News hardware 4K TV: What’s the perfect reversing distance? Samsung responds!

The higher the definition of the TV, the less the recoil is important

Since televisions have been invited into our living rooms, a generational debate between young and old comes up constantly in family meals concerning the necessary distance from a screen. The parent argument of “You’re way too close, you’ll hurt your eyes” is true, but totally outdated in the age of 4K ultra high definition (UHD) screens.

At the time of cathode-ray televisions, from 1935 until the beginning of the 2000s, well before 8K (4230p), 4K (2160p), Full HD (1080p) or the famous HD Ready (720p) we had to settle for a very low definition image, often less than 480p.

But by the way, what is the pitch of a screen?

Concretely, the pitch designates the space between two pixels of a screen, whether for televisions, computers or smartphones, we are talking about the same thing. Thus, the higher the number of pixels, the smaller the space between two pixels. So the lower the pitch, the better the potential image quality: even when approaching the screen, we no longer see the pixels.

This is how with current screens, of the Full HD or 4K type, we can more easily discern the ready image, whereas at the time of our grandparents, lower resolutions naturally brought a higher pitch. important and forced us to move away from the screen to view the images correctly without seeing the pixels.

However, there are very important pitches on advertising screens, for example, which are intended to be seen from afar.

This is how the famous “3x rule” was established, where it was roughly said that you had to multiply the size of the diagonal of the TV by 3 to have the distance necessary to take full advantage of your screen. At the end of the cathodic era, TVs measured between 55 cm and 82 cm diagonally (we weren’t talking about inches at the time) and weighed more than 50 kg… It was therefore necessary to set back at least 2.5m to a TV of 82 cm or 32 inches. Fortunately HD and now 4K have arrived and everything has changed!

What are the limits of the human field of vision?

Imagine if this 3x rule were still valid today? For a 65-inch screen (about 165 cm) it would take nearly 5 meters of recoil and more than 6 meters for an 85-inch. Unthinkable. Fortunately, with the quality of current screens, you can enjoy high definition content with a much more acceptable distance than was necessary before.

To better understand the data that will follow, a diagram is worth a thousand words:

Basically, we distinguish a difference between what we see (the famous 120° binocular vision) but also and above all with what we perceive, such as colors and symbols which require a much larger field of action. restricted.

How far can my high definition TV be set back?

Starting from this premise, Samsung, for example, recommends for its 4K screens a field of vision of 40°, which is equivalent to a viewing distance equal to 1.2 times the size of the screen.which gives the following results.

Samsung recommended viewing distance for its 4K TVs

Screen size (in inches)	Appropriate reversing distance
55″	1.7 meters
65″	2.0 meters
75″	2.3 meters
85″	2.6 meters

On his side, the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers) distinguishes between two types of use, depending on whether you watch sports and current programs (JT, TV shows, news) or whether you watch movies, series or play video games. For the first use the SMPTE recommends a field of vision of 30° and for the second of 40°, like Samsung.

SMPTE Recommended Viewing Distance

Screen size (in inches)	Reversing distance suitable for movies (30° viewing angle)	Reversing distance suitable for video games (40° viewing angle)
24″	0.96 to 1.02 meters	0.72 to 0.84 meters
32″	1.28 to 1.36 meters	0.96 to 1.12 meters
43″	1.73 to 1.84 meters	1.30 to 1.51 meters
50″	2.03 to 2.15 meters	1.52 to 1.78 meters
55″	2.22 to 2.36 meters	1.67 to 1.95 meters
65″	2.62 to 2.79 meters	1.97 to 2.30 meters
75″	3.02 to 3.21 meters	2.27 to 2.65 meters
82″	3.33 to 3.54 meters	2.49 to 2.91 meters
85″	3.42 to 3.64 meters	2.57 to 3.0 meters

We very often hear people say that 65-inch TVs are far too big for their living room and that they will never have the necessary perspective. While in reality you only need 1.96 m of distance to ideally enjoy your 4K TV and only 2.27 m for a 75 inch. Now dare the big TVs!

In any case, keep in mind that these values ​​are purely indicative and that the most important thing is your personal feelings. There is only one right choice, yours!

Find all Samsung TVs on the manufacturer’s website