How Wide Is a 43 Inch TV

Why a 43-inch screen is not 43 inches wide

The number on the box is the diagonal, corner to corner. The width follows from the shape: on a 16:9 panel the diagonal is 2.0397 times the height, so 43 inches of diagonal leaves 21.0812 inches of height and 37.4777 inches of width. Shown to two decimals that is 37.48 by 21.08 inches, or 95.19 by 53.55 cm, and the glass covers 790.1 square inches — 5,097 square centimetres.

Change the shape and the same diagonal spreads differently. A 43-inch 21:9 panel is 39.52 inches wide but only 16.94 inches tall: 2.05 inches wider, 4.14 inches shorter and 15.3% less glass. A 43-inch 4:3 panel lands on exactly 34.4 by 25.8 inches. Same number on the box, three different pieces of wall.

Why the published numbers come in two groups

Figures published for this size are not scattered. They sit in two clusters, and the gap between the clusters is one thing: whether the number was taken across the glass or across the whole set.

The glass cluster, 37.5 inches. 37.4777 written to one decimal is 37.5, and 21.0812 is 21.1. Both are 0.02 inch above the panel, which is what a one-decimal rounding does at this size. Metric versions of the same figure come out at 95.2 by 53.5 cm. Nothing is wrong with this cluster — it is the panel, said to the nearest tenth.

The set cluster, 37.80 to 38.20 inches. Whole-set numbers published for this size come out at 96 cm wide (37.80 in), 97 cm (38.19 in) and 38.2 in, with heights of 22.05 to 22.44 in. Every one of them is wider and taller than the glass, and the two ends of the cluster differ from each other by 0.4 inch — frame width varies between models, so whole-set figures do not agree with each other either.

The 0.72 between the clusters is the bezel. Take the widest set figure against the glass: 38.20 − 37.48 = 0.72 in, which is 0.36 in of frame on each side. Take the tallest set height against the glass: 22.44 − 21.08 = 1.36 in, which is 0.68 in above and below. Sets put more of that height under the glass than over it, so the vertical excess runs about twice the horizontal one. Both clusters can be right about the same television: one measures the lit rectangle, the other measures the plastic around it.

What is missing from the published set is the pairing. A page that gives 37.5 is giving the glass; a page that gives 38.2 is giving the set; almost none of them say which, and none of them give both side by side with the 0.72 named. That is what the table above this section is for — and why the number to fit furniture with is the second one, not the first.

One model whose glass is 42.5 inches

There is a second, smaller effect that shows up in single-model specifications rather than in size charts. At least one set sold as 43 inches publishes its display diagonal as 42.5 inches — half an inch less than the name on the box. Measured at 42.5, the same 16:9 geometry gives 37.04 by 20.84 inches, which is 0.44 inch narrower than the 37.48 above.

Read that carefully: it is one model's published figure, not a property of the size. This page has no way to tell how common it is, and it does not mean a 43-inch set has 42.5 inches of glass. Nominal sizes are rounded to a convenient number and the panel behind them is whatever the factory cut; where a maker publishes the real diagonal, believe the real diagonal for that model. Where they do not, 37.48 is the figure the geometry gives for 43.

Width and height by size

These are the 16:9 figures for the sizes sold most often. Bezel and stand are not included, so a real set is a little wider than the number here.

The sizes above this one have their own pages: how wide is a 50 inch tv gives 43.58 by 24.51 inches, how wide is a 65 inch tv gives 56.65 by 31.87, how wide is a 75 inch tv gives 65.37 by 36.77, and how wide is an 85 inch tv gives 74.08 by 41.67. Where to put the seat is a different question, and that one is worked out here.

How the numbers are calculated

Everything comes from the diagonal and the ratio, so nothing is looked up:

The ratio a:b is the width over the height, so 16:9 means 16 units across for every 9 down. For 43 inches at 16:9 the divisor is √((16 ÷ 9)² + 1) = 2.039729, and 43 ÷ 2.039729 = 21.0812. The pixel rows only run when a resolution is chosen; they do not change the width, the height or the area.

What is rounded

Width and height are shown to 2 decimals in inches and 1 decimal in centimetres, area to 1 decimal in square inches and to the nearest square centimetre, PPI to 1 decimal and pixel pitch to 3 decimals. The arithmetic runs at full precision and only the display is rounded, so a difference that reads as 0.00 at the shown precision is still a real difference in the panel.

The whole-inch line under the results is a separate calculation, not a rounding of the displayed figures: it takes the exact width and height up to the next whole inch, which is what whole-number listings do, and reports how far above the panel that lands. On a 16:9 panel it also prints the two shortcut multipliers, 0.88 × diagonal and diagonal ÷ 2, so you can tell which figure a listing used.

What is measured

These are the active panel measurements: the lit rectangle you watch. Bezels, the frame around the glass, the stand and the depth of the chassis are all excluded, so a 43-inch set will measure wider than 37.48 inches once you include the frame — by about 0.7 inch on the figures published for this size. Wall space is the width figure, because the panel is mounted flat; add clearance for the mount if it tilts. For a shelf or an alcove, use the set width, not the panel width.

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