Viewing distance - am I too close?

["The Dude"]

Guys, I've got a quick question.

I'm looking into getting a Toshiba 62" 1080p DLP RPTV pretty soon. I would like to get a 62" but my viewing distance is about 9ft away. If this is too close, I'll get the 56".

I've looked in this forum and at hometheater forum and there seems to be a few different formulas into figuring out the ideal viewing distance. Any help would be appreciated.

[plissken99]

Well, the general rule of thumb is a minimum of 1.5x the screen width. So, for a 62in screen, it's width is about 53 inches, so you should be at least 78in from it, which is 6.5ft, your fine at 9ft.

Really, the 1.5x deal is for digital displays so you can't see the screendoor effect, digital displays uptill now being 720p tops. So with a 1080p display, there won't be much of a screendoor effect at all, so sit wherever you like.

["The Dude"]

Thanks Plissken. Now you made my decision a little tougher.

[Iguana Man]

I think unless you are on top of your display, it depends. Maybe this old mans eyes are going bad, but even at 4' from my 52" display...HD looks phenomenal.

9' from a 62" display to me would work fine. I'm looking at 92" from 12' (in another room) and I don't have one iota of a problem.

I really think it depends on the displays capabilities. And of course, your eyes.

YMMV.

[Vonner]

I agree with what's been said here already, but one thing that I'll add. For viewing non-HD material it's better to be a little further away. The closer you are to the Monitor the more it'll look grainy.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Vonner

I agree with what's been said here already, but one thing that I'll add. For viewing non-HD material it's better to be a little further away. The closer you are to the Monitor the more it'll look grainy.

I think for most, that depends on the display and your source. But yeah. I gotta agree with you for the most part.

Sadly, SD looks like VHS once you get some HD material going.

[plissken99]

Originally Posted by Vonner

I agree with what's been said here already, but one thing that I'll add. For viewing non-HD material it's better to be a little further away. The closer you are to the Monitor the more it'll look grainy.

Thats going to be true no matter what, mainly the idea is that the set scales everything to 1080p, so screendoor will not be an issue here.

I sit 8ft from a 119in image(CRT has no screendoor), and everything looks great to me.

["The Dude"]

Unfortunately, I can't move farther back, so 9ft is as far back as I can go - for now. I just want to get as big a TV as possible and and not be disappointed because it looks grainy or what not.

You never know, a year from now I could be in a different place with more room and then I'll be pissed at myself for not getting the bigger size.

Thanks for your imput guys, keep it coming.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by The Dude

Unfortunately, I can't move farther back, so 9ft is as far back as I can go - for now. I just want to get as big a TV as possible and and not be disappointed because it looks grainy or what not.

You never know, a year from now I could be in a different place with more room and then I'll be pissed at myself for not getting the bigger size.

Thanks for your imput guys, keep it coming.

Are you deadset on getting a TV? If you get a projector, you could adjust the size of the image on the wall until it feels comfortable. I used to have a 55" HDTV and I sat about 13ft (due to the depth of the TV) away which was just about perfect. My display is now a 110" screen and I sit about 15 feet away and it's just right. Plissken sits a little close for my taste, but what I'm saying is that with a PJ, you could have a larger display (80+) and the 9ft should be right on.

-PH

[plissken99]

Whatever you do, at 9ft a 62in screen will look gorgeus, no need what so ever to go smaller.