Is 8 feet viewing distance okay for 50 in HDTV? (1 Viewer)

[JamieJ]

Hey Guys,

I'm loooking at getting a Toshiba 50 inch RPTV HDTV and I was wondering if a 7 to 8 foot viewing distance is okay or is it too close? I'll be using it for DVD, HD and digital cable.

Thanks

Becks

 

[Kevin. W]

Rule fo thumb is either 2 or 2.5x the size of the screen to distance seated. So you should be 8-9ft away. You should be okay. I sit 6ft from my 47" Panny.

Kevin

 

[Eric Samonte]

Kevin is right.....though WE sit like 8.5 feet from a 65".....no problems there....

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

One of the rules of thumb for HD is also 1 to 3X the image height to get the most visible detail out of the HDTV image.

Regards

 

[DavidAM]

I sit 7' from my 56" widescreen and its fine with me.

 

[Chris Strnad]

I have the 50HX81, and the normal seating area is about 8-9' away. It fills the viewing area nicely without making me feel like I'm at a tennis match
If you do decide to get it, try to put something on the order of 20-30 hours of usage before doing any major tweaks outside of the normal menu options. You're likely to see some fluctuations in convergence (possibly focus &/or geometry) before the guns settle down and get broken-in.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Check here for THX and SMPTE recommendations:
http://www.myhometheater.homestead.c...alculator.html
Seems like 1.5x to 2x diagonal size (eyes-to-screen) is ideal for immersive experience, but you may or may not find the DVD picture too soft or artifacts too noticeable at distances closer to 1.5x. Also, digital cable might be unwatchable that close.
We mostly watch DVDs on our 53" and will get OTA HD soon enough. We also sit about 7-8' eyes-to-screen, but we don't do cable/sat though.
_Man_

 

[Ryan Patterson]

I found that the biggest size I could accept at my viewing distance of 8' without seeing scan lines was only 43" (Sony KP43HT20). If I lean forward in my couch, I can already start to see hints of scan lines for 4:3 material from my progressive DVD player. (4:3 material from cable was a little harder to see scan lines as Sony uses DRC for interlaced material, and 16:9 enhanced was much harder because of the vertical squeeze) These are my experiences with the video settings in Pro mode.

This really depends on how good your eyes are, how the TV display is designed & calibrated, and whether or not you're sensitive to this kind of thing. My best recommendation would be to take along a tape measure to the show room and find out how big you can go from an 8' viewing distance before the picture becomes objectionable.

Regards,
Ryan