Bardcat,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

If you are going to stay with SD signals, you might want to consider what those pictures will look like. Most retailers have the ability to change the channels in the store to display SD; this way, you know what to expect. As a guy who has looked at televisions (for fun as a kid, and critically as a professional) for many years, I will readily admit that I am not a fan of watching SD programming on an HD television panel. There is only so much that processing CAN do, and while Auto Motion Plus does have the ability to improve the picture, the result may not be what you expect.

If you want to make the best decision based on facts, I definitely recommend you check that out so you know what to expect.

For applications such as Blu-Ray or Video Games - this is where AutoMotion Plus is going to give you the real picture difference, as it will with HD content. Depending on where you live, you may receive some of your favorite programming in HD using an OTA antenna.

As far as "the amount of space between screen and face", I recommend using the 3x Rule of Thumb, and then adjusting to your preference. If you're going to have a 40" panel, you probably want to be sitting at least around 3x that - 120 inches = 10 feet. This allows your peripheral vision to encompass the entire screen without having to constantly move your eyes, which can cause eye fatigue and take away from the overall television experience. That said, I've spoken with people who sit 5 feet away from a 63" panel and love it.

Most people choose a panel between 2-3 times back (Rule of 3x is just a starting point), so typically, that panel may work for 6 feet - five feet being where the couch begins, and then that extra foot for where you're sitting back ON the couch.

Stand back from the panel in the store about where you think you'll be sitting and relax your eyes while looking at the picture. Can you encompass the whole picture? Will that be relaxing, or will your eyes have to constantly be alert?

Usually figuring out where you like to sit in the movie theater will help you decide.

If you're a back-of-the-theater kind of person, Rule of 3x applies applies to you with little adjustment.
If you're a middle row kind of person, you have some leeway.
If you're a front-row viewer, we have a great 52" Wink

I hope that answers more questions than it creates, but I believe in being upfront with a completely no-pressure attitude and discussing the technology to your satisfaction.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

--HDTech