43 or 50 inches?

A 50-inch TV is the better choice for a living room where the sofa sits 1.8 m or more from the screen, and a 43-inch TV is the better choice for a bedroom, a closer seat or a space narrower than about 1 m. The 50-inch screen is 15.5 cm wider and has 35% more area, and the same model costs £40 to £50 more on Amazon UK at the time of writing (October 2026). The Hisense 50E78QTUK PRO at £395 is £50 more than the Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO at £345, with an identical 144 Hz QLED specification.

The two sizes sit in the middle of the UK market. In a March 2025 YouGov survey of 2,020 adults in Great Britain, 43 to 50 inches was the most common size of main TV, owned by 27%. The full shortlists are in Best 43 inch TV UK 2026 and Best 50 inch TV UK 2026.

How big is a 43-inch TV compared with a 50-inch TV in cm?

A 50-inch TV is 15.5 cm wider, 8.7 cm taller and 35% larger in screen area than a 43-inch TV. The 43-inch screen measures 95.2 cm by 53.6 cm and the 50-inch screen 110.7 cm by 62.3 cm. TV sizes measure the diagonal, and area grows with the square of the diagonal, so 7 more inches adds 1,795 cm² of picture.

The frame adds 1 cm to 3 cm on each side. UK retailer spec sheets list the Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO at 96.3 cm wide and 56.0 cm tall without its stand, weighing 7.4 kg. Budget sets such as the TCL V6D stand on feet near the outer edges, so the TV unit needs to be nearly as wide as the TV unless it is wall-mounted.

Which size suits my viewing distance?

The switch point is 1.8 m: closer than that, a 43-inch TV fills the view comfortably; further away, a 50-inch TV does. TV makers and RTINGS aim for a screen that fills 30 degrees of view for everyday watching (widely attributed to SMPTE) and 40 degrees for films (THX). Compare Electronic calculated both sizes at five distances:

At 1.2 m, a 50-inch TV fills almost 50 degrees, wider than the THX cinema guide, so the eyes have to travel to follow the action. At 2 m, a 43-inch TV falls below 27 degrees and starts to look small. The BBC measured a median UK viewing distance of 2.63 m in its 2014 survey, where neither size reaches 30 degrees. Every size from 32 to 85 inches is covered in What size TV do I need?

How much more does a 50-inch TV cost than a 43-inch?

The same TV costs £40 to £50 more at 50 inches than at 43 inches on Amazon UK on 3 October 2026. Compare Electronic priced three model families sold at both sizes, so the only change is the screen. Each extra 100 cm² of screen costs £2.23 to £2.79, less than half of what the 43-inch models charge per 100 cm².

In every family the 50-inch model is cheaper per square centimetre of screen: £5.73 against £6.77 per 100 cm² for the Hisense pair, and £3.76 against £4.30 for the TCL pair. Running costs barely move. The energy label rates the Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO at 50 kWh and the Hisense 50E78QTUK PRO at 63 kWh per 1,000 hours in SDR. At 4 hours a day and the Ofgem cap of 26.32p per kWh (October to December 2026), that is £19.21 against £24.21 a year, a £5.00 difference.

Hisense 50E78QTUK PRO vs 43E78QTUK PRO

The Hisense E78Q PRO is the best-value TV at both sizes, and the two models differ only in size, price and energy use. Both have a 4K QLED panel at 144 Hz with VRR, ALLM and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos on 20 W speakers and the VIDAA platform with Freely built in.

The 43-inch model is the top pick in Best 43 inch TV UK 2026, and the 50-inch model is the best 50-inch TV under £400 in Best 50 inch TV UK 2026. UK retailer spec sheets list about 330 nits for the 43-inch model, which suits a bedroom or an evening lounge but not a sunny room. Freely streams BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 live over broadband, so either size works in a room without an aerial socket.

TCL 50V6D vs 43V6D

The TCL V6D is the cheapest 4K pair worth buying at both sizes: the TCL 50V6D costs £259 and the TCL 43V6D £219 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (October 2026), a £40 gap. Both are 2026 models with 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, AirPlay 2 and Fire TV with Alexa.

