Viewing Distance (I know its beinbg asked many times, but...)

thisempty

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Hi.
I'm about to buy my Sony D3000. I just cant choose between the 40" or the 46".
Viewing distance will be 8 feet. Should i go for the 40 or the 46?
I know it depends on what i'll use the TV for.
I'll use it for xbox360, PC and alot of divx/xvid series and movies.
My main concern is that the wife likes to see regular tv here in Portugal, the equivalent to freeview in England. We dont have HD channels through TV emissions yet. And with my 32" Samsung its not that great to see freeview from 7, 8 feet, i suppose that freeview on the 46" Sony D3000 FROM 8 FEET would be very very bad.
My wife is not a picture quality nuts like me, but i watch alot of football in freeview, and im worried that 46 will be very very bad for that.
I'll use the TV 70% for 360, PC and xvid movies and series and 30% for freeview.

I think that HD channels here in Portugal wont take that much long. If it wasnt for the fact that the TV channels here are still ******, would you all recomend me to go for the 46"?
The guy at the store told me i was nuts to go for the 46" for 8 feet distance.
But i ear many people saying they buy 32 and 40 and that 1 week later they regret not going for bigger sizes.
So i really would like to know why there are people who thinks that 46 for 8 feet distance is NUTS and why there are people that think that THE BIGGER THE BETTER NO MATTER THE DISTANCE, lol.
 
C'mon guys, i would like to go buy it today!
 
I don't know, but I think, I think, 40".
 
I think 46' will be fine if you watch 720p material, but a bit big for SD. However because other 4:3 stuff will be 4:3 it'll appear much smaller than you would expect.

I would recommend you make 40" and 46" cut-outs 16:9 , and on each one draw 4:3 box (full height of the screen, borders to the L/R) and also 2:35 borders. That way you get a idea of actual screen size for TV and films with most common ratio.

I have a 40" from 2.3M away. Its the perfect size.
 
since most of your viewing will be 720p or less I would also say the 40"

I bought mine specifically for 1080p(even though I mostly watch 720p or lower res as I watch freeview alot) , 42" and about 7.5 feet away
 
40" will be cool for 8 feet, gonna have the same
 
remember one thing guys, if it applies to you
connecting a PC to a 720p screen is pants as the res is not high enough

when I said I went for 1080p (my main reason) I did't just mean Blu-Ray, I also meant I connect my laptop to my LCD for the glorious 1920X1080 res I get:cool:
 
remember one thing guys, if it applies to you
connecting a PC to a 720p screen is pants as the res is not high enough

when I said I went for 1080p (my main reason) I did't just mean Blu-Ray, I also meant I connect my laptop to my LCD for the glorious 1920X1080 res I get:cool:

What's wrong with 1366x768? I think, it's enough for everything. Also you don't need some SLI 2x 8800 Ultra to play PC-games, what you won't say about 1920x1080. Such res. needed only if you are professionally photoshoping or working with some graphix and stuff
 
remember one thing guys, if it applies to you
connecting a PC to a 720p screen is pants as the res is not high enough

when I said I went for 1080p (my main reason) I did't just mean Blu-Ray, I also meant I connect my laptop to my LCD for the glorious 1920X1080 res I get:cool:


Thank you all for the feedback, i think i'll go for the 40". 8 feet (2.5 metres).
I just saw a graph showing the ideal distances depending on screen size and they say that the minimum distance from a 40" 720p should be 7,5 feet. Lower than 7,5 and you should get a 1080p (or a smaller 720p of course, lol).
So, thats it, 40" it is.

About what you said, i want the 720p and not the 1080p exactly for the opposite reason, heheh. I connect my PC to the TV to watch it in bed. And from 3 metres you cant read from a browser with a 1080p. A 720p its perfect for that.
 
Hi.

here is a distance calculator if anybodys interested?

regards

John.
 
In my opinion the 46" will be too big to your eyes!!!!You need to buy the 40"!!!
 
I already decided for the 40, as most of you said. But this site pisses me of, they have calculators and talk about THX certificates and etc, and the screens are much much bigger for 7, 8 feet.

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Try this calculator, you'll find it much better than the others, cause their distances are based on the THX certificates and other certificates for Theatres and Home Theatres, but here for 8 feet you need something like 60 or 70"!! Crazy.
Maybe for 1080p, never for 720p.
And considering i want the Sony D3000, i guess i'll have to pass on the THX certificates. I wont be able to enjoy a movie like in the theatres :(
 
Ok, i've been reading in the foruns and i see that that calculator in that site i gave is more for DLP & LCD Projectors. I say this because in that part of the foruns people talk about, 80", 90", 100" for distances of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 feet.
So i don't get it.
Why does a 40" 720p with a distance less than 7.5 feet be bad and a 80" projector be good? The projectors are all 1080p? I doubt. Or let me refrase my question. Why does the recommended distances and sizes for an LCD TV are different than the recommended sizes for projectors for the same distances??

Thank you
 
What's wrong with 1366x768? I think, it's enough for everything. Also you don't need some SLI 2x 8800 Ultra to play PC-games, what you won't say about 1920x1080. Such res. needed only if you are professionally photoshoping or working with some graphix and stuff

erm , NO ! ! !
please try to make comments from experience and not guesswork:smashin:
I say from experience and my laptop has a modest 7600GO Gcard;)

reasons I need 1080p
1. my laptop's native res. is 1920 by 1200 , thus fits in perfectly(nearly) with my 1080p LCD via HDMI
2.my laptop plays Blu-Ray so 1080p is needed:devil:
3. there are joyous thing you can do at 1080 that you can't with 720:D (full screen WINAMP gives glorious amounts of info on screen)
 
I was going to make a new thread in this forum but saw this post so decided to tag it onto the end....

I have a Samsung LE52M86 52" LCD TV being delivered tomorrow and am currently rethinking my room layout (this TV is for a bedroom by the way, ultimate gaming experience).

What I've been trying to find out is, what is the ideal viewing distance for this set, of course taking full advantage of the fact that it is 1080p.

As my layout currrently stands for viewing, the distance is circa 6.5 - 7ft, if I were to do a complete room shuffle, I could get to circa 9ft.

I've done various searches on viewing distances and have come up with everything from 5ft to 13ft!

This table seems to suggest that 7ft is the ideal distance for a 52" 1080p, can anyone comment?
 
I was going to make a new thread in this forum but saw this post so decided to tag it onto the end....

I have a Samsung LE52M86 52" LCD TV being delivered tomorrow and am currently rethinking my room layout (this TV is for a bedroom by the way, ultimate gaming experience).

What I've been trying to find out is, what is the ideal viewing distance for this set, of course taking full advantage of the fact that it is 1080p.

As my layout currrently stands for viewing, the distance is circa 6.5 - 7ft, if I were to do a complete room shuffle, I could get to circa 9ft.

I've done various searches on viewing distances and have come up with everything from 5ft to 13ft!

This table seems to suggest that 7ft is the ideal distance for a 52" 1080p, can anyone comment?

this is indeed the correct chart if you are viewing true 1080p material (not upscaled)
 

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