Best size of screen or optimum viewing distance? (1 Viewer)

[Steven Larson]

Ok, I got quite a bit of good advice about tv's earlier, and I know that the general consensus is "bigger is better". I was initially looking at 46" rptv's, then started thinking 51 or 53 (like the Panasonic), or even 57.

My living room is setup with a fireplace at one end, so I will have the tv on one of the long sides, with the couch on the opposite side. This means my couch will be about 10 feet from the screen. I ran the Viewing Distance Calculator, but I am having a hard time interpreting the results. To my mind a 53" or larger tv could be pretty big in this room, but the calculator seems to indicate that an even bigger tv would do.

Is 10 feet going to be okay with a tv somewhere between 46 and 53" diagonal screen? Will I have a good picture at that distance?

Steve

 

[Tim Hess]

Viewing Distance Calculator

 

[steve...c]

I moved recently and at my old place we were sittin about 16-20 feet away from a 65" Toshiba and it was perfect, but at our new place we were sitting 10 feet from the screen. It was not horrible by any means, but it was just too big a picture for us to take in from that distance so we sold it and bought a 50" GWIII and could not be happier. The picture looks great to my wife and I from that distance.

 

[Dave_vega]

I just got a 46" philips and I sit about 6-7 feet away from the TV..it's freekin huge at this distance..I wouldn't be able to go bigger without causing serious neck injuries

 

[Jon_Heidbreder]

Not to hijack the thread.

But it seems to me that movies at the movie theater seem larger than real life...say something like a 3:1 ratio.

Now I know the distance to what your looking at in the film makes a huge difference on how big.

But at what size screen do you get roughly a 1:1 conversion.


For Example if the camera is a close-up of someone's head say 4 feet away from the camera...what size screen would it take to give you an image that is exactly the same size as it would be in real life.

Now that I think about it this may require use of how far away you typically sit from the screen as well

lets say 10ft


Any links that help with this would be appreciated