How large should a monitor be if you sit 9 feet away

Question

We sit closer to monitors than TVs because we need to concentrate on small text and icons. That is why monitors cause more eye strain than TVs.

I wonder if there is a comfortable monitor for 9 feet distance which causes no eye strain and doesn't interfere with concentration.

You plan on sitting 9 feet from your PC screen? – CodeMonkey Jul 11 '14 at 18:37 — CodeMonkey, Jul 11 '14 at 18:37
It is sure really comfortable. (And expensive of course) – Babak Karbasi Jul 11 '14 at 18:39 — Babak Karbasi, Jul 11 '14 at 18:39

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 11 '14 at 19:07

1

It depends on how good your eyes are for one thing. Assuming you have great eyesight, you may want to refer to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_HDTV_viewing_distance which contains some useful charts.

Personally I'd say from experience in trying to do something similar that it should be around 60-70 inches.

Your premise however is not entirely correct and can be avoided with other approches:

reduce the brightness of your screen to about 50%
reduce the ambient light in the room to a level just above what you might consider dim

The strain you talk about is most often caused by users either not blinking enough, poor environmental lighting, or both. Reflections off of lots of surfaces from high levels of ambient light will also add to eye strain.

answered Jul 11 '14 at 19:07

Enigma

3,391

In one chart it says minimum .9 meter for 22inch tv. I have a 23inch monitor(1080p dpi=125 percent ) and I sit .45m from it. So I suppose maximum distance from monitor is half of minimum distantnce recommended for tv. – Babak Karbasi Jul 11 '14 at 19:24
Yes I would extrapolate the same. The math won't tell you your preference however or take into account how large the text will be and on which OS. You could for example set the default font much larger than normal in Windows to accomodate a smaller screen at the same distance. This might be more useful for PC specific optimization: http://mingersoft.com/blog/2011/08/determine-the-optimal-viewing-distance-from-your-screen/ - there is also a calculator down below – Enigma Jul 11 '14 at 19:29

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 11 '14 at 20:31

-1

Make sure when you visit your optometrist/optician you mention this to them. You may be slightly shortsighted in which case viewing text etc might be improved with some specs.

answered Jul 11 '14 at 20:31

user344949

1

How large should a monitor be if you sit 9 feet away

2 Answers2