Distance and Screen Size

Early B.

We have a Sony Trinitron 36" TV and view it from about 10 ft. away. I'd like to hear from those of you who have larger screens and view your TV's from the same distance.

About 3 years ago I bought a 47" TV and it was hurting our eyes, so we returned it, even after playing around with the color and brightness settings. Just wondering what other folks' experiences have been. Can we take advantage of the benefits of a larger screen or are we stuck with a smaller screen due to our limited viewing distance?

Thanks.

Dennis Gardner

I found going from my 36" Sony from around 8-10 ft to a front projector 92X69 (108" diagonal I think) viewed from 12-13 feet took about a month of adjustment to get accustomed to stop darting my eyes across the screen as I did on the smaller TV.

It simply is a mental adjustment on how you watch the screen. Kinda like sitting upfront when you come in late to a movie theater, after the first 15 minutes, you are forced to relax your mind about the closeness and focus on the story line.

It takes awhile to adjust your viewing habits, but I will never enjoy widescreen movies again on something as small as my living room Sony. I currently am at 80X45 16:9 from about 11 feet for my sweet spot.

BIZILL

there is a very simple formula for a tv's viewing size to the corresponding viewing distance. so simple, i forgot what it was. salesmen told me that buying a 65" tv would be too big for my viewing distance of 8'. i beg to differ. i swear to goodness i wish i had gone front projection and gone even bigger! the only adjustment i had to make over time was the 'wow' factor. i cannot stand anything smaller than what i have. everyone has different tastes. when i moved into my house my setup has me about 12' away from the screen. now that is too far for me. but i don't have the cash flow to go front projection right now.

opus

Bizill,
With all due respect I could not disagree with you more . I am 11.5 ft away from my 50" LCD and that is on the borderline for optimum viewing. If I take 1 or 2 steps back the picture goes from fantastic to Awesome. I have several friends who have bought big for the WOW factor and lose quality in the picture display. IMO. 10 ft and under, I believe you should go under 50.

I hope that we can disagree without getting into a flaming match

Dennis Gardner

Fantastic to awesome? Is that better or worse?

The general rule is 1.5 times the screen width for optimum distance, but of course this isn't possible for small TVs. Nobody wants to sit 4 feet from their 27 inch tube. The rule has more to do with screen artifacts losing focus such as screendoor effectand pixelation. Too close and the too much detail is seen. The larger the image, the larger the defects, enough that distance becomes your friend.

You must also remember that with front projection, any angle in the room is a sweet spot not just within the viewing cone of RPTV, LCDs, etc. unless a high gain screen in implemented that narrows the reflection angle.

opus

Dennis Gardner wrote:

Fantastic to awesome? Is that better or worse?

The general rule is 1.5 times the screen width for optimum distance, but of course this isn't possible for small TVs. Nobody wants to sit 4 feet from their 27 inch tube. The rule has more to do with screen artifacts losing focus such as screendoor effectand pixelation. Too close and the too much detail is seen. The larger the image, the larger the defects, enough that distance becomes your friend.

You must also remember that with front projection, any angle in the room is a sweet spot not just within the viewing cone of RPTV, LCDs, etc. unless a high gain screen in implemented that narrows the reflection angle.

Yes awesome is better. All good points you make.

pearsall001

I think the general rule of thumb is 2-2.5 times the diaginal size of the tv for optimal viewing distance. I sit 13 ft back from a Sony 50' LCD & the picture is fantastic, sitting at my computer desk approx 5 ft further the picture looks even better, w/ these types of tv's (LCD, DLP, PLASMA) the further the better. I know a couple of guys who wouldn't listen & just had to have the monster size tv which was too big for their rooms. They definetley got the WOW factor plus a really **** picture to boot!!!! To each his own.

Dennis Gardner

pearsall001 wrote:

I think the general rule of thumb is 2-2.5 times the diaginal size of the tv for optimal viewing distance.

You say that because you have a little TV. 25 feet back from a 10 foot screen is not possible in most rooms.

Here is a nice site for calculating the SMPTE and THX viewing distances.
Viewing distance calculator

pearsall001

size of the tv doesn't matter. Correct viewing distance for the size tv you have is what counts. Too close = bad picture. For my 50' tv anything closer than 10ft does not do the picture justice. After 10ft the picture really blossoms. At 13-14ft the picture is awesome. Bigger is only better when you have the correct viewing distance. Period!!

McLoki

ok, I currently have a 36" panasonic HD tube TV. I really like the looks of the Sony 50A10 but it will not quite fit where I need it to. The 42A10 will fit fine. (42" LCD rear Projection)

I sit about 14' back from the tv and it sounds like (from the posts to this thread so far) that the 50" would be perfect for me if it fit.

My question is, is it worth the upgrade to the 42" widescreen from a 36" 4by3 set or should I just wait until I can make a 50" work in my location?

BTW - would be used for DVD movies about 80% of the time with the other 20% being standard definition cable tv.

Michael

danger boy

this is slightly different. but somewhat associated to viewing distance. IN a movie theater I prefer to sit in the last 5 rows.. anything closer than that.. and my eyes can't take in the whole screen without my eyes (and brain) getting overwhelmed by the picture.

