How big is a 27 inch monitor in cm?

The picture on a 27 inch 16:9 monitor is 59.8 cm wide and 33.6 cm tall. The body adds the bezel, so allow about 61 cm of width on the desk, plus a stand about 18 cm deep. The same arithmetic gives 52.7 by 29.6 cm for a 24 inch class panel and 70.8 by 39.8 cm for a 32 inch.

Why does my 24 inch monitor say 23.8 inches?

Because that is the size of the panel inside it. Most 24 inch class monitors use a 23.8 inch panel and are sold under the rounder number. The difference is about 4 mm of width, too little to change what fits, but it is the figure to use when you work out pixel density.

Should I get a 27 or a 32 inch monitor?

Measure how far your eyes will be from the screen. A 27 inch is comfortable from about 56 to 78 cm, a 32 inch from about 67 to 92 cm, so on a desk 60 cm deep the 27 inch is the one that fits the distance. If you do go to 32, buy it at 4K: at 1440p it is only 92 pixels per inch, no sharper than a 24 inch 1080p screen.

Two 27 inch monitors or one 34 inch ultrawide?

Two 27 inch screens side by side take about 125 cm of desk and give 5,120 pixels across. A 34 inch ultrawide is about 81 cm wide with 3,440 pixels across, and its picture is almost exactly as tall as a 27 inch one. The ultrawide is the smaller choice, not the bigger one; the ultrawide versus dual guide has the full comparison.

How deep a desk do I need for a monitor?

For the monitor alone, the stand plus a 30 cm strip for the keyboard: about 48 cm for a 24 or 27 inch and 52 cm for a 32 inch. For comfort, your eyes need to end up inside the size's distance range, and the calculator assumes they sit about 5 cm further from the screen than the desk is deep. That makes 60 cm right for a 24 or 27 inch, and 70 cm right for a 32 inch or a 34 inch ultrawide.

What scaling will I need on a new monitor?

It follows the pixel density. A 24 inch 1080p (93 PPI) and a 27 inch 1440p (109 PPI) usually run at 100%. A 32 inch 4K (138 PPI) usually wants 125%, and a 27 inch 4K (163 PPI) 150%. A 34 inch 3440 by 1440 ultrawide sits at 110 PPI, right on the line between 100% and 125%. The monitor scaling calculator works it out for any size.

Monitor size calculator

Monitor size calculator: what fits your desk?

Enter your desk and how far you sit from it. We rank every size that fits and draw the one you pick at true scale, so you can see it rather than imagine it.

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QHD · 49 px/deg

On a 120 cm desk, sitting at 65 cm

27″

Best fit

for what you do

Uses about half your desk width, leaving 58.6 cm free. It sits at a comfortable 49° across from 65 cm, and 109 PPI is sharp for text. It is a little ahead of the alternatives.

Fit96
Viewing99
Ergonomics100
Sharpness100

Screen width: 59.8 cm61.4 cm with bezels
Desk used: 51%59 cm remaining
Viewing angle: 49° horizontal29° vertical
Sharpness: 109 PPI · 49 px/degSharp
Clear each side: 29.3 cm
Height: 4.4 cm below eye levelcomfortable

Every size at 65 cm

Nothing is hidden from you.

Every size in the catalogue is here, including the ones that do not fit. Knowing a 57″ needs 129.6 cm when you have 120 cm is more useful than it quietly disappearing.

Every monitor size ranked for a 120 centimetre desk, with its verdict, width and score.
Verdict	Why	Width	Score
Best fit	51% of the desk · 49° across · 49 px/deg	61.4 cm	99
Defensible	53% of the desk · 51° across · 70 px/deg	63.6 cm	95
Defensible	67% of the desk · 49° across · 49 px/deg	80.5 cm	95
Defensible	55% of the desk · 53° across · 45 px/deg	66.2 cm	95
Defensible	60% of the desk · 57° across · 62 px/deg	72.4 cm	93
Defensible	47% of the desk · 46° across · 52 px/deg	56.9 cm	93
Defensible	46% of the desk · 44° across · 41 px/deg	54.7 cm	91
Compact	42% of the desk · 41° across · 45 px/deg	50.3 cm	87
Defensible	75% of the desk · 54° across · 49 px/deg	89.7 cm	86
Defensible	78% of the desk · 57° across · 62 px/deg	93.9 cm	81
Defensible	95% of the desk · 49° across · 48 px/deg	114.1 cm	76
A lot of head turn	82% of the desk · 63° across · 55 px/deg	98.9 cm	64
A lot of head turn	79% of the desk · 71° across · 47 px/deg	94.6 cm	52
A lot of head turn	81% of the desk · 72° across · 46 px/deg	96.8 cm	51
Wider than your desk	needs 129.6 cm of desk, you have 120 cm	129.6 cm	0

Whole setups on this desk

One big screen, or two?

Arrangements that people actually build, drawn from above on your desk.

How the ranking works

Four scores, weighted by what you told us you do.

Fit asks whether it physically works on your surface and rules out anything that does not, with the exact shortfall. Viewing measures the angle it subtends against the range that suits the task. Ergonomics checks you are not looking up at it. Sharpness uses pixels per degree rather than pixels per inch. Every size that does not fit stays in the list with the reason.

