Viewing Distance Calculator

This tool lets you calculate how close you can sit to a 16x9 screen of a given size. It also shows the resulting viewing angle. The closest viewing distance is displayed for 3 different screen resolutions (FHD = 1920x1080 pixels, 4K UHD = 3840x2160 pixels and 8K UHD = 7680x4320 pixels).

Calculation defaults to 20/14 vision which is a better representation of good vision than the commonly used 20/20 vision. For a detailed discussion see this report (PDF). Other data available from NASA and this blog.

Select screen size

Visual acuity: 

                             |\\    screen
                             | \\
                             |  \\   Width = -.--m
     -.--m   -.--m   -.--m   \   \\
      --°     --°      --°    \   \\
-------\-------\-------\-------\  ||
        \       \       \       \ ||   Height = -.--m
  <---- FHD      \       \       \||
   <------------ 4K       \        
    <-------------------- 8K

The degree of immersion largely depends on the viewing angle. The larger the angle the more immersive. Recommended angles for commercial cinemas are

62° SMPTE closest (corresponds to -.--m for selected screen size)
43° SMPTE reference (corresponds to -.--m for selected screen size)
33° SMPTE farthest (corresponds to -.--m for selected screen size)
26° THX farthest acceptable