MindSeat tools
Monitor size calculator: which screen fits your desk
A screen needs distance as well as desk space. Type how deep your desk is: the calculator works out how far your eyes will be from the screen, which sizes are comfortable at that distance, how sharp each one looks, and the scaling to use on a Mac or a PC.
Your desk and your screen
On a 60 cm deep desk, with the screen on its own stand, your eyes are about 62 cm from it.
The biggest size that fits is 27 inches: 62 cm is inside its comfortable 60 to 75 cm. We rent the 27-inch QHD. With an arm or clamp at the back edge you'd have 75 cm.
| Screen | Sharpness | Comfortable at | At your desk | Pixels vanish beyond |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-inch Full HD1920 × 1080, 53.1 × 29.9 cm | 92 PPI | 50 to 70 cm | Fits 62 cm is inside 50 to 70 cm.Fills 46° of your view | 95 cm |
| 27-inch QHD2560 × 1440, 59.8 × 33.6 cm | 109 PPI | 60 to 75 cm | Fits 62 cm is inside 60 to 75 cm.Fills 51° of your view | 80 cm |
| 27-inch 4K3840 × 2160, 59.8 × 33.6 cm | 163 PPI | 60 to 75 cm | Fits 62 cm is inside 60 to 75 cm.Fills 51° of your view | 54 cm |
| 32-inch 4K3840 × 2160, 70.8 × 39.8 cm | 138 PPI | 70 to 90 cm | Too close This size wants 70 cm or more.Fills 59° of your view | 63 cm |
| 34-inch ultrawide3440 × 1440, 79.7 × 33.3 cm | 110 PPI | 70 to 90 cm | Too close This size wants 70 cm or more.Fills 65° of your view | 80 cm |
PPI calculator
For any screen: its size and resolution in, its sharpness out.
109 PPI27-inch, 2560 × 1440 (16:9)
- The picture is 59.8 × 33.6 cm.
- With 20/20 vision, single pixels disappear beyond about 80 cm.
- A comfortable distance for this size is about 60 to 75 cm.
- Standard: 100% on Windows; a Mac runs it at 1×.
Scaling on a Mac or a PC
The same screen shows more or less depending on the scaling. What works for each, and the workspace you get.
| Screen | Mac | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| 24-inch Full HD | Runs at 1×, 1920 × 1080. Text looks softer than on a MacBook's screen. | 100%: a 1920 × 1080 workspace. |
| 27-inch QHD | Runs at 1×, 2560 × 1440. Plenty of space; text is less crisp than on a MacBook, because macOS has no sharp 2× mode at this density. | 100%: a 2560 × 1440 workspace, text at a comfortable size. |
| 27-inch 4K | Sharp at 2×. "Looks like 1920 × 1080" by default; 2560 × 1440 fits more at a small cost in sharpness. | 150%: the workspace of a 2560 × 1440 screen, with sharper text. |
| 32-inch 4K | Sharp at 2×. "Looks like 1920 × 1080" by default, with large text; "looks like 2560 × 1440" fits more and stays sharp. | 125% for a 3072 × 1728 workspace, or 150% for 2560 × 1440 with larger text. Sharp either way. |
| 34-inch ultrawide | Runs at 1×, 3440 × 1440. Wide, and softer than a MacBook's screen. | 100%: a 3440 × 1440 workspace, two windows side by side. |
Questions
What size monitor fits a 60 cm deep desk?
On its own stand, a screen on a 60 cm deep desk is about 62 cm from your eyes, which suits a 27-inch screen (comfortable at 60 to 75 cm). A 32-inch wants 70 to 90 cm: on the same desk, an arm or clamp at the back edge gives you about 75 cm.
How far should a 27-inch monitor be from my eyes?
About 60 to 75 cm, roughly an arm's length. OSHA and the ANSI/HFES 100 standard give 50 to 100 cm for any screen. If you lean in to read, make the text bigger rather than sitting closer.
Is 4K worth it on a 27-inch monitor?
For sharper text, yes: 27-inch 4K is 163 PPI against 109 for 27-inch QHD. At the usual 150% scaling on Windows, or 2× on a Mac, it shows the same amount as a 1440p screen, only crisper. It doesn't give you more room.
Is a 32-inch monitor too big?
Not if you can sit 70 cm or more from it. 32-inch 4K is 138 PPI, sharp at normal distance, and at 125% scaling on Windows it gives you more room than a 1440p screen. On a shallow desk, put it on an arm so it can go back to the wall.
What is PPI, and how much do I need?
Pixels per inch: the diagonal in pixels divided by the diagonal in inches. The higher it is, the closer you can sit before you see single pixels. Around 110 PPI looks fine at arm's length on Windows. On a Mac, text is sharpest on 4K and 5K screens, which macOS draws at 2×; at around 110 PPI, a 27-inch QHD, it draws at 1× and text looks less crisp than on a MacBook.
At what distance can I no longer see the pixels?
With 20/20 vision, beyond about 80 cm on a 27-inch QHD screen, 63 cm on a 32-inch 4K and 54 cm on a 27-inch 4K. That's the distance at which one pixel is smaller than the finest detail the eye resolves, one minute of arc.
How it's calculated
- Your eyes are taken to be about 20 cm behind the front edge of the desk, sitting upright with your hands on the keyboard.
- A screen on its own stand has its face about 18 cm in from the back edge; on an arm or clamp pushed back, about 5 cm. So the distance is the desk's depth, plus 20, minus that.
- Pixel density is the diagonal in pixels over the diagonal in inches. Single pixels disappear beyond 1 / (PPI × tan 1′), the distance at which a pixel is smaller than one minute of arc.
- Comfortable distances by size are the ones consumer display guides agree on: 24-inch 50 to 70 cm, 27-inch 60 to 75 cm, 32-inch 70 to 90 cm. All sit inside the 50 to 100 cm OSHA and ANSI/HFES 100 give.
Sources
- OSHA, Computer workstations eTool: monitor distance (50 to 100 cm), height and tilt
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, positioning the monitor
- ANSI/HFES 100-2007, Human Factors Engineering of Computer Workstations
Also: the desk height calculator gives the height for the top of the screen.
The part a calculator can't do
It can tell you which screen fits. It can't carry one to your villa. We rent the 24-inch at $40 a month, the 27-inch QHD at $110 a month and the 32-inch 4K at $160 a month, delivered with the cables for your laptop.
A height-adjustable desk at $50 a month, an ergonomic chair at $70, a 32-inch 4K screen at $160, or all of it as The Best at $345. Delivered and set up the same day, and moved free once a month when you change villas.