The right TV mount height puts the middle of the screen at your eye level when seated: for most living rooms, about 100–110 cm from the floor. Bigger TVs therefore sit with their bottom edge lower, not higher. Mounting above eye level is the most common mistake and strains your neck.
The eye-level rule
- Sit on your usual sofa in your normal position.
- Have someone measure from the floor to your eyes. Most adults land somewhere around 100–110 cm on a standard sofa; low or deep sofas can be lower.
- That number is where the centre of the screen should go. A little below eye level is fine; above is not.
Mark the screen’s bottom edge on the wall, not the bracket holes, since bracket position varies by model.
Height table by TV size (cm from floor)
Based on a screen centre of about 105 cm and standard 16:9 screens (screen height only; bezels add a little):
| TV size | Screen height | Bottom edge | Top edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 inch | about 40 cm | about 85 cm | about 125 cm |
| 43 inch | about 54 cm | about 78 cm | about 132 cm |
| 50 inch | about 62 cm | about 74 cm | about 136 cm |
| 55 inch | about 69 cm | about 71 cm | about 139 cm |
| 65 inch | about 81 cm | about 65 cm | about 145 cm |
| 75 inch | about 93 cm | about 58 cm | about 152 cm |
Different eye height? Shift the row up or down by the difference. Match size to seating distance with the TV viewing distance chart.
Bedrooms and lying-down viewing
Propped up on pillows in bed, your eyes are higher than on a sofa, so the TV can go higher.
- Sit up in bed as you normally watch and measure your eye height from the floor.
- Put the screen’s centre at that height, or slightly above.
- If it must go higher, use a tilt bracket angled down so the picture faces you and doesn’t look washed out.
Above a TV stand or wall unit
Many Kenyan sitting rooms have a TV cabinet or wall unit with a decoder, router and soundbar below the TV.
- Leave a gap of about 10–15 cm above the unit or soundbar so it doesn’t look cramped or block the remote sensor.
- Keep the screen centre near eye level. A tall wall unit can push the TV too high; a lower stand may suit better.
- Plan cables before drilling; a cable channel to the cabinet hides HDMI and power leads.
Compare brackets in TV mount types, then follow how to mount a TV on the wall to fix it safely. On hollow or soft walls, use the right anchors or ask a fundi; a falling TV can seriously hurt a child.
Mounted too high? Fixes
- Fit a tilt bracket and angle the screen down towards the sofa.
- Lower it. Usually just new bracket holes; fill the old ones and touch up the paint.
- Sit further back or recline, so the viewing angle is gentler.
Quick answers
With the screen’s centre at seated eye level, usually around 100–110 cm from the floor in a living room.
With the centre around 105 cm, the bottom edge sits about 71 cm from the floor and the top about 139 cm.
At the eye level you have when watching from bed, often higher than in a sitting room. Use a tilt bracket if it has to go higher still.
