of your TV is completely on the surface. It shouldn’t extend past the edges on any side, including the back. Since today’s flat screens are very thin, this is fortunately not as big a problem as it was in the days of old tube televisions.
Mounting height: This is how you determine the ideal distance to the floor
Once you have decided whether you want to hang your smart TV up or stand it down, you can determine the ideal height in the next step. Here it depends on the distance between the bottom edge of your TV and the floor. We already mentioned that if you want to put your smart TV there, your TV cabinet should have a certain minimum height. However, the exact height depends on where and how you are sitting in front of the screen.
Basically, you can use a simple formula as a guide. Measure the height of your screen and determine the top third. For example, if your screen is around 90 centimeters high, the upper third is 30 centimeters and the lower third is 60 centimeters. If you now sit in front of the screen, your viewing angle should form a straight line to the top third of the screen. Of course, it is also important how high you sit on your sofa, for example.
If you are mainly watching TV, as is the case in the bedroom, you can stick to the rule of thumb in this case: your eyes should move in a straight line to the top third of the screen. This way you protect your neck and make sure that the picture is displayed perfectly due to the angle. Of course, the panel technology also plays an important role for the right viewing angle.
Every now and then you read about another rule of thumb that instead recommends a straight viewing angle to the bottom edge of the television. For some of you, this measure may also be comfortable. At the latest with large televisions from around 65 inches (approx. 81 centimeters high) you strain your neck significantly more than if you stick to the first formula.
Exceptions for large rooms and fine adjustments
The two formulas mentioned above apply mainly to small and medium-sized rooms. If you have a particularly large living room and the distance between your seating position and the television is more than three times the screen diagonal, you can also mount the television in a higher position. It’s best to check whether you can look at the screen without raising and lowering your head too much. If so, then the TV is in the right position.
The right height is difficult for the wall mount. In small and medium-sized rooms, you should not mount your TV too high due to the rule of thumb mentioned above. Wall brackets are therefore more suitable for larger living rooms. Otherwise, the same applies here: the upper third of the screen should be at eye level. Now there is another factor with wall mounts: you can move most mounts and even tilt the screen at different angles.
If you can adjust the height, changing your seating is no longer a problem. You can also fine-tune the exact position by tilting your TV down. For example, if you can’t mount your TV as low as the rule of thumb says you should, you can also achieve a comfortable viewing angle by tilting the screen down.
Peculiarities in your seating habits
It makes an important difference whether you watch TV while sitting, like to lean back or even lie more often on the sofa when enjoying your favorite series. Therefore, when you are exploring the ideal height for your TV, you should always start from your preferred position in which you can watch TV in a relaxed manner.
The above rule of thumb is usually based on a person sitting upright on a standard sofa (about 45 centimeters high) and looking at the screen. If your preferred position in front of the smart TV is completely different, you can still use this formula as a guide, but we recommend that you compare your own seating position with the TV reposition again in such a case.
If you like to lie down with your head bent, you might want to mount the TV a little higher. If you have a chair that can be tilted backwards instead of a sofa, you can also align the device a little higher or ideally even slightly tilted (only with wall bracket). It’s best to try a little with the ideal position.
The best position is the one where you don’t have any pain in your joints, muscles or other parts of your body. Many experts advise sitting as upright and straight as possible and at an appropriate distance in front of the television.
Note special features for other rooms
Maybe you don’t want to place your Smart TV in the living room or bedroom at all. Some of you might also want to have a small Smart TV in the kitchen, so that you can watch a bit of TV while preparing the meal. The problem: When working in the kitchen, you usually stand at the kitchen counter.
But you can easily solve this problem by using the rule of thumb mentioned again. Only this time you don’t start from your sitting position, but from your standing position. Remember: Eye level should be in line with the top third of the screen.
Of course, the right seat spacing is also crucial for the right height. On the next page you can find out how this influences the right height, how you can determine the ideal seat distance in seconds and why the picture on your television plays a decisive role.
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