Viewing distance

[zoothorn]

Any thoughts on a good viewing distance? I have a 34" widescreen direct view Sony and just hooked up TWC yesterday. When I settled in for some true HD viewing last night, if I sit in my normal position about 15" across the room....well, it wasn't overpowering.  If I got up and stood about 5 feet away (coincidentally about where I did at the store now that I think about it...) it was drop-your-mouth-open-and-say-awe beautiful.

I'm considering a room re-configuration but am wondering how far back from the screen most people are sitting.

Thanks for any comments.

Zoot.

[Gregg Lengling]

I have a 61" screen and we watch at about 7 to 10 feet on the average.  Any closer and it's like sitting in the front row at a theater..you have to keep craning your neck back and forth to see what's going on.
:bang:

[drgingras]

Here's a chart from the Crutchfield website:
Link

After a certain distance, you definitely start to lose the benefit of High Definition. Besides screen size, that distance can depend on video source, display quality, ambient lighting, and personal preferences.

We set our viewing distance for our 50" 4:3 ( used mostly for satellite and locals) at 9-10'. Any closer and flaws from digital compression, etc. are too noticable.

OTOH, distance from our 42" 16:9 plasma ( primarily DVD's) is about 7'. Going for the "total immersion" here

Dave

[Pat]

This subject comes up once in a while.  It turns out that even the largest sets are not too large for a normal sized room arranged in a typical fashion, and are too small for a large room.

Regarding the Crutchfield data, it appears to me that they are specifying the maximum viewing distance, even though its labeled suggested.  This is based on the fact that the eye is capable of resolving HD-size pixels at 8-9 feet for a 65" set.  Any further away than that, and it can no longer do so.

[zoothorn]

I appreciate the feedback.

Man, if 8-9 feet is the max for a 65" set I am WAYYYY to far away. No wonder it's not as awe inspiring as I had expected!

I"m going to try about 7 ft for my 34", right about where the Crutchfield chart shows, and go from there.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Zoot.

[Tom Snyder]

So my couches are 12 feet away from my 40" TV...  and that makes my screen too small. I'm really supposed to have a 60 inch?

OK... YOU tell my wife!