About the TV Mounting Height Calculator
Mounting a TV too high is one of the most common living-room mistakes: it forces you to tilt your head back and can cause neck strain over a long film. This TV mounting height calculator works out where the centre of the screen should sit based on your seated eye height and how far you sit from the wall, then gives you the height of the bottom edge, top edge and the wall bracket so you can mark the wall before drilling.
The usual guideline is to place the centre of the screen at seated eye level — about 42 inches (107 cm) from the floor for a typical sofa. If you must mount higher, for example above a fireplace or sideboard, set an upward viewing angle and the calculator shows how much higher the centre can go; keeping the angle under about 15° helps comfort.
Screen height is calculated for a 16:9 TV from its diagonal. The actual TV is slightly taller because of the bezel, and the bracket holes are rarely in the exact centre of the set, so measure the distance from the mounting holes to the screen centre and enter it as the bracket offset.
With the default inputs, the height to centre of screen is 42 in. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the tv mounting height calculator
- 1Sit in your main seat and measure from the floor to your eyes.
- 2Measure the distance from your seat to the TV wall.
- 3Enter the TV size and, if needed, an upward viewing angle.
- 4Measure how far the mounting holes are from the screen centre and enter the offset.
- 5Mark the bracket height on the wall, check it with a level, then drill.
Formula and method
With a 0° angle the centre of the screen sits at your seated eye height, which is the ergonomic ideal. If you choose an upward angle, the centre rises by the seating distance multiplied by the tangent of that angle — at 9 ft, 5° adds about 9.4 inches and 10° about 19 inches.
The visible screen height of a 16:9 TV is its diagonal × 9 ÷ √(16² + 9²), or about 0.49 × the diagonal. The bottom and top edges are half that height below and above the centre, and the bracket height is the centre plus the offset between the mounting holes and the screen centre.
- H
- Visible screen height (inches)
- angle
- Upward angle from your eyes to the screen centre
- Distance
- Horizontal distance from eyes to the TV (inches)
Worked examples
65-inch TV at eye level, sofa 9 ft away
A 65" 16:9 screen is 31.9" tall. With its centre at 42", the bottom edge sits at 26.1" and the top at 57.9". Looking at the top edge from 9 ft needs only about an 8° glance upward.
75-inch TV above a console, 5° up, holes 3" below centre
At 10 ft, a 5° angle raises the centre by 120 × tan 5° ≈ 10.5", to 50.5". The 36.8" tall screen then spans 32.1"–68.9", and the bracket holes go 3" lower at 47.5".
55-inch TV above a fireplace, 10° up
From 8 ft, a 10° angle lifts the centre by 96 × tan 10° ≈ 16.9", to 58.9". The top edge reaches 72.4", about 17.6° above eye level, so a tilting mount is a good idea.
Frequently asked questions
How high should a TV be mounted?+
For most living rooms the centre of the screen should be at seated eye level, about 42 inches (107 cm) from the floor. That puts the bottom edge of a 65-inch TV about 26 inches off the floor and a 55-inch TV about 28.5 inches.
How high should a 65 inch TV be mounted?+
With the centre at a 42-inch eye level, a 65-inch TV’s bottom edge sits about 26 inches from the floor and its top edge about 58 inches. Mount the bracket according to where the holes sit relative to the screen centre.
Is it OK to mount a TV above a fireplace?+
It often places the screen too high for comfortable viewing. If you do, keep the upward angle to the screen centre under about 15°, sit further back, or use a tilting or pull-down mount.
How high should a TV be in a bedroom?+
In a bedroom you usually watch while reclining, so your eye level is higher. Measure your eye height while sitting up in bed — often 45–55 inches — and use it as the centre height.
Does the bracket go in the centre of the TV?+
Not always. The VESA mounting holes on the back of a TV are often above or below the screen centre. Measure that offset and adjust the bracket height so the screen, not the bracket, ends up at the right height.