Recommended distance from 27" screen?

Closer IMO as the dot-pitch is much smaller. Normally you stretch your arm and touch the screen with your fingers, but here you can put it at your wrist position.

It's a matter of personal preference, but for a screen that size, 30" to 36" would be an ideal distance. It also depends on the apps you use. You want to be able to take in as much of the sceen as possible without excessive head or eye movement. I certainly wouldn't want to be as close as 20" away from a 27" screen with a full screen spreadsheet.

Word of warning with the 27" is you would want an arms length between you and it. I use a shelf at home and found the 27" uncomfortably close but the 21" was perfectly fine.

27" 3 feet to 3 1/2 feet.

Arms length

Any ergnomic specialist will tell you that the monitor should be arms length away from your eyes so reach your arm and make sure your fingers are barely touching the monitor.

Also, the TOP of the screen should be level with your eyes, so either adjust your chair height, or get an adjustable stand and adjust the height until the top of the screen is level with your eyes.

djrobsd said:

Any ergnomic specialist will tell you that the monitor should be arms length away from your eyes so reach your arm and make sure your fingers are barely touching the monitor.

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Unless your monitor is a touch screen running windows 8, distance to the monitor is a factor of screen size, definitely not arms length for a 27" monitor.

If you are using a hi resolution monitor (i.e. 2560x1440), then about arm's length is about right for most people. However, if you are just talking about a 1920x1080 (1080p), then you might want to sit a little further back, unless you don't mind see the space between pixels or you have a touch monitor. This is all in accordance with your eye-sight, display quality, touch screen or not, desk layout, etc. It's really about comfort to you.

arms length seems a bit vague

I have mine probably 10 inches beyond arms length. That's the perk of a large screen for me...plenty of desk area in front of the monitor!

can anyone give some ideas for sitting distance for a 27 4k monitor ?

i assume i can sit closer than 2560x1440 with a 3840x2160 4k ?

i want to have my eyes about 20 inches away

I usually sit around two feet, plus or minus 6 inches or so, depending on whether I’m designing something intricate (close), developing in my editor, or watching a video (far).

right, i am around 2 feet give or take, i guess this also depends on what resolution you choose as well

Actually just measured my normal viewing distance on my 27 inch iMac. Turns out to be 29 inches.

Use the old rule 27" away or about 70 cms.

Unless of course one's head is bigger!!!!!!

Guys and gals, if you find moving further away from the screen makes the text too small for you, can change the scaling to provide larger text and it will still be excellent quality. This is one of the benefits of Retina, although you will lose effective screen real estate.



The main problem with the iMac's ergnomics is the screen height of the 27" since the chin raises it up, and this can't be changed unless you resort a 3rd party VESA stand or a desk with adjustable height (which can have other ergonomic problems).

EugW said:

Guys and gals, if you find moving further away from the screen makes the text too small for you, can change the scaling to provide larger text and it will still be excellent quality. This is one of the benefits of Retina, although you will lose effective screen real estate.

The main problem with the iMac's ergnomics is the screen height of the 27" since the chin raises it up, and this can't be changed unless you resort a 3rd party VESA stand or a desk with adjustable height (which can have other ergonomic problems).

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i will be buying an lg 27 but i assume font scaling will be available from the mac mini ?

slomojoe said:

i will be buying an lg 27 but i assume font scaling will be available from the mac mini ?

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Yes, but this is not font scaling. This is scaling of the entire UI.

EugW said:

Yes, but this is not font scaling. This is scaling of the entire UI.

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right, indeed yes, i knew that but phrased my reply incorrectly, thanks for the heads up

Figured I’d piggy back my question here since it’s about distance. My first IMac, do most of you find that’s you ended up just buying a larger desk to create the safe space ?? Debating this now

Spoiled said:

Do you have to sit further away from the 27" than a "normal" size screen? What's the recommended distance?

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(i'm responding to your respondents really but I cant see that the resolution makes any difference as some are saying; the bigger the screen the further it has to be from your eyes otherwise you are moving your neck the whole time) ps i know this is an old thread and probably not relevant to you anymore but it was exactly the q i was asking.

Spoiled said:

Do you have to sit further away from the 27" than a "normal" size screen? What's the recommended distance?

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I'd also like to know for those that wear glasses like myself if your screen is at 3- 3 1/2 ft do you wear your tv, or distance glasses or what?

24 inches. 60 to 61 centimeters for those using the metric system.

For all screens, just extend your arm out while sitting straight up with your back against the chair. If you can't fully extend your arm without touching the screen you're probably sitting too close. Also, one other key thing, the top of your monitor should be at your forehead level so you're not constantly looking down you should be able to see the bottom of your screen by looking down naturally with your eyes without having to move your neck.

jimo piot said:

I'd also like to know for those that wear glasses like myself if your screen is at 3- 3 1/2 ft do you wear your tv, or distance glasses or what?

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If you need glasses, the ideal solution is to use an intermediate prescription - sometimes called "computer glasses". They are optimized for a longer distance than reading glasses - about 28 inches in my case. They are wonderful if you spend much time using the computer - and are also useful when playing board games, etc. I spend a lot of time in my home office, and these glasses are one of the best purchases I've ever made.

If you wear reading glasses, sometimes using an older pair with a weaker prescription will serve the same purpose as a new intermediate prescription. If your eyes are somewhat equal and you have no unusual things built into your prescription, you can inexpensively try out "computer glasses" by just getting some low power reading glasses at your local discount store. When selecting them, put your text the same distance from your eyes as your computer will be.

If you decide to get a custom computer prescription, make sure you optimize the distance to your computer screen BEFORE getting the glasses made. 3.5 feet seems like an unusually long distance - do you have some special reason for being that far away?