Choosing a TV stand
This is a measurement method, not a product specification.
A stand has to do more than look wide enough. The useful question is where the television actually touches the furniture.
Start with the stand configuration you intend to use. Some sets have feet that can sit at the ends or closer to the centre. The cabinet width can stay the same while the contact points move. If the contact envelope is not on the manufacturer’s page, do not use the cabinet width or the assembled depth as a substitute and call that a console result.
Measure the continuous top of the furniture: the clear width and the clear depth that are actually flat and supported. A shelf with a lip, a centre brace or a raised edge is not the same as a plain rectangle. Measure the usable surface, not the advertised furniture width.
Then separate the other questions this measurement does not answer. The television’s weight and the furniture’s load rating are a support question. The cabinet may overhang the stand even when the feet land on it; that overhang is visible from the cabinet width, and it is not the same as the feet fitting. Ventilation, cable clearance and tip restraint are installation questions. Unknown answers stay unknown. Adding an extra inch of your own margin does not turn an unknown manufacturer clearance into a known one.
If you are comparing two stands for one television, keep the configuration name in the note you take to the shop. A width without that name can describe a different setup from the one you measured.