Viewing Distance

[malloryj1]

I just bought a new house and it has a partially finished basement with a 10' x 10' room. I wanted to put my 51" hitachi rear projection widescreen HDTV down there but am not sure if there is enough room. I will have about 6.5' between the screen and myself. Does this sound like enough to watch DVD, HD and play XBOX? If not I can possibly cut out one of the walls and have the TV recessed into the wall making the screeen flush to the wall. This would place 8.5' between the screen and myself. So do I keep the 6.5' or try my carpentry skills to gain a couple of extra feet?

[oman321]

IMO, it would be worth it for you to move the set into a recessed opening. 6.5' is really pushing it for a 61 inch screen.

[kevinw]

6.5 feet is close. I am 8 to 10 feet from a 50 inch with out issues but you should try it first

[dooboy2112]

I have a 56 inch and I'm about 10 feet from the screen and it seems a little close. So for you may want a little smaller TV.

[DoubleDAZ]

6.5' is probably okay for gaming, but I suspect you might find it too close for much TV viewing. My suggestion would be to hit the nearest store and stand in front of a similar sized HDTV long enough to get a feel for what it would be like at home. Even if you find it okay, you still might want to consider others who will also be viewing. I'm 10.5' from my 65" and while I could go closer, I don't know that I'd want to be that close for general TV viewing. It would probably be okay for the occassional movie theather-like experience though, assuming it is not your main TV viewing area. Then too, it sounds like you could set it up and then decide to build a recess to gain the additional 2' at some later date.