How Wide is a 50 Inch TV
While shopping for a TV, one of the key specifications you often see is the screen size, denoted in inches. This measure, however, is not referring to the width of the TV but the diagonal length from one corner to the opposite corner of the screen. This diagonal measurement method is a standard adopted from the time of CRT TVs, and it continues to be used even in the era of flat screens. The logic behind this measure is simple—it provides a way to denote the screen size irrespective of the aspect ratio.
The majority of televisions today have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which is to say that for every 16 units of width, they have 9 units of height. The 50 inches, therefore, measures the diagonal length of the TV, making it tricky to ascertain the width from this measure alone. However, one can estimate the width of a 50-inch TV by understanding the aspect ratio and using simple geometry.
To calculate the width of the screen, you can use the Pythagorean theorem, a fundamental principle in geometry that states that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle—in this case, the diagonal length of the screen) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides (the width and height of the screen).
If you set the diagonal as ‘d’, the width as ‘w’, and the height as ‘h’, the theorem can be expressed as d^2 = w^2 + h^2. Given the aspect ratio of 16:9, we can denote the width as 16x and the height as 9x. Therefore, the equation becomes d^2 = (16x)^2 + (9x)^2.
Substituting the diagonal length of 50 inches into the equation, we can solve for ‘x’, which comes out to approximately 1.53 inches. Consequently, the width of the screen (16x) would be about 24.5 inches, and the height of the screen (9x) would be approximately 13.8 inches.
However, it’s crucial to note that this calculation only provides the width of the display area of the TV and not the whole TV, including the frame or bezel. The actual width of the TV will be a bit more, depending on the design, model, and whether it comes with any attached speakers or not.
In conclusion, while the diagonal measurement is a useful standard for comparing screen sizes, understanding the aspect ratio and a bit of geometry can help you estimate the width and height of a TV, which is essential for figuring out whether a new TV will fit nicely in your space.
