Screen sizes
28 screen sizes with their real width and height. A diagonal on its own does not tell you how wide a screen is — the shape does the rest.
The one thing worth knowing
Screens are sold by diagonal, and area grows with the square of it. A 65-inch television is not 18% larger than a 55-inch one because 65 is 18% more than 55; it is 40% larger by picture area. That is why every step up feels bigger than the number suggests, and why measuring the width against the space is worth doing before ordering.
Laptop sizes
| Diagonal | Width (16:9) | Height | Width in cm | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.3 in | 11.6 in | 6.5 in | 29.4 cm | 76 in² |
| 14 in | 12.2 in | 6.9 in | 31.0 cm | 84 in² |
| 15.6 in | 13.6 in | 7.6 in | 34.5 cm | 104 in² |
| 16 in | 13.9 in | 7.8 in | 35.4 cm | 109 in² |
| 17 in | 14.8 in | 8.3 in | 37.6 cm | 123 in² |
Monitor sizes
| Diagonal | Width (16:9) | Height | Width in cm | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 in | 16.6 in | 9.3 in | 42.1 cm | 154 in² |
| 21.5 in | 18.7 in | 10.5 in | 47.6 cm | 198 in² |
| 22 in | 19.2 in | 10.8 in | 48.7 cm | 207 in² |
| 24 in | 20.9 in | 11.8 in | 53.1 cm | 246 in² |
| 25 in | 21.8 in | 12.3 in | 55.3 cm | 267 in² |
| 27 in | 23.5 in | 13.2 in | 59.8 cm | 312 in² |
| 29 in | 25.3 in | 14.2 in | 64.2 cm | 359 in² |
| 32 in | 27.9 in | 15.7 in | 70.8 cm | 438 in² |
| 34 in | 29.6 in | 16.7 in | 75.3 cm | 494 in² |
| 38 in | 33.1 in | 18.6 in | 84.1 cm | 617 in² |
| 49 in | 42.7 in | 24.0 in | 108.5 cm | 1026 in² |
Television sizes
| Diagonal | Width (16:9) | Height | Width in cm | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 in | 34.9 in | 19.6 in | 88.6 cm | 684 in² |
| 43 in | 37.5 in | 21.1 in | 95.2 cm | 790 in² |
| 50 in | 43.6 in | 24.5 in | 110.7 cm | 1068 in² |
| 55 in | 47.9 in | 27.0 in | 121.8 cm | 1293 in² |
| 60 in | 52.3 in | 29.4 in | 132.8 cm | 1538 in² |
| 65 in | 56.7 in | 31.9 in | 143.9 cm | 1805 in² |
| 70 in | 61.0 in | 34.3 in | 155.0 cm | 2094 in² |
| 75 in | 65.4 in | 36.8 in | 166.0 cm | 2404 in² |
| 77 in | 67.1 in | 37.8 in | 170.5 cm | 2533 in² |
| 83 in | 72.3 in | 40.7 in | 183.7 cm | 2944 in² |
| 85 in | 74.1 in | 41.7 in | 188.2 cm | 3087 in² |
| 98 in | 85.4 in | 48.0 in | 217.0 cm | 4104 in² |
Working it out yourself
For a screen of diagonal d and aspect ratio r (16:9 is r = 1.778):
width = d × r / √(r² + 1)
height = width / rFor 16:9 that simplifies to width ≈ 0.8716 × d and height ≈ 0.4903 × d, which is worth remembering: a 16:9 screen is about seven eighths of its diagonal wide and about half of it tall.
The diagonal hides how much screen you get
Two screens of the same diagonal in different shapes are not the same size. A 32-inch 4:3 monitor has 492 square inches of picture; a 32-inch 16:9 has 438, which is 11% less. A 32-inch 21:9 ultrawide has 371, less again.
The reason is geometric: for a fixed diagonal, area is largest when the shape is closest to square, and every step towards widescreen trades area away. This is why a 24-inch monitor replacing an old 19-inch 4:3 feels like less of an upgrade than the numbers promise, and why the switch to 16:9 was a saving for manufacturers before it was a feature for anyone.
What the inches are measured across
The number is the diagonal of the panel, corner to corner, and it does not include the bezel or the frame. A 55-inch television is 47.9 inches wide as a picture and typically an inch or two wider as an object, which matters for a recess or a cabinet and not for anything else.
Mounting needs more than the width. Allow for the bracket's depth, for cables leaving the back, and for the screen being roughly 27.0 inches tall before any stand. Manufacturers publish the "with stand" and "without stand" dimensions separately because the two differ by more than people expect.
Screen resolutions — the pixel side of the same question. Nominal sizes in six trades — why a 21:9 panel is not 21:9. Paper sizes — the same reference for print.