People in the UK spend on average 3 hours 40 minutes watching TV each day, according to Ofcom. And when a big sporting event like the Euros is on - and our country is doing well - a lot of us will be virtually glued to our sets.
Nothing wrong with that, as long as your TV is in the right place. If it isn't you might find yourself squinting at the screen to ignore annoying reflections, or craning your neck if your TV is too high. Not much fun at all. So let's avoid all that nonsense, and make sure your TV is positioned correctly!.
Watching TV should be entertaining - not a pain in the neck! So it’s worth spending time before you set up to think about the best spot for it. You could be living with your choice for years to come – so make sure you avoid unnecessary headaches.
What’s the best distance to sit from the TV?
Sitting too close to the TV can hurt your eyes and cause you to miss the edge of the picture. Too far away and you’ll lose out on the sharp detail of high resolution screens such as 4KTV and 8K. This is why you need to be smart about choosing the right screen size for your home.
For the best viewing experience choose the right TV size for the distance in your room:
Work out the best height for your TV
You want your TV to be in a comfortable position for director’s-cut-length movies and epic Netflix sessions. Think eye level from your sofa, rather than a tilt up or down. Here’s how to work it out:
Sit comfortably on the sofa and get someone to measure the height between the ground and your eyes.
Measure the same height on your TV wall and mark the spot with a pencil.
Match the centre of your TV with that pencilled spot.
If that’s too low – for example, if you’re mounting your TV above a fireplace – you can get round this by choosing a TV mount with forward tilting so you can adjust it downwards.
Managing your lighting
No one enjoys trying to follow a favourite soap amid a sea of reflections. If you have a particularly sunny room then, of course, avoid placing your TV in front of direct sunlight if possible. If not, then invest in a pivoting TV wall mount so you can move the TV to avoid the glare.
If sunshine’s the least of your worries (because you love a marathon movie session in a darkened room) you might have noticed that your eyes start to water or get dry, or sometimes that you may even get tension headaches. This is because you’re making your eyes adjust constantly between the darkness of the room and your TV’s screen.
It’s easy to avoid this strain. Place a neutral-coloured lamp behind the TV to create what’s known as a ‘bias light’, which ups the ambient lighting level in the room without making the TV image look worse.
Tip: don’t choose a coloured bias light as it will drain that colour from your TV’s image.
Bias lighting also counteracts glare from floor lamps positioned behind you, like reading, table or ceiling lights. If positioned badly, these can reduce your TV’s contrast, creating glare and a hazy image.
Bias lighting works with problem reflections on curved TVs too. Curved TVs can sometimes stretch and distort reflections making them more prominent than on a flat screen TV.
Prefer to leave it to the experts?
Too much hassle? Call in our experts who can advise on the best location and position for your TV when they arrive to install it.
You’ll need to make sure you’ve carried out certain checks and have the necessary equipment first. Find out more about our home installation service.
