A TV that sits too high makes you tilt your head back for the whole movie, and after a few weeks most people notice it in their neck. The fix is simple once you know the rule, and it usually means mounting lower than you expect.
01The eye-level rule
When you are sitting in your usual spot, your eyes should line up with the middle of the screen, or a little below the centre. For a typical sofa that means the centre of the TV ends up roughly 100 to 110 centimetres from the floor. Measure your own seat height and posture, because a deep lounge and a dining chair are very different.
- Sit where you normally watch.
- Have someone measure from the floor to your eye level.
- That is your ideal screen centre height. Mount the bracket so the centre of the TV lands there.
02Screen size and seating distance
Bigger screens can sit a touch higher because the centre moves up with the size, but the eye-level rule still applies to the centre. As a rough guide, for 4K TVs a comfortable viewing distance is about one to one-and-a-half times the screen diagonal.
| Screen size | Comfortable seating distance |
|---|---|
| 55 inch | About 1.4 m to 2.1 m |
| 65 inch | About 1.7 m to 2.5 m |
| 75 inch | About 1.9 m to 2.9 m |
| 85 inch | About 2.2 m to 3.2 m |
03Room by room
- Living room
- Follow the eye-level rule from the main sofa. Leave space for a soundbar below if you will add one.
- Above a fireplace
- Often too high. A tilting bracket helps, or a pull-down mount that lowers the TV for viewing. Heat from a working fireplace also needs considering.
- Bedroom
- Measure from the bed, not the floor. Bedroom TVs usually sit higher, angled down slightly.
- Kitchen and gym
- Viewed standing, so higher is fine. Tilt down for comfort.
- Outdoor and alfresco
- Mount for the main seating area and angle away from the sun. See outdoor TV installation.
04Before you drill
- Use painter's tape to mark the TV outline on the wall and sit with it for a day.
- Check where the power and antenna points are, and plan to hide the cables. See cable concealment.
- Think about window glare at different times of day.
Ray will mark it up with you on the day before anything goes on the wall. Book TV wall mounting or read about what mounting costs.
05Common questions about TV height
Is it bad to mount a TV above a fireplace?
It is often too high for comfortable viewing and can be exposed to heat. A tilting or pull-down bracket makes it workable in many rooms.
How high should a 65 inch TV be mounted?
Aim for the centre of the screen at seated eye level, typically around 100 to 110 cm from the floor for a standard sofa.
Should a TV be tilted down?
Only if it has to sit higher than eye level, such as in a bedroom or over a fireplace. Otherwise flat is best.