How Much Should I Tilt My Wall Mount TV?

As TVs have become thinner while providing greater visual fidelity, wall mounting has become the go-to solution for setting up screens in a home setting. While fixed TV mounts offer simplicity and a clean aesthetic, tilted mounts are becoming more popular as a means of getting the best viewing experience while allowing adjustments on the fly for different TV viewing situations and the ability to hide wires.

However, once you choose a TV wall mount, knowing when and how to tilt your TV with them can be confusing. How much tilt for a wall mount TV do you need? Read on to learn more.

What is a Tilted Wall Mount?

Where fixed wall mounts are (as the name states) fixed at a set angle, tilted wall mounts offer vertical angle adjustment, which allows you to change the viewing position. The one potential downside to this is that it requires your TV to be a bit farther from the wall in order to provide space for tilting. That usually means at least two inches of space, while fixed wall mounts allow your TV to be nearly flush with your walls.

Why Get a Tilted Wall Mount?

Aside from the clean aesthetic, tilted wall mounts allow for varying degrees of vertical adjustment. This is optimal if your TV is placed above the optimal viewing level, allowing you to tilt the screen down to prevent neck strain while you’re watching your favorite shows. The angle adjustment can also come in handy if you’re dealing with any glare or screen reflections from room lights or open windows without blinds.

How Much Tilt for a Wall Mount TV?

TV Viewing Height

Figuring out the right angle for tilting starts with figuring out the viewing height of your TV. Ideally, your TV should be high enough such that the exact center of the screen is at eye level when you are sitting down. That works fine if it’s just you watching TV, but that’s not exactly feasible if you have multiple people watching one screen. When you can’t achieve the “ideal” height, you have to compromise and find a comfortable medium for everyone.

Even if you are considering yourself, viewing angle can change based on your height, your sofa, the monitor’s height, and the distance from your seat to the screen. The best place to start: measure your approximate seated eye height from the floor using some measuring tape, and then take that measurement to your wall. That gives you a general indication of where the center of your screen should be. Assuming that the mount connects to the center of the TV, that should give you your sweet spot.

Most of the action on TV occurs in the middle third of the screen. Take the height of your TV and divide by three. Measuring that from the bottom edge of the screen and you get a general idea of where the middle third starts, with some variations based on bezels and frames.

In reality, a lot of this comes down to trial and error, but remember that you don’t have to look for an exact formula. You’re looking more for a comfortable range.

Viewing Angle

Viewing angles are also fairly subjective. Having a tilt of +/- 25 degrees is acceptable, but this can also depend on your room situation. Your own comfort, glare reduction, and lack of neck strain are more important than exact degrees of tilt.

Furthermore, thanks to the progression of technology, TVs can be very forgiving when it comes to viewing angles. Based on the clarity, refresh rate, resolution, and overall image quality of the modern TV, getting to any sort of “sweet spot” with the angle is almost superfluous.

A tilting tv mount can take the neck strain out of your viewing experience and reduce glare, making your TV sessions much more comfortable.

Sources:

1: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-xdaPtu1gq3f/learn/HDTV/choosewallmount.html

2: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-mount-tv,news-24719.html