Screen Mounting Tips/Guide?
xphile -- Thu, 01/01/2009 - 13:23
Hello. I was searching this fine site to see if I could find some guidance on the optimal or correct height to mount a screen. I recall over the years catching a few articles on the subject, but now that I am about to mount a screen, I cannot locate one.
It seems logical you would want to center (vertically) the screen on the comfortable viewing spot for the eyes of the person(s) in the primary seating. This would ensure no neck craning up or down based on the type of seating you have. But that is just my thinking and likely some subconscious retention of something I read.
Any comments would be appreciated and for the record I sure miss the old print Perfect Vision, you guys published a great magazine (still an avid TAS reader) and the new site here looks great.
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As you mention in your second paragraph, you should always adjust a screen's vertical position so the primary viewing position is comfortable. The goal is for you to be able to see the entire screen without having to look up or down. There's a reason that the center seats of a stadium type of movie theater are the ones that get filled up first...
A good rule of thumb is that your eyes should be approximately halfway between the top and bottom of the screen.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
I'm looking for info on screen vertical viewing angle too. I found that the SMPTE says "the normal line of sight is 12 to 15 degrees below the horizontal". I think the reason there are few formulae to calcuate screen height relative to your eyes is that it matters whether your chairs recline.
I also found a rule of thumb that your line of sight should be aligned with a point 1/3 of the way up the screen from the bottom. I actually think that fits with Steven's point about eye height aligning with midpoint of the screen. If you are seated in a normal upright position, then if the midpoint of the screen is at eye height (measured from the floor), the 1/3 point of the screen will be lower and you'll be looking down (slightly), which is what the SMPTE says is comfortable.
Does that make sense?
Yes. The primary purpose of the spec is to avoid strained necks and extreme viewing angles.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications