Sitting distance

[radcast2]

Is there a chart or something that tells you what size TV you should have compared to the distance you are sitting away from it?
I will b sitting about 10' away, with my wifes current arangement of our living room. The shortest distance would be 6'

In the FAQ's it says 2 to 2.5 times the screen size. So with a 42" I should sit at least 84" away?

[ohheck]

Check this out.

http://www.dtvcity.com/lcdtv/lcdscreensize.html

And this

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/tv_faq.html

[d6500k]

and one more that I've used regularly. It gives some good reasons for the distances as well..

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Good viewing,

Doug k

[radcast2]

Thanks they were perfect for me.

[gparris]

If this helps, most of my clients, friends and family get HDTVs with a sitting distance of 6-8 feet for best picture for all sources, SD and HD, from sets measured in the 42-48 inch size.

In the 50-55" size, the set distance goes up to 8-10 feet and after that, in the 60" and up sizes, 10-12 feet so the resolution of HDTV can (still) be seen.

For 1080p sets and HD-only programming, I tell them 1.5 x the set's diagonal screen measurement, only if it used for HD programming and HD DVDs.

If they watch more SD than HD programming, I almost go to 2.25 - 2.5 x the diagonal measurement, too.

This is why I have a questionaire of what they watch, where they watch it and what their expectations are when doing any kind of HT or the most basic of HDTV setups, before anything is purchased.

Most of the time that 2 x the diagonal methond is used for HDTV set placement from the seating area is used with great success.
There is still a good deal of SD programming out there and chances are, they will be watching some of it. :D

[radcast2]

gparris,
thank you for your added input......my wife saw me doing the calculator and she said see ya I told you a 50" wouldnt be to big :) gotta love it when your spouse is willing to go for a bigger TV.
I would be willing ot fill out one of your questionaire's just see what it comes up with.

[gparris]

You are welcome, my questionaire is basically what you get from reading our forum's FAQ section, which is excellent, IMO.
I would try getting both you and your wife to the store and watch your favourite DVD, checking to see the difference in displays - making sure the display you are watching is not in vivid or "torch" mode, either...this can ruin the experience and stores are always doing that.
Additionally, check for rainbows with DLP sets, screen door effect (SDE) with LCD RPTVs and plasmas, as they give most of my clients headaches.
If you take, for example, the Sony 50" LCD RPTV and sit at a distance of about 8-10 feet away with most programming sources including upconverted DVDs or HD DVD (if you get one), you will be fine and not see an SDE at all.
Same goes for the popular Panasonic 50" plasma set, too - move a lot of those, too.
Samsung and Toshiba offer DLP RPTV displays, many models are available to choose from in the 50"+ size and are quite popular, too.
If I could get you both to agree on the Sony 50A2000 SXRD LCoS set, you would probably be happiest with it.
Whatever you do, get an extended warranty that is renewable for at least a 2 year period as these are complex electronics and as with anything, can break down, not to scare you, just advice.
Also, think about the stand for your STB (HD box or HD DVR) and DVD player and AVR (Audio/Video Receiver) if you want surround sound as you purchase you set so you have places to put them conveniently....just some help here...good luck shopping!

[radcast2]

thanks for the help gparris. It is somewhat sad to say this...but, one of my major factors is choosing this new tv is how it will handle my 360 gaming(especially still images). That is the main reason I have detered away from the Plasma's even with the anti burn in technology, and am looking for a DLP(42"-50") or LCD (42"). Personlly I feel that out of box a plasma gives a more natural color than anything else.
My stand will have to be able to handle a Kenwood receiver(surrond sound), Xbox 360, Motorola HD DVR STB, and possibly soon an upconverting DVD player. If I could get my wife to agree with me or you on the Sony 50A2000 I would be a VERY happy man. Today we went to Sams Club to see what they had and the 2 that she really liked was the Samsung 50" DLP (HL-S5065W), I was very impressed to see the settings sitting at about 50 for almost all of them with a great picture, and then a Phillips 60" Projection TV(which I would prefer not to have). That Samsung DLP was pretty nice and it comes with the stand. She liked that 42" Vizio LCD but I notice it has more of a yellowish coloring than any other tv up there.

[gparris]

If this helps, my Sony LCD RPTV is just awesome using XBOX with component and optical for surround on the Sony AVR for sound.
No game lag, no problems with contrast, no colour fading or burn in...just an example.
Hard to keep the kids from not playing ... great for the game room.
See my gallery of pictures in this forum - there is a seating area at 8-10 feet from the set in front of the gym equipment...works very nice (w/surround speakers in the ceiling).

[Phixion]

Is there a differant distance scheme from HDTV to SDTV viewing? That's what i was gathering from this thread. of course you definitely want to be looking at the TV dead on (in the case of LCD or rear projection) in terms of not being offset from the sides or height distance. I have a "26 myself and sit about 6 feet from my TV...

[57U]

Is there a differant distance scheme from HDTV to SDTV viewing? Yes, see the following chart regarding eye resolution, however, most people don't move closer and farther from their TV, so the "2X rule of thumb" is typically a good one.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=1137&page_number=1

[hulkster081]

thanks for the help gparris. It is somewhat sad to say this...but, one of my major factors is choosing this new tv is how it will handle my 360 gaming(especially still images). That is the main reason I have detered away from the Plasma's even with the anti burn in technology, and am looking for a DLP(42"-50") or LCD (42"). Personlly I feel that out of box a plasma gives a more natural color than anything else.
My stand will have to be able to handle a Kenwood receiver(surrond sound), Xbox 360, Motorola HD DVR STB, and possibly soon an upconverting DVD player. If I could get my wife to agree with me or you on the Sony 50A2000 I would be a VERY happy man. Today we went to Sams Club to see what they had and the 2 that she really liked was the Samsung 50" DLP (HL-S5065W), I was very impressed to see the settings sitting at about 50 for almost all of them with a great picture, and then a Phillips 60" Projection TV(which I would prefer not to have). That Samsung DLP was pretty nice and it comes with the stand. She liked that 42" Vizio LCD but I notice it has more of a yellowish coloring than any other tv up there.

i am in the same boat you are right now. im a big gamer, and am looking for a good tv without gamer lag and burn-in worries. after doing about 2 months of research, ive narrowed it down to the sony 50 or 60" KDS-A2000 series. the reason im chiming in here is that i saw you talk about a samsung tv. i dont have the site right with me, but if you do a google for "gaming lag ign.com" you will pull up an article that discusses the tv's that suffer from gaming lag. the reason i point this out, is that samsungs were hands down the worst sets as it pertains to gaming lag. im sure some people will say "my samsung tv is awesome and caused me no problems!!!" but if you look on ign.com's site at that article, you might find the tv you are looking at to suffer from gamer lag. just a suggestion.

[radcast2]

hulkster081.....yeah the RP DLP's did suffer from the "gaming lag" I notice that in the HL S series they fixed that, it seem to be more of an issue with the 2004 and 2005 models, but they also came out with a game mode on there DLP's.....
I am considering the Samsung 42" RP DLP HL-S4266W, 50" HL-S5086W, but as well the Sony Wega 46" RP-LCD KDF-46E2000.