TV screen sizes, my curiosity

[#1]

Yes, curiosity rather more than technical need drives this.

The World in most respects has adopted metric dimensions, but, at least in the UK, we still measure TV screens in inches. Apart from the inch being odd man out, it is crude compared with the cent,or millimetre.

Does any know what the actual metric screen sizes are?

[#2]

USA is still quite strictly using what they often refer to as 'British' units in preference to metric and, since they are probably the world's largest consumers of TVs, the 'inch' sizes are probably here to stay.

Philips state screen sizes in cm as well as inches on thier website (in the specifications tab) for their TVs, e.g. a 43inch screen is also listed as 108cm for example: https://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/43PUS7394_12/7300-series-4k-uhd-led-android-tv-with-ambilight-3-sided/...

Interesting my calculator says 43 inches is 109.2 cm.

[#3]

Interesting.  I've just got a 65" TV, so just checking the box, which I've still got and that also says 163cm.  A quick conversion gives me 65" = 165.1cm.  Measuring the TV it actually comes to 163cm, which is just slightly over 64"

[#4]

I suppose you all know but for what it's worth TV screen sizes are measured on the diagonal.

[#5]

https://www.zmescience.com/other/map-of-countries-officially-not-using-the-metric-system/

So only Liberia, Myanmar, and the USA.

In the (fairly recent) days of CRT TVs, adverts would often specify "visible screen size" since part of the front of the CRT was hidden by the casing.  If the same applies to flat screens, that could explain the slight difference in the measurements, i.e. the imperial measurement might include the whole of the screen while your metric measurement is of the actual visible screen size.

[#6]

@Anonymous, that is how I measured it.

[#7]

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@w23 wrote: USA ..... and, since they are probably the world's largest consumers of TVs, the 'inch' sizes are probably here to stay.

I'll think you'll find China dwarves the USA for number of TV's. Same with smartphones, China first, India 2nd. USA trailing in afterwards. But I do find inches far easier to visualise than cm's.

[#8]

Could the UK/USA measurements include what is needed to affix the panel to the frame, though the viewer would not see it? Adspeak likes larger numbers.

[#9]

You might as well ask why we measure distance in miles or can buy milk in pints or potatoes in lbs, even if we're not allowed to call them pints/lbs etc. anymore.

I'm sure that if the remainers have their way that these practices will soon become outlawed so enjoy units that most of us can understand and visualise whilst you can.

[#10]

Why are computer flat screens sold as inch sizes?

My video driver says that I have a "1920x1080 pixels (508x286 millimeters)" screen [note the spelling error]

I bought it as a 24" screen.

A simple application of Pythagoras's theorem gives a diagonal display size of

582.975128114mm = 22.951776697 inches

Where did that inch go?

I suspect that 24" includes the plastic surround.

[#11]

Is 508x286 the pixel size or the pixel pitch? Maybe if its size there is a gap between them.

[#12]

Just for a laugh, the driver also says that the resolution is

96x96 dots per inch

What's a dot?

[#13]

Smartphone screens are usually quoted in inches too, and pixel density in pixels per inch.

[#14]

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@VileReynard wrote:

Just for a laugh, the driver also says that the resolution is

96x96 dots per inch

What's a dot?

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See for explanation

[#15]

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@w23 wrote:

USA is still quite strictly using what they often refer to as 'British' units in preference to metric and, since they are probably the world's largest consumers of TVs, the 'inch' sizes are probably here to stay.

I'm conjuring up a vision of DT POTUS sitting down to a TV dinner, or should I say a TV-set dinner. IT'd have to be 50" at least.