How big a TV in the Sanctuary?

A few times a week, I chat with churches considering replacing projectors with a TV screen, or three. It’s a great option.

One of the most basic questions is, “how big of a TV do we need in our sanctuary?”

There’s a pretty good formula for this. It’s called the “3-6x Rule.”

First, take the size of your hypothetical TV. For this example, we’ll use an 85” TV, since it’s currently at the sweet spot for large and affordable at Costco. or Best Buy.

So 85” x 3= 255”.

85”x6=510”.

That gives a range between 255 inches (21.25 feet) to 510 inches (or 42.5 feet). Not so hard.

Now, go measure that distance in your sanctuary. Every seat inside that radius will be reasonably happy with a TV of this size. If they’re outside that range a little, it will probably be fine. If they are substantially outside of that range, they will think the TV is too small.

Obviously, if all seats are easily inside the radius, perhaps you could consider a smaller TV. Repeat the math with the next size down, maybe a 75” TV.

That’s fairly straightforward.

Alternatively…you can use the handy calculator below. This works best if you know the distance from where you want to install the TV to the farthest chair from that TV.

What happens if you have a lot of seats outside that range? You have two options. Either buy a much larger TV, or install multiple TVs.

For example, in some older churches, the sanctuary is deep, with seats maybe 100 feet from the stage/chancel. In that case, no size TV will work in the front of the room. For that matter, the back half of the sanctuary probably never liked any projector you had, either! The best solution here is to just install multiple TVs midway through the sanctuary.

This is a question that has a pretty straightforward answer! While you’re thinking about TVs, make sure you use the right kind of wire (hint: it’s not HDMI).

We love helping with things like that, helping churches respect the aesthetics of their room, while also making them functional for ministry in our present reality. Want to talk about other details? Schedule a zoom meeting with us.