TV: How large is too large?

Skillz'n Magic

Weaksauce
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I'm going to purchase my dream TV early next year for my b-day and I'm trying to figure out how big of one to get without getting one that's too big. My primary seating distance will be 12' away with others about 12' to the side and floor seating about 6-8' away.

Now from guides I see on the net, to get optimum 1080p experience I should only be about 8' away and should have a 55" TV. That seems incredibly close, I'm even worried about 55" being too big at 12' away. Though I want the biggest TV I can get while still being comfortable to watch. I've had a 27" nearly round RCA for 12 years now :eek:, it's time to upgrade!

So my question is to you guys with large TV's, how far away do you sit and what screen size do you have? Has anyone actually got one they think is "too big"? Is that possible :p? What about your wives, do any of them complain?


Thanks in advance guys.
 
I have a 52" 12' away and it's great.

Is there really such a thing as too big? :p
 
My front row of my home theater is about 12 feet away.. from a 105'' screen. That's good enough to fill up most of your vision to give a good experience. Go big. =)
 
I used to sit 4 ft from a 59" TV and it was awesome....made getting headshots in Halo 3 a breeze...always get as much screen as you can for your money.

I went with a DLP as when I purchased them I got my 59" for 1200 whereas a LCD would have cost more than 2k. Now the price point is much lower.
 
TV in inches x 2 = distances from TV in inches. I have 40" lcd and I set just about 12 feet from the tv. the LCD does not over power the room and it looks great.
 
I'm using a 1080p 42" from about 4 to 5ft away, glorious :D
Prior to this I was using a 120" projector from 4 metres (13ft) away, that was much more immersive despite being only 1024 res, so imo a bigger screen is better.
 
TV in inches x 2 = distances from TV in inches. I have 40" lcd and I set just about 12 feet from the tv. the LCD does not over power the room and it looks great.

I love when people makeup these random formulas :rolleyes: Even better that you don't even follow your own advice!

The only "formulas" that even are credible are the SMPTE and THX viewing distance recommendations. At 12' you would need to go front projection to reach their recommendations.

12' away is REALLY far... it's perfectly adequate for watching regular television, but if you want an immersive viewing experience, you're going to either go REALLY big or sit a lot closer.

The best answer is get the biggest you can afford. It always looks smaller in your home after it's been there for a few days and unless it doesn't FIT because of dimensional constraints (i.e. you live in a closet :p ), you will not regret it when you fire up a movie/game.

Do be advised that once you DO go big, it's impossible to go backwards and be happy... so you're stuck chasing that experience forever :)
 
i have a 100' 16:9 LCD PJ and i am sitting at around 12-13' and I am watching the SF Giants right now on HD and it is NOT too big....

infact i keep looking to see if i can get bigger...

honestly, 42 is a good size for a TV but for movies and sports a PJ is honestly needed to be [H] and have it called a "Home Theater"
 
I am watching a Mitsubishi 57 inch DLP from about 14ft. It could stand to be bigger, or closer, but neither will work very well in the room. Oh well, it is really good, but not perfect. Go bigger than you think. You will be happy you did later.

Don
 
IMO there is a point where too big is... too big. The bigger the screen the farther you have to sit and that pretty much says everything [I think]. When you have to start scanning and moving your eyes to see your TV, it's time to downgrade [OMG I know].
 
110" at 12ft away. just 720p though, i want 1080p as the seats that sit closer then the couch get major screen door if you sit in them. otherwise native 720 is surprisingly decent...
 
7-8' from my 50" Pioneer Kuro. I wouldnt want to be any further, in fact could have gone with the 60". Remember, the most mentioned reason for buyer's remorse over a TV purchase is "I should have gone one size larger".
 
Go into a store, and sit down in front of some of the TV's... everybody prefers a different distance as everybodys eyes are different. I sit anywhere from 5ft-15ft and it doesnt really bother me. We have a 42" LG LCD.
 
I'm going to purchase my dream TV early next year for my b-day and I'm trying to figure out how big of one to get without getting one that's too big. My primary seating distance will be 12' away with others about 12' to the side and floor seating about 6-8' away.

Now from guides I see on the net, to get optimum 1080p experience I should only be about 8' away and should have a 55" TV. That seems incredibly close, I'm even worried about 55" being too big at 12' away. Though I want the biggest TV I can get while still being comfortable to watch. I've had a 27" nearly round RCA for 12 years now :eek:, it's time to upgrade!

So my question is to you guys with large TV's, how far away do you sit and what screen size do you have? Has anyone actually got one they think is "too big"? Is that possible :p? What about your wives, do any of them complain?


Thanks in advance guys.


i have a 55" tv and those guides are not off ! i would look into getting a 60" for that distance
 
The point at which you have to turn your head to see what is going on. That or your eye movements to different areas of the screen or so extensive it causes strain.