Plus when you sit to close to a screen.. you notice to much grain in the picture. So i'd rather sit a little farther back then to close when viewing a TV. Although, they say with HDTV you can sit closer than you could with old fashioned analog TV. go figure.

pearsall001

What do you mean by - not quite fit? Barring any major construction I would definetely go w/ the 50' SONY. If you get the 42" you will be second guessing yourself & losing sleep over it too. You've got the perfect viewing distance for the 50'. Stop horseing around & get your butt out there & get it!!!! Playoff"s & Super bowl are right around the corner!!!! Added bonus - if the Bear's are your team - even more reason cause they'll probably make the playoff's!!!

mrmusicman

McLoki,
When I was going to up-grade my 32" tube I was looking at the 42" sony Lcd rp.Then I saw the 55" sony and liked the pic better,thats the one i purchaced,we have about 12' between us and the tv and have a great pic with no issues.If you have at least that much room I would reccomend getting a min of 50" screen and not even consider the 42".Just my opinion.

mike

Early B.

danger boy wrote:

this is slightly different. but somewhat associated to viewing distance. IN a movie theater I prefer to sit in the last 5 rows.. anything closer than that.. and my eyes can't take in the whole screen without my eyes (and brain) getting overwhelmed by the picture.

Danger -- Same here. Could it be that this issue is primarily based on preference? When I go to the theater, I sit in seats that are at least two-thirds back from the screen. But some people prefer to sit in the first couple of rows. Maybe the same principle can be applied to home viewing.

PolknPepsi

EarlyB,

You mention adjusting the color and brightness settings to help you watch tv. I hope on a tv of that size you are at least using a calibration disc, they will make a world of difference. Reason I say this is if the controls are way off it would be torture to sit at any close distance.

We are thinking about at least a 50" plasma and we sit about 10' away from the screen. Some rear projection LCD's 'to me' need to be a bit farther away to get a really clear picture.

Early B.

With a 36" TV, I feel I'm missing some of the movie experience because the screen is small. This is especially evident when watching in widescreen format. It would be nice to have a larger screen, I think. In starting this thread, I just wanted to make sure I'm not going to be ruining my eyesight if I upgraded.

Early B.

PolknPepsi wrote:

EarlyB,

You mention adjusting the color and brightness settings to help you watch tv. I hope on a tv of that size you are at least using a calibration disc, they will make a world of difference. Reason I say this is if the controls are way off it would be torture to sit at any close distance.

Back in those days when I bought the 47 incher, I wasn't participating on this forum, so I didn't know about calibration discs and such. Perhaps if I had used a calibration disc, I'd still have that TV.

BIZILL

opus wrote:

Bizill,
With all due respect I could not disagree with you more . I am 11.5 ft away from my 50" LCD and that is on the borderline for optimum viewing. If I take 1 or 2 steps back the picture goes from fantastic to Awesome. I have several friends who have bought big for the WOW factor and lose quality in the picture display. IMO. 10 ft and under, I believe you should go under 50.

I hope that we can disagree without getting into a flaming match

no flaming matches. i prefer a fist fight. kidding. when i say bigger/closer is better, i am of course referring to watching in high def. when i watch my old school s-video satellite or analog cable, further distance becomes my best friend as it tends to blend the blemishes out of existence.

Frank Z

106" Diagonal screen and I set 12' away.

Ron-P

I have a 7' screen and sit 7' away. The back row at 12' is too far away.

Skynut

48" and 8' away, I like it but I really want to go a little bigger and maybe try a front projector for movies only. Then I will probably go really big like 96" and the same 8'.

Skynut

Early B. wrote:

We have a Sony Trinitron 36" TV and view it from about 10 ft. away. I'd like to hear from those of you who have larger screens and view your TV's from the same distance.

About 3 years ago I bought a 47" TV and it was hurting our eyes, so we returned it, even after playing around with the color and brightness settings. Just wondering what other folks' experiences have been. Can we take advantage of the benefits of a larger screen or are we stuck with a smaller screen due to our limited viewing distance?

Thanks.

Do you rent or own?
I ask because if you rent you know you will probably move sometime and I would be willing to go bigger because the next place will be bigger.
My 2% of $1.00

Early B.

Skynut wrote:

Do you rent or own?

Own.

Thanks everyone for the responses. Wow, I'm pleasantly surprised at some of the viewing distances. Looks like I can plan for a larger screen sometime in the future.

Dennis Gardner

One thing to consider is the type of programming.

I like movies to give the theater feel...........................................for Oprah, more distance is a good thing.

Skynut

Dennis Gardner wrote:

One thing to consider is the type of programming.

I like movies to give the theater feel...........................................for Oprah, more distance is a good thing.

Oprah................................. :eek: :eek: :eek:

McLoki

Just found this page going over recommended distances and screen sizes. There is a chart a the bottom to fill out your screen size and distances and it will tell you THX recommendations and such. Basically, no matter what you hve its not large enough...

Michael

adam2434

13 ft. away from a 100" diagonal.

No screen door effect or visable digital artifacts at this distance and still plenty big to give the movie theater feel and even the Imax/Omnimax vertigo feel on some material.

High def and well done DVD transfers look awesome at this distance. Standard res TV looks a little grainy/blurry at this distance, and benefits from being viewed a few more feet back, as do lower quality DVD transfers.

Skynut

100" That would be nice.

wingnut4772

I sit about 11 feet away from my 56 inch sammy and the PQ( when it is working :eek: ) is good. Unfortunately now Samsung may have to replace it again and I am thinking of dumping the Sammy alltogether and going with the HP 1080p set. They come in either 50 or 58 though and I don't want to go smaller. I wonder if 58 will be ok at 11 feet? I can't move my couch because it is lined up with the speakers just right.