[Tumorok]

As far as plasma contra lcd I've pretty much made up my mind for lcd and won't be going to "the dark side" just yet

Anyway, thanks for the input -you make me want to pick up the 46" even more now. However, are you sure I won't be bothered with seing the pixel structure at this distance? I don't know how it is with plasmas but I thought in general LCDs needed a bigger viewing distance due to the pixel structure.

Well I suppose the only way to be sure is to go measure the distance at my local retailer and see for myself on one of their 46" sets.

[JagoPlasma]

you're crazy. i sit around 6ft from my 42" tv and its far too small, im thinking of upgrading to 50" but think that may be too small too. in the end it may be projector time and go for 120"

i've never been in a situation when i've felt a tv is too big, its all about positioning. center the center of the screen at eye level, thats the biggest tip i can give you as sitting 6ft from an eye level tv is great, 10ft from a tv mounted too high up makes eating and watching really uncomfotable

only thing against your purchase id have to say is the fact its LCD, i've been the LCD route and for everything but PC use it turned out to be a big mistake

[Tumorok]

Originally Posted by JagoPlasma

you're crazy. i sit around 6ft from my 42" tv and its far too small, im thinking of upgrading to 50" but think that may be too small too. in the end it may be projector time and go for 120"

i've never been in a situation when i've felt a tv is too big, its all about positioning. center the center of the screen at eye level, thats the biggest tip i can give you as sitting 6ft from an eye level tv is great, 10ft from a tv mounted too high up makes eating and watching really uncomfotable

only thing against your purchase id have to say is the fact its LCD, i've been the LCD route and for everything but PC use it turned out to be a big mistake

As far as plasma contra lcd I've pretty much made up my mind for lcd and won't be going to "the dark side" just yet

Anyway, thanks for the input -you make me want to pick up the 46" even more now. However, are you sure I won't be bothered with seing the pixel structure at this distance? I don't know how it is with plasmas but I thought in general LCDs needed a bigger viewing distance due to the pixel structure.

Well I suppose the only way to be sure is to go measure the distance at my local retailer and see for myself on one of their 46" sets.

[JagoPlasma]

i dont think you will have a problem seeing pixels from 9ft away, i cant even see the individual pixels on mine from 6ft away when watching video.

i guess your best bet is to just go stand 9ft away from the real deal. but if you plan on watching anything with black in it id strongly urge you to go plasma or wait for OLED

anyway, no lcds dont need longer viewing distances

[NicolasB]

Oh, cool, I have an excuse to recommend this thread again:

Optimum screen size/viewing distance

At a viewing distance of 9 feet, pixels begin to become visible at a screen size of about 69" if the resolution is 1920x1080 (i.e. 1080p). For a 1366x768 screen it's about 49". For 720p (1280x720) it's about 46".

But it depends on your eyesight; and also on how large the gaps between the pixels are. On my SXRD rear pro you can't see spaces between the pixels until you're about 3 inches from the screen, but I still wouldn't want the screen to be much bigger than 70" for a 9-foot viewing distance, as it makes the picture look too soft.

[Tumorok]

Originally Posted by NicolasB

Oh, cool, I have an excuse to recommend this thread again:

Optimum screen size/viewing distance

At a viewing distance of 9 feet, pixels begin to become visible at a screen size of about 69" if the resolution is 1920x1080 (i.e. 1080p). For a 1366x768 screen it's about 49". For 720p (1280x720) it's about 46".

But it depends on your eyesight; and also on how large the gaps between the pixels are. On my SXRD rear pro you can't see spaces between the pixels until you're about 3 inches from the screen, but I still wouldn't want the screen to be much bigger than 70" for a 9-foot viewing distance, as it makes the picture look too soft.

Thanks for the feedback!

Are you saying 9 feet distance for a 46" running 720p is too short? As most of the stuff I'll be viewing is probably 720p. Btw, does the tv upscale 720p to 1080p no problem? Is that how it works? It's a 1080p set so if it does that I'll be fine I suppose.

[NicolasB]

Originally Posted by Tumorok

Are you saying 9 feet distance for a 46" running 720p is too short?

You asked about the distance at which the screen's pixel structure might start to become visible. That's entirely unconnected with the resolution of the original source image, it's about the size of the physical pixels on the screen.

Originally Posted by Tumorok

As most of the stuff I'll be viewing is probably 720p. Btw, does the tv upscale 720p to 1080p no problem? Is that how it works?

One would certainly hope so. Of course, upscaling does make the picture softer, and the results may not be all that pleasing on a generated image such as the output of a PC or a games console; in particular, antialiasing is likely to get messed up; Cleartype gets really messed up when the image is scaled.

The question of what is the optimum viewing distance for an upscaled image (and how that compares to the optimum distance for the image without upscaling and to the optimum distance for the screen when fed a native res image) is a rather controversial one. Different people have their own opinions. I think the best thing is just to try it and see whether it looks all right or not; if the picture is too soft then you're probably sitting too close.

I quite often have to resort to using PAP mode when watching standard definition material on my rear pro set, because the picture quality on Sky is just too awful to blow it up to full screen. A good DVD can just about stand to be upscaled to full screen. Of course HD is in a completely different league. This is on a 55" screen at a distance of about 8 feet, so I'm guessing 720p video will be fine with your setup.

[Tumorok]

Originally Posted by NicolasB

You asked about the distance at which the screen's pixel structure might start to become visible. That's entirely unconnected with the resolution of the original source image, it's about the size of the physical pixels on the screen.

One would certainly hope so. Of course, upscaling does make the picture softer, and the results may not be all that pleasing on a generated image such as the output of a PC or a games console; in particular, antialiasing is likely to get messed up; Cleartype gets really messed up when the image is scaled.

The question of what is the optimum viewing distance for an upscaled image (and how that compares to the optimum distance for the image without upscaling and to the optimum distance for the screen when fed a native res image) is a rather controversial one. Different people have their own opinions. I think the best thing is just to try it and see whether it looks all right or not; if the picture is too soft then you're probably sitting too close.

I quite often have to resort to using PAP mode when watching standard definition material on my rear pro set, because the picture quality on Sky is just too awful to blow it up to full screen. A good DVD can just about stand to be upscaled to full screen. Of course HD is in a completely different league. This is on a 55" screen at a distance of about 8 feet, so I'm guessing 720p video will be fine with your setup.

Like the newbie I am I had it all wrong. I was worrying to death that my 1080p TV would be too close at 9 feet while viewing 720p signals because you told me pixel structure on a 46" 720p would start to be noticeable at 9 feet haha. But this is only true if the TV itself is a 720p set but not if it actually is a 1080p tv upscaling the signal to it's native resolution.

So the physical ammount of pixels on a 1080p set stays the same of course, what was I thinking. It will always display a source at 1080p, upscaled or not. In the end this means I will be sitting 8-9 feet away looking at 1080 rows of pixels no matter what.

So am I safe to conclude this thread by saying at 8-9 feet away from my 1080p 46" Samsung tv I will not see the pixel structure meaning it is a safe viewing distance?

[NicolasB]

Originally Posted by Tumorok

So am I safe to conclude this thread by saying at 8-9 feet away from my 1080p 46" Samsung tv I will not see the pixel structure meaning it is a safe viewing distance?

Yes.

In fact, 46" is really too small for 1080i high-def material at that distance: the optimum screen size would be about 69". But you may find that upscaled standard-definition material looks a bit soft and blurry even on a 46" screen. (Or you may not; tastes vary).