Video and displays
Viewing angle
The horizontal angle a screen fills in your field of view, measured from the seat to the screen's left and right edges.
Viewing angle is the horizontal angle the screen subtends from a given seat. It depends on screen width and viewing distance, not resolution, and it is the number that best captures how immersive an image feels.
Too small an angle makes a big room feel like watching a TV across a hall; too large forces your eyes to scan and makes edge-of-frame action tiring.
SMPTE recommends at least 30 degrees for the main seats and THX suggests about 36 degrees, allowing up to roughly 40. For a 16:9 screen, 36 degrees works out to a distance of about 1.5 times the screen width.
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