Video Asylum

Posted by David Aiken (A) on April 02, 2007 at 13:52:16

In Reply to: What's with all the plasmas installed OVER the mantle?! posted by patriot on April 1, 2007 at 19:52:41:

I used to work in the health and safety area with one of my main areas of concern being computer workstation setup which included things like screen height. The standard recommendation for that tends to be having the top of the screen level with the eyebrows, placing the centre of the screen below eye height.

That kind of thinking would support your view but there are some essential differences. First, viewing distance is much greater for a large screen TV than it is for a computer monitor. The extremely close viewing distance for a computer monitor means the head will be tilted up severely if the centre of the screen is much above eye height. Computer users also refer frequently to written material on the desk surface and lower screen placement not only reduces the need to tilt the head up, but it also reduces the angle of movement required when one looks down at the written material. Finally, computer users ideally sit in a relatively upright posture.

TV viewing is quite different. The viewing distance is much greater so the angle of tilt required to view a higher placed screen is much less. There is no need to keep looking down regularly, and the seating position is usually slightly reclined, meaning the head is actually facing up a bit anyway, and a lot more relaxed than a working posture.

I would think that at the viewing distances involved when a large screen is placed above a fireplace, the angle of tilt of the head is much less than the 40 degrees you suggest (that angle would probably place the screen at or above ceiling height at such distances), and that it is probably reduced even further due to the fact that there is some angle of recline in the more relaxed postures usually associated with TV viewing anyway. While I'd prefer in general to see screens placed lower rather than higher, I don't think this sort of placement is necessarily as bad as you think.

Of course, my biggest problem as an expert here is that I live in a sub-tropical climate where houses don't have fireplaces and mantles to mount the screen above. Mine sits on top of an AV rack at a height of a bit over 24". I'm not speaking from experience of above mantle placement.

David Aiken