The televisions in our homes have gone through a tremendous amount of changes in the last fifty years. At one time the family television was a console unit that was three to four feet long and a couple of feet thick. The television screen was centered in the gigantic cabinet, and the screen was much smaller than the cabinet.
Today televisions are thin and the heavy wooden cabinets of yesteryear have disappeared. With the new televisions being thinner and there fewer cabinets on the devices the weight of the units has decreased as well.
How Much Does a TV Weigh?
Today the average 32” television weighs about 30 pounds. There was a time not so long ago when the average television in a home weighed between 100 and 200 pounds.
Believe it or not, in the 1950s the average television weighed about one hundred pounds. The pictures were black and white because colored television was not widespread, and the cabinet was so bulky you needed at least two people to move the device around the room.
Smart TVs
The weight of television is affected by the type of television that it is, and the age of the unit. The older sets were made with heavier materials and they were heavier. Today televisions can weigh as little as ten pounds and they usually top the scales around 45 pounds.
| Television Size | Approximate Weight |
| 32 Inch | 10 pounds |
| 48 Inch | Close to 20 pounds |
| 50 Inch | Close to 30 pounds |
| 55 Inch | Close to 32 pounds |
| 60 Inch | Close to 34 pounds |
| 65 Inch | Close to 40 pounds |
| 70 Inch | Close to 45 pounds |
| 77 Inch | Between 72 and 80 pounds |
What was The Biggest Television Ever Made?
The biggest television on record is the SONY KV-40XBR700 CRT 40”. This television weighed 304 pounds.
The CRT utilizes cathode ray tubes and each of the tubes has between four and eight pounds of lead in them. These are older technology sets and it was discovered that the tubes contained toxins.
What made it Possible to Make Televisions Lighter?
In 1983 the discovery of the liquid crystal display changed the world of television completely. The liquid crystal display allowed the heavy and toxic cathode ray tubes to be removed from televisions and that started the weight reduction process.
Are Lighter Televisions Better?
This is an ongoing debate. Most people agree that the lighter and thinner televisions do not have the same picture quality that the thicker sets have.
A lot of the debate focuses on how thin the television is, but you need to focus on resolution ability if you want to get a television set that produces high-quality pictures.
The sound on many of the thinner televisions is not as good as the old stereo sound sets from the past. To get really good sound quality from a television today you are likely going to need to connect a soundbar or Bluetooth speaker.
Sound bars have gotten a lot cheaper, and they provide sound quality that is comparable to the surround sound that was so popular about fifteen years ago.
Did You know?
- 99% of the homes in the United States have a television set
- 66% of the homes in the United States have three television sets in them
- The Average American family watches eight hours of television each day
- The first television offered for commercial sale was produced in 1928
- The first television commercial aired on July 1st, 1941 in New York City. It was an advertisement for a Bulova watch.
- Between the ages of 5 and 13 American children will have watched an estimated 13,000 deaths on television.
- More people own cell phones than televisions. Many people watch their television programming from their phones.
- In 1950 only ten percent of American homes had televisions in them
- In 1960 90 percent of American homes had a television in them
- Today 55 percent of American children have a television set in their bedroom
- Today the majority of televisions that are below 60 inches weigh less than 80 pounds
FAQs
What is the thinnest television?
The LG OLED “Wallpaper” is only 2.5mm thick.
Which televisions are the thickest?
The Cathode Ray Tube with a non-curved glass panel is the thickest.
Does Panasonic still make Plasma televisions?
Panasonic, LG, and Samsung all stopped manufacturing Plasma televisions in 2014.