What TV Size for 12×16 Room? [Explained For Beginners]

Do you need help finding the perfect TV size for your 12×16 room? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Luckily, the organizations like SMPTE have viewing distance tables & formulas for TV sizes, which we can use to find the right TV size for any room size.

And the process is really simple, just 3 steps! But I have for you a pro tip first.

Since 12×16 is a rectangular room, the TV size will be different for 12 feet wall side and 16 feet wall side. I would suggest planning your furniture placement in a way that the TV is on 12 feet wall. This way, you will have ample viewing distance, and you can go for larger TV size to have a more immersive experience.

Here’s How to Find the Right TV Size for 12×16 Living Room

First Scenario When TV is on 12 Feet Wall

1- First, plan your room layout and furniture placement, and identify the TV location and seating place.

2- With a measuring tape, measure the distance from your TV location (wall or stand) and seating place (couch or bed).

For instance, I planned my room layout in a way that I placed the TV on 12 feet wall. So the distance between my TV location and seating was 10.5 feet (126 inches )

3- Now divide your available viewing distance (mine was 126 inches) by 1.6235 using this formula. Or Panasonic recommended formula. The answer will be your recommended TV size. You can also get the TV size from the table below for your viewing distance.

1-SMPTE Viewing Distance Formula

Viewing Distance in (inches)/ 1.6235= TV Size (inches)

126 inches/ 1.6235= 77 Inches (Recommended TV Size 75-77 Inches)

2- Panasonic Viewing Distance Formula

Viewing Distance in (inches)/ 1.6235= TV Size (inches)

126 inches/ 1.5= 84 Inches (Recommended TV Size 85 Inches)

Note: After dividing your viewing distance, if you get a TV size like 77 inches which may not be available on the market, you should buy the closest TV size like 75. For 77 inches, you can go for 75 inches. You can confirm this from the table, which lists Viewing Distances for popular TV sizes.

SMPTE Viewing Distance Table 30 FOV

SMPTE Viewing Distance For Living Room (Inches)	SMPTE Viewing Distance For Living Room (Feet)	Recommended TV Size(TV Sizes Diagonal)
52 Inches	4.3 feet	32 inches
70 inches	5.8 feet	43 inches
82 inches	6.8 feet	50 inches
90 inches	7.5 feet	55 inches
103 inches	8.9 feet	65 inches
114 inches	9.5 feet	70 inches
122 inches	10.2 feet	75 inches
131 inches	10.9 feet	80 inches
139 inches	11.6 feet	85 inches

Related: What TV size for 13×13 Room?

Recommended TV Size For 12×16 Sq.feet Living Room 

If you plan your room layout and furniture arrangement in a way that your TV stand is on the 12 feet wall, you will be able to maintain around 10.5 feet viewing distance. For 10.5 feet distance, the recommended TV sizes for living room are 75-85 inches. But if you plan your TV location on the 16 feet wall, you will be able to maintain a 7.5-8.5 feet distance, and can go for a 55, 65 or 70 inches TV.

The key is to measure the distance from the TV Stand/wall location to your front couch. Select 55-inch TV for 7 feet viewing distance and 70-inch TV size if the available distance in your room is 8.5 feet.

For example, if your room layout allows you to maintain 4.5 feet distance from the TV place, you should look for a recommended TV size of 4.5 feet on the table, which is a 32-inch TV.

How to Find the Right TV Size for 12×16 Home Theater Room

1- First, plan your room home theater layout in a way that TV will be mounted on 12 feet wall, so you will have ample space of 16 feet for 2 rows of seats.

2- Take a measuring tape and measure the distance between your TV location and first row in inches. For instance, in my case it was (108 inches) 9 feet.

3-Look at the THX distance table for the home theater setup, which is best for movies. Or use the THX formula.

THX Formula To Calculate TV Size

TV Size= Viewing Distances inches x 0.835

For instance, in my case viewing distance between TV location and couch is 108 inches. So,

TV Size (inches)=108 inches x 0.835= 90 inches Screen

If you can maintain 10 feet viewing distance, you can go for 100 inches screen. But we recommend if you plan to go more than 85-inches, then go for projector screen instead of TV.

THX Viewing Distance Inches	THX View Distances(feet)	TV size
38 inches	3.2 feet	32-inch
42 inches	3.5 feet	35-inch
48 inches	4 feet	40-inch
52 inches	4.3 feet	43-inch
60 inches	5 feet	50-inch
66 inches	5.5 feet	55-inch
72 inches	6 feet	60-inch
78 inches	6.5 feet	65-inch
84 inches	7 feet	70-inch
90 inches	7.5 feet	75-inch
96 inches	8 feet	80-inch
102 inches	8.5 feet	85-inch
108 inches	9 feet	90-inch
114 inches	9.5 feet	95-inch
120 inches	10 feet	100

Key Factors That Determine the Right TV Size For Your Room

1-Your room layout & furniture placement

Your room layout planning and furniture placement will decide where you will install the TV and how much viewing distance you will have from your TV location to your sitting place.

2-Optimal Viewing Distance For TV Size

For the best viewing experience, we need to be at a specific distance from the screen. SMPTE & THX have given some simple formulas to calculate viewing distance for your TV. We will use these formulas to determine the TV size for our room.

SMPTE Formula: TV Size (Diagonal)= Viewing Distance inches/ 1.6

THX Formula: TV Size Diagonal = Viewing Distance inches /1.2

3-Personal Preferences (including Budget)

As always, what matters the most is you. Your preferences, your experiences and your budget. You may prefer an 80-inch or 83-inch TV based on your budget or liking.

Related: What TV Size for 14×16 Room?

Our Top Recommendations For 55-75 inch TVS

1-Hisense U8H Series QLED TV

Hisense U8H is available in popular sizes like 55, 65,75 inches. It is a well-built, feature-packed and reasonably-priced TV. Its picture quality is impressive due to its high contrast ratios, wide color gamut and fantastic brightness in both SDR and HDR.

The TV is based on Roku platform which is a user-friendly system with tons of entertainment options.

The most highlighting feature of the TV is the 120Hz refresh rate and excellent response time, making it a solid gaming option.

Conclusion

So the perfect TV size for your 12×16 room can be between 50-75 inches depending upon which wall you mount your TV and your viewing distance. The bottom line is to measure the distance from the TV location to your couch first and then choose the TV size accordingly.