BobHaymond

Distance to picture?

I have a Sony 36XBR mounted into a wall. I am considering a set of theater seats: three curved in back and two in front. Can some one tell me (or point me to a referance) some general rules as to distancing these seats from the screen?

TIA for any help.

John S

The general rule is 2 times your actual screen size, I'm pretty sure anyways.

StephenHa

I've always read and heard 3 times the diagonal measurement

Tod Golden

Hmmm, at three times my diagonal screen size the would be 16'3" for me. That seems a little far to me. I think I am close to 9' with my 65" Mits and it seems fine.

What would be the benefit to moving farther away?

Tod

Cees Alons

Tod,

In home theaters, the minimal distance is dictated by the height of the screen, because it's the scanlines you don't want to distinguish. Width does play a role: you also wouldn't want to have to move your head (i.s.o. of your eyes) to be able to look from the utter left to right, but in practice that's not the problem.

So a good minimum distance for current, non-HD NTSC systems (480 lines) would be: one-and-a-half to twice the height of your screen. Optimal distance is also influenced by personal preference, near- or far-sightedness, etc. and would typically be slightly more than the minimal distance.


Cees

JamesCB

Try this:

Viewing Distance Calculator

James

Torgny Nilsson

Hmmm. I have always heard that the optimum distance is 1.5 to 2 times your screen width measured on the horizontal. I used 2 times my screen width in my setup and that seems perfect.

Tod Golden

I moved my seating back last night to about 12'. And I must admit that this distance has a more mind pleasing effect. I think I will take some measurements and tinker with the distance a little more.

Tod