How do you measure your TV? If you use your tape measure from side to side, you might think the manufacturer is taking you for a ride.
That’s what Jania (@janiayangavin) thought when she unpackaged her new Roku TV earlier this month. Side to side, the screen was inches shorter than the 50 inches the set was advertised as.
She was convinced she was being literally shorted—until her partner did some research.
Jania posted her suspicion and then her revelation to the couple’s TikTok account on March 7. It’s received more than 135,800 views since then.
They didn’t know
“I just found out something crazy,” Jania begins. “We just got this 50-inch Roku TV, OK?”
The camera pans to the opened container and then cuts to the TV. A measuring tape goes from one side of the rectangular set to the other.
“Measuring the TV, it is 44 inches,” she says, showing the measurement on the other side of the tape.
Gavin, her partner, then steps in, stating that he measured the box, thinking it would measure 50 inches. It was only 48 inches.
“There’s no way they can get away with this, right?” she asks. But then Gavin took to the internet for answers.
“I was looking it up, and most TV places measure from [bottom] corner to [top] corner. So I measured from corner to corner, and it’s 50 inches.”
“So this whole time, every TV that you get, it is actually from?” Jania asks.
“Corner to corner,” he states.
How to measure your TV
Gavin’s research was correct. TV sets have always been measured from the corners.
According to Fonestar.com, to measure your TV, “Measure diagonally from one upper corner to the opposite lower corner. Make sure to measure only the visible screen and not the frame or bezel of the TV.”
“The result of this measurement will be the size of your TV in inches. For example, if the diagonal measurement is 42 inches, then your TV has a 42-inch screen.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Roku via email for a statement.
Why are TVs measured diagonally?
The reason screen size is measured diagonally dates back to the first television sets. These devices used cathode ray tubes, and the first screens were curved and circular.
For this reason, the best way to measure the surface area of the monitor bulb was diagonally.
Per Slashgear, “You had to consider how far the screen jutted out from the innards, as opposed to modern flat screens that you can just hang on a wall.”
As TV sets became more rectangular over time, the diagonal was still the best way to measure screen size as it was “the largest observable length on the device.”
“This is why diagonal measurements became the standard — if you want to adequately illustrate how big something is to a customer, you give them the biggest number you’ve got.”
@janiayangavin Did anyone else know this about TVs?!? I’m shooked. Ps don’t mind my voice I have the flu
♬ original sound – CoupleTikToks
Viewers weren’t surprised
Most of Jania’s viewers were aware of the diagonal measuring standard.
Derick P (@dpat502) wrote, “That’s the way the size of tv’s have been measure every [sic] since they were invented.”
“I thought that was common knowledge,” one viewer commented.
Another added, “I thought this was common knowledge sometimes it even has a picture on the box with little arrows from corner to corner.”
However, some viewers sympathized with Jania.
“People pleazzzze be mindful. What might be common knowledge for some people may not be so common to others. Ya live…ya learn! Thanks for sharing with those who didn’t know prior to this…” one wrote.
Another wrote, “Who measures diagonally? I didn’t know either you’re not wrong!!!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Jania via TikTok comment and direct message for further statement.
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