Why is tv measured diagonally

The system for measuring a TV diagonally became a common method in most electronic stores in the early 80's. Before this standard of measurement different stores used different measurements some measured Diagonally and Some Horizontal "Old sets were measured diagonally, new sets horizontally. But consumer confusion has led to Most stores deciding to measure new TVs diagonally too. Your best bet? Take a tape measure and check for yourself. And remember -- the size they list is only the size of the screen, not the TV cabinet.

Television screens are measured diagonally because the first picture tubes were round. Early sets showed the entire round surface, but later sets masked off to a rectangle.

Rectangular tubes are more difficult to manufacture and weren't in common use until around the late 60's. So the early tubes were measured by their diameter. After masking this is the diagonal. I would venture to say that it is simply marketing. A 36 inch diagonal television sounds larger than a 32 inch horizontal television despite their identical size.

The use of diagonal measurements to determine screen size was not considered to be misleading, since previous televisions all had a ratio of The ratio meant that the height of a screen was three-fourths the size of the width. When widescreen televisions become popular, the ratio jumped to Due to lawsuits that arose from the discrepancy between the stated screen size and the actual size, manufacturers are legally obligated to specify the viewable screen dimensions.

What may seemed somewhat silly is actually rooted in a lot of logic. We are sure however, that you may now be asking, why not rather change it? Why not use the length and width measurements, as we do these days of the screen size? Sounds weird, right?! Both those measurements are actually exactly the same thing. As humans, we are creatures of habit, so it makes sense to stick with what we know.

The truth is, not only is it this now a standardised unit of measurement for all screens worldwide, it is simply easier to present the size of your screen using only one figure. Take a 50 inch TV for example; if we were to start giving you the full dimensions of these screens — length and width — it may start getting a little more confusing… Why Are Screens Measured Diagonally?

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