B&O have been increasing the height of its TV floor stands. For e.g (overall height in brackets)

8800 34 (84) LX5500 34 (86) MX6000 34 (103)  6-26 48 (106)  7-32 53 (110)

Even the bulky Avant stands at 108 - below the slender BV7-32. The BV6-26 also has a very high stand for its size.  BV3 on its castor stand stood a massive 121. BV7-40 is 124. Is this all for a bigger design statement or has there been a change of the percieved optimum viewing height from a typical armchair?

Interesting observation. Of course we need to consider the positioning of the actual viewing area, for example my MX6000 on a motor stand has the lower edge of the screen at ~50cm from the floor.

Personally, I think I would rather look down than up, and perhaps have the eyes of typical dialogue participants level with mine, so the reference for the eye height measurement could be perhaps 1/3 down the screen. 4:3 vs. 16:9 is an issue as well.

But I suspect all this variation is just due to how the overall design will look, as the bigger screens would sit awfully low using this reference... even looking at the older models, the bigger LX might probably look a bit silly with a stand that brought it to the same screen level as the MX.

I noticed a big difference changing from an LX5500 to an Avant 32. The LX blended in perfectly but the Avant dominates the room space far too much. The reason is the height dimension only. It is around 10cm higher than I would like. Interestingly, this portrait rather than landscape design has been carried over to the BV10.   

Preferring the low wide look I am considering a 7-40 using the 'table stand' which brings the height down by 30cm from the floor stand. The screen base to floor is approx 35cm. It might look far too low as you say, but I have seen it portrayed this way in B&O brochures!

David

Just like you, David, screen height is one of my major considerations, and the only worry I have about the BV 10 on its floor stand. The TV has not arrived on our shores, so I have yet to see how it actually looks like in person, but my measurements of its location-to-be in my living room and my "gut feeling" indicate that it would look nicer were it ~10 cm lower, like the BV 5 and 9. Otherwise it might dominate the space too much as you say.

Leo

The specs of the BV10 show the stand only adding 11cm or just over 4" so it's not too drastic. The overall height of this 40" TV is actually less than the 32" Avant. The '10' is also wider so looks almost square - IMO better proportioned. Still it appears they could have easily reduced the height by 10cm or more. Why do these and other TV's in the range need to stand so tall? Perhaps it is to blend with the 6000/8000 speakers likely to complement them? Or to make a bigger 'statement'? B&O use viewing panels (consisting of cameras and real people) so they must work these things out very carefully for each design.

I have seen the BV10 mounted on a wall and it certainly looks very impressive. On the down side it lacks a motorised hinge! Good luck with your choice!

David