Minimum viewing distance for 480p? (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Patterson]

I've searched forums and articles for a Critical Viewing Distance value for 480p, but so far I've only seen values for 480i, 720p, and 1080i. Living in Calgary without a satellite system dictates that all my viewing for the will be in 480p (progressive DVDs and upconverted cable channels) for quite a while. My viewing distance is 8 feet in the sweet spot and probably won't change for at least 2-3 years. I have a friend who has a Sony 57" 16:9 set, but unfortunately I never brought over a measuring tape to judge distance. My best guess was that I had to sit 10 feet away before I couldn't see any scanlines (I'm 6'1", and lying down between the TV and couch still left a couple of feet open, plus I added 2 more feet for when you sit back on the couch) This works out to be about 4.3 PH for my personal CVD... ie. a 57" 16:9 screen has a height of 27.9" so (27.9 X 4.3) / 12 equals approx 10 feet. Is this about right? I know that everyone's eyes are different and some sit closer/farther before scanlines become apparent, but since I didn't have a measuring tape, I'm just going by guesswork.

If this is the case, then I'll be looking at getting either a 36" 4:3 set or a 46" 16:9 set, as anything bigger will produce obvious scanlines for me.

Thanks in advance for your input,

Ryan

 

[Dan Stone]

Ryan,

I've noticed the same thing that you have about the lack of 480p in the viewing distance calculators. However, I do recall reading somewhere that for 480p the viewing distance should be five times the picture height, although this is purely from memory as I can no longer find the source where I got that info from. As it sounds like you're already aware, the formulas are nothing but a starting point and don't replace actually going to a store, having them play a progressive signal, viewing potential TV sizes from your viewing distance and then deciding what looks the best to you.

Hope this helps.

Dan