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General discussion

Ratio of viewing distance to screen size?

Oct 13, 2005 4:56AM PDT

I'm looking to purchase a Sony KDF-E50A10 or a Sony KDF-E42A10 Grand WEGA? 3LCD Rear Projection HDTV television. The distance from sofa to screen is about 12 feet. I'm not sure which size would be better for that distance 50" or 42". Does it matter? Any suggestions?

Discussion is locked

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(NT) (NT) Could this vary person to person?
Oct 13, 2005 5:23AM PDT
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Re:....
Oct 13, 2005 6:04AM PDT

...I forget who told me this but I had the same question when I was buying my 42" sony plasma. I think the rule was something about 5x the vertical size of the screen. Anyway, this worked out to about 8.5 feet away for optimal viewing of a 42" screen. As I am about 9.5 feet away this was fine. Having lived with it now for several months I can tell you that this distance is absolutely perfect for a 42" screen. Now I should add that the smoother the picture created by the most pixels possible allows for even closer viewing distances. Low reolution sets look better from farther away. In your case, sounds like either 42" or 50" would be fine so it comes down to which set you like better. I've always hated projection TV's of any type, but if you love the sets, you should be fine with either one.

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NTSC standard...
Oct 13, 2005 11:53AM PDT

the guidelines set down by the NTSC standards was 5 times the height of the screen was the appropriate distance to view the screen. Why ? Because closer would reveal the scan lines that made up the picture you were viewing, Farther away and you might start losing some detail. The whole point was to optimize the picture quality in a 250 to 420 line of resolution interlaced picture. Sit that distance away and the scan lines would blur enough that you weren't supposed to notice them.

ATSC shows so much more detail that you could sit much closer to the set when watching a true HD signal and still get a superb picture rather than viewing the lines that make up the picture. Sit as close as you want without getting wall eyed. Sit as far away as you want as long as the small details don't disappear with distance.

grim

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Re: Rear Projection TVs
Oct 13, 2005 10:42PM PDT

Thanks for the input. I've never been a fan of rear projection sets until I saw this Sony LCD rear projection. The reduction in size is great and I think the picture is better.

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2-3times the size of the screen
Oct 13, 2005 1:04PM PDT

another one i use is 2-3 times the size of the screen away from the tv. so take 50 inches. if you want a smaller screen, do 50x3 and it'll be 150 inches or 12.5 feet. if u want a bigger screen, use 50x2, and it'll be 100 inches or 8.3 feet.

mess around with the numbers. i personally hate getting overwhelmed by the screens so i would personally go for the smaller one.