Read the method

Your desk’s depth decides the size, more than its width

Width is the measurement everybody takes, and it is rarely the one that rules a monitor out. A 120 cm desk is wide enough to stand anything up to a 34 inch ultrawide on. What it may not have is the distance: every size has a band of eye distances where the whole screen sits comfortably inside your view, and the bigger the screen, the further back that band starts.

For ordinary desk work the calculator puts that band at about 50 to 69 cm for a 24 inch, 56 to 78 cm for a 27 inch, 67 to 92 cm for a 32 inch and 74 to 103 cm for a 34 inch ultrawide. It assumes the screen stands 10 cm in from the back edge of the desk and your eyes are about 15 cm past the front edge, so your eyes end up roughly 5 cm further from the screen than the desk is deep. On a standard 60 cm desk that is 65 cm: inside the band for a 24 or a 27 inch, a little short for a 32 inch, and well short for a 34 inch ultrawide. A 70 cm desk suits a 27, a 32 or a 34 inch ultrawide; an 80 cm one favours the two big ones.

A monitor arm changes this. It takes the stand’s 18 to 22 cm of foot off the desk and lets you push the screen back to the wall, which buys a shallow desk the distance a 32 inch needs. The desk size calculator works out the depth and width for a screen, or two, on a stand or an arm.

The resolution to buy at each size

The same resolution looks different on every size, because the pixels spread over more glass. At 24 inches, 1080p gives 93 pixels per inch. At 27 inches, 1440p gives 109. At 32 inches, 1440p falls to 92, no better than the 24 inch, which is why a 32 inch is worth buying at 4K, where it reaches 138.

Density sets scaling. Below about 110 pixels per inch, text is usable at 100%. From 110 to 140 you will probably want 125%, from 140 to 170 150%, and above that 200%. So a 27 inch 4K, at 163, is a 1440p workspace with sharper text rather than more room on screen; a 32 inch 4K at 125% gives you both. The monitor scaling calculator takes any size and resolution and shows the usable workspace at each setting.

An ultrawide or a second screen

A 34 inch ultrawide sounds like more screen than a pair of 27s, and it is much less: about 81 cm of body against 125 cm for two 27 inch monitors with a small gap, and 3,440 pixels across against 5,120. What it has is height to match a 27 inch, no seam in the middle and one cable. A 49 inch 32:9 is the one that equals two 27s, almost to the millimetre.

Pick the ultrawide when the work wants one wide canvas, such as a timeline, a long spreadsheet or a game. Pick two screens when it splits into two jobs, such as code beside a browser, and when the desk is wide enough for 125 cm of monitor. The ultrawide versus dual guide measures every common pairing.

Monitor size questions

How big is a 27 inch monitor in cm?: The picture on a 27 inch 16:9 monitor is 59.8 cm wide and 33.6 cm tall. The body adds the bezel, so allow about 61 cm of width on the desk, plus a stand about 18 cm deep. The same arithmetic gives 52.7 by 29.6 cm for a 24 inch class panel and 70.8 by 39.8 cm for a 32 inch.
Why does my 24 inch monitor say 23.8 inches?: Because that is the size of the panel inside it. Most 24 inch class monitors use a 23.8 inch panel and are sold under the rounder number. The difference is about 4 mm of width, too little to change what fits, but it is the figure to use when you work out pixel density.
Should I get a 27 or a 32 inch monitor?: Measure how far your eyes will be from the screen. A 27 inch is comfortable from about 56 to 78 cm, a 32 inch from about 67 to 92 cm, so on a desk 60 cm deep the 27 inch is the one that fits the distance. If you do go to 32, buy it at 4K: at 1440p it is only 92 pixels per inch, no sharper than a 24 inch 1080p screen.
Two 27 inch monitors or one 34 inch ultrawide?: Two 27 inch screens side by side take about 125 cm of desk and give 5,120 pixels across. A 34 inch ultrawide is about 81 cm wide with 3,440 pixels across, and its picture is almost exactly as tall as a 27 inch one. The ultrawide is the smaller choice, not the bigger one; the ultrawide versus dual guide has the full comparison.
How deep a desk do I need for a monitor?: For the monitor alone, the stand plus a 30 cm strip for the keyboard: about 48 cm for a 24 or 27 inch and 52 cm for a 32 inch. For comfort, your eyes need to end up inside the size's distance range, and the calculator assumes they sit about 5 cm further from the screen than the desk is deep. That makes 60 cm right for a 24 or 27 inch, and 70 cm right for a 32 inch or a 34 inch ultrawide.
What scaling will I need on a new monitor?: It follows the pixel density. A 24 inch 1080p (93 PPI) and a 27 inch 1440p (109 PPI) usually run at 100%. A 32 inch 4K (138 PPI) usually wants 125%, and a 27 inch 4K (163 PPI) 150%. A 34 inch 3440 by 1440 ultrawide sits at 110 PPI, right on the line between 100% and 125%. The monitor scaling calculator works it out for any size.

Monitor size calculator: what fits your desk?

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