This has only happened to me sitting close up on one of the larger imax screens. Saving that, go bigger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks for all the responses, they remove almost all of my fear of getting too big of a TV.

Some of you say you sit really close to your TV's, well what I consider close anyway. Do you find yourselves turning your heads while watching? And do you notice a difference in comfort when watching standard definition vs hi def? I'm guessing most of what I watch will be standard def TV, upconverted DVD and some HD channels on cable. Do you think that makes much of a difference?
 
TV in inches x 2 = distances from TV in inches. I have 40" lcd and I set just about 12 feet from the tv. the LCD does not over power the room and it looks great.

this

we have a 46" and view it from about 8-10 feet, the living room is about 18x15 overall and the TV sits caddy cornered and its perfect, doesnt overwhelm the room but makes viewing very enjoyable

Thanks for all the responses, they remove almost all of my fear of getting too big of a TV.

Some of you say you sit really close to your TV's, well what I consider close anyway. Do you find yourselves turning your heads while watching? And do you notice a difference in comfort when watching standard definition vs hi def? I'm guessing most of what I watch will be standard def TV, upconverted DVD and some HD channels on cable. Do you think that makes much of a difference?


normal cable and DVD to an extent will actually look better at a slight distance than close up, HD if done right will look great at any "normal" viewing distance
 
I have a 52" LCD and sit about 11-12 feet away. Love the TV and the picture quality. Quality > Size. So yeah that sansui/philips etc might be enormous as heck but the picture is going to look like shit compared to the top tier brands. If you have to go down a few inches to get a better picture I say it is totally worth it.

for advice on good TVs check out avsforum, that is how I found my TV :D
 
I'm going to purchase my dream TV early next year for my b-day and I'm trying to figure out how big of one to get without getting one that's too big. My primary seating distance will be 12' away with others about 12' to the side and floor seating about 6-8' away.

Now from guides I see on the net, to get optimum 1080p experience I should only be about 8' away and should have a 55" TV. That seems incredibly close, I'm even worried about 55" being too big at 12' away. Though I want the biggest TV I can get while still being comfortable to watch. I've had a 27" nearly round RCA for 12 years now :eek:, it's time to upgrade!

So my question is to you guys with large TV's, how far away do you sit and what screen size do you have? Has anyone actually got one they think is "too big"? Is that possible :p? What about your wives, do any of them complain?

Thanks in advance guys.

8' is more like MAX recommend distance from a 55" for smpte or thx cert.
u won't even be able to make out 1080 over 720 at that distance
if 12' is your primary distance you might wanna go projector since you should be closer to 100".
if not then i'd go as big as your budget allows you.
i'm 5' away from a 52' and nowadays it feels small.
no such thing as too large!
 
I have used a projector and achieved around a 72" screen (possibly larger, never did exact measurements) and I sat around 12' from it and had minimal need to move my eyes except in the very corners of the screen (and keep in mind I was wating sub'd video so I was reading as I watched)

However, I have a 24" in my bedroom and you CAN get too close and too far EASILY. Keep in mind the advice about testing it out in the store. I have problems with getting too far to read text on mine (gaming) and getting too close and seeing the pixels or worse artifacts (AVI video) and the difference of too close/too far is a matter of 4 feet...
 
120" screen 1080i Sharp projector at maybe 10ish feet away

I could not imagine anything smaller.

My wife does not mind, she likes her parents 58" plasma but I agree you can't go smaller and be happy.
 
I have a 50" and our sofa by the wall is about 12' away and that feels small to me. I'd say 8' back would be ideal with a 50".
 
I have a 42" about 4 feet from me, it's mounted above my computer monitor on the wall and I take turns looking at the monitor and watching tv throughout my day, it's about right, guess I could use a little bigger though, I move my head to see different parts of the picture but it doesn't feel strained or anything ever. This setup is a little bit off the foot of my bed and to the right, so I also watch the tv while laying down, and of course for that it should be bigger, but $800 was as much as I was willing to spend.
 
I have owned both a LCD and plasma. I just purchased a 60" Pioneer Elite and I sit about eight feet away and I am thinking I could have gone a tad larger :). Trust me I went through this same struggle and bigger is always better especially if you want to get the full benefit of 1080p. I went with plasma because I was tired of how bright the LCD blacks were during night viewing and I am very happy now.
 
My rule of thumb is that if you have to move your head from side to side while at your desired viewing distance, it's too big.
 
How large is too large? That's a matter of preference. For me it depends on two things:

1) Average viewing distance. It's too big if I find myself wanting to sit further away from the TV or too small if I have to sit closer.
2) Aesthetics. It needs to look like it belongs. TVs too big for the room they are in look terrible.
 
I have a 52" 12' away and it's great.

Is there really such a thing as too big? :p

Yes, Sir, there is. There was a formula on cnet that showed the optimal tv size based on how far you were sitting.
 
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