The TCL V6D runs at 60 Hz, with VRR and ALLM through TCL's Game Master mode, so it suits broadcast TV, streaming and casual gaming more than 120 fps console play. It has no Dolby Vision and no quantum dot layer. Against the Hisense E78Q PRO, the TCL saves £126 at 43 inches and £136 at 50 inches; the Hisense adds 144 Hz, Dolby Vision and quantum dot colour.

Is a 43 or 50 inch TV better for a bedroom?

A 43-inch TV is better for most bedrooms. Bedroom viewing distances are short, and a 43-inch TV fills 30 to 40 degrees of view from 1.31 m to 1.78 m. In a Which? panel study published in October 2025, viewers 2.5 m from the screen preferred 40 to 43 inches, smaller than the 30-degree guide suggests, and viewers at 2.7 m to 3 m preferred 48 to 50 inches.

A 50-inch TV suits a large bedroom where the bed sits 2 m or more from the wall and the screen doubles as a film screen. Wall space is the other limit: a 50-inch TV needs about 113 cm to 117 cm of clear width, more than many chests of drawers. Mounting height, Freely and sleep timers are covered in Best TV for a bedroom UK.

Is a 43 or 50 inch TV better for a living room?

A 50-inch TV is better for a living room, and many living rooms suit 55 inches. At the 2.5 m distance a 2025 Cambridge and Meta study used as the average UK living room, a 43-inch TV fills 21.6 degrees and a 50-inch TV 25.0 degrees, both under the 30-degree guide. The 43-inch TV only makes sense in a living room where the sofa sits within 1.8 m of the screen, or where the TV must fit an alcove under 1 m wide.

Buyers already set on a bigger screen should read 50 vs 55 inch TV: the Hisense E78Q PRO costs £445 at 55 inches, another £50 for 21% more screen than the 50-inch model.

Should I get a 43 or 50-inch TV for my room?

Get a 50-inch TV if the seat is 1.8 m or more from the screen and the space is at least 117 cm wide; get a 43-inch TV otherwise. Compare Electronic's room guide covers the common cases:

Is a 43 or 50 inch TV better for gaming?

Both sizes suit gaming when the TV runs at 120 Hz or faster with VRR, so the right size depends on the seat. The Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO and Hisense 50E78QTUK PRO both run at 144 Hz with VRR, ALLM and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, so a PS5 or Xbox Series X can run 120 fps modes and a gaming PC can use the full 144 Hz. The Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO is the only 43-inch pick under £500 in Compare Electronic's 43-inch guide that runs above 60 Hz.

A 43-inch TV is the better gaming screen at a desk or from a bed under 1.5 m, where the whole picture stays inside the 40-degree view and the HUD corners stay visible. A 50-inch TV is the better console screen from a sofa at 2 m. The TCL V6D and LG QNED70B6C pairs run at 60 Hz, which suits casual play but caps consoles at 60 fps. More gaming TVs are ranked in Best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Who should buy a 43-inch TV instead?

A 43-inch TV suits four buyers: a bedroom viewer within 2.5 m, a household with a TV unit or alcove under 113 cm wide, a desk gamer, and a buyer with a hard budget ceiling. For webOS and a MiniLED backlight rather than 144 Hz, the LG 43QNED70B6C costs £329 and the LG 50QNED70B6C £379, another same-model pair with a £50 gap.

Buyers with a seat 2.5 m or more away should skip both sizes for 55 inches; the budget options are in Best budget 55 inch TV UK 2026. Spaces too small for 43 inches are covered in Best 32 inch TV UK 2026.

Verdict

A 50-inch TV is the right size for a living room with the sofa 1.8 m or more away, and the extra £40 to £50 buys 35% more screen at a lower price per square centimetre. The Hisense 50E78QTUK PRO at £395 is the pick. A 43-inch TV is the right size for most bedrooms, desks and narrow spaces, and the Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO at £345 brings the same 144 Hz gaming features. On a tighter budget, the TCL 43V6D at £219 and TCL 50V6D at £259 cover the same choice. The full rankings are in Best 43 inch TV UK 2026 and Best 50 inch TV UK 2026.