viewing distance

Hi
I am bit confused. Everywhere I see that magazines mention 32" for a 8' viewing distance. In my room, I have two seating places. The larger sofa is about 8.5" and the smaller is at about 6.5". I find 32" will make it big for my eyes. Would it not get tiring to look at a big screen so close. Fats moving pictures will tire the eyes ? Why is that the literature does not talk about it rather suggest something like 27" for a 8' viewing distance ?

Thanks,
Ashok

Hi Ashok, this link might be useful. Check this out.

Home Theater Calculator: Viewing Distance, Screen Size

Home Theater Calculator: Viewing Distance, Screen Size ? CarltonBale.com

thanks dude, this is a good guide......and it turns out the distance i've placed my 42" plasma at is near-ideal from a acuity of vision perspective.....although many people told me it's too short......it's 7-1/2 feet....

Buddy...

Dont your eyes get irritation, after viewing 42" Screen from a me're 7.5 fts...???

Ashok...
8 fts is the recommendation for 32"...as 11.5 fts is for 42"..generally...
Rest all depends on your comfort...

hey mridul.....actually they don't....it feels perfect....the picture is completely immersive and large......but there's no strain whatsoever.....i did hear about the 8 feet for 32, 10-12 feet for 42 numbers......but this table seems to suggest otherwise, and it seems like a fairly scientific calculation....anyone else with any other views??

venkat? especially since you were the person from whom i first heard of the concept of acuity of vision....and the 7'7" distance suggested on the table for my 1366*768 resolution 42" screen is based on this principle.....

See there lies the difference...

You are comfortable with 42" @ a difference of just 7.7 fts...

And Ashok feels that 32" @ a distance of 8 fts is too close...
So again its a personal call based on individual comforts...

he he yes.......for me a large and immersive picture was a priority, which is why i put in the extra cash over a 32" LCD and bought a 42" plasma instead....i think it was a completely worthwhile budget-stretch as I really like the picture on the plasmas, when compared to the LCDs that I've tried out....

Psychotropic, the calculator is quite detailed and follows the SMPTE and the HDTV recommendations.

There is also a simple rule of thumb called 2 to 5. This says that your minimum viewing distance must be 2 times the WIDTH of the screen, and the maximum viewing distance must be 5 times the WIDTH. The ideal will be somewhere between 2.5 to 3 times the WIDTH.

If you sit closer than 2 the width, you will start seeing pixel breakup and if you move more than 5 times away, you will not be able to resolve the pictures and colours properly.

Within these minimum and maximum lengths, you should find your perfect distance. This becomes important to place the surround speakers also.

Cheers

Great....so 2 times 42 inches is 84 inches which is 7 feet....so my 7 and a half feet sounds perfect to achieve a big and immersive picture without sacrificing on the resolution.... i'm really enjoying the pictures btw, especially on DVDs which have good transfers (like Babel and Letters from Iwo Jima)

Hey..Venkat

Thanks for the simple calculation....

It really works...
But i think even being 2 times width will be too close...

I think 3 times will be much better...

Anyways...thnx... for the calculation...