viewing distance

vashok

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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


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
 
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....
 
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.....


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....

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...
 
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.....

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)

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
 
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

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...
 
Actually my viewing distance will also work out ~8 feet for my 42inch TV.

The image feels comfortable and nice, even my 'would be' feels the same (though she was used to watching 25inches @ 8-12 feet @ her home :) ).


The most important thing with Big TV's with short viewing distance is to choose contrasts carefully as excess brightness can wear out ur eyes very soon. On the other hand, Big screens are perfect because you get more comfortable and natural picture without jacking up the settings too high.


For example, when watching 21inch TV at 8 feet, I have to set contrast to somewhere close to 90 to get any good picture.
On my 17inch Samsung monitor I set to 100, with magic bright set to Max to get a good looking pic.

But on my Plasma, I set the contrast to 80 with energy saving set medium (which means cuts the overall brightness to half) to get comfortable picture.
 
Just a query.

Is the calculation same for LCD & Plasma?

I went through the posts and found that people with 42" plasmas are comfortable with ~8' while people with 32" LCDs are not. Does it have anything to do with the response time?

Venkat Ji, can you help?
 
my 42" plasma was about 12ft away, and I moved it to about 8 ft a few days ago and I prefer it a lot this way. 12ft was too far. 8 ft is ideal. 12ft was fine with my 29" crt, but with 42" plasma, 8 ft is fine.

With an HDTV, you need to change your viewing habits. get those sofas closer guys, its a lot better closer.
 
Strange, a quote from this site : Plasma vs LCD TV - A Detailed Comparative Guide to Flat-panel TV Technology
They seems to think the following
Viewing Distance ADVANTAGE: None

When it comes to viewing distance, none carries any advantage as long as you are within normal viewing distance for your screen size. [More on viewing distance can be found in our article TV Viewing Distance guide.]

Yet... When comparing plasma vs LCD TVs, the overall pixel structure in an LCD TV set tends to be less visible than the gas-cell structure in a plasma display panel. This helps LCDs render a smoother picture than an equivalent size plasma display. This makes LCDs more suitable for close viewing - typically less than 8ft away from the TV screen.

Just a query.

Is the calculation same for LCD & Plasma?

I went through the posts and found that people with 42" plasmas are comfortable with ~8' while people with 32" LCDs are not. Does it have anything to do with the response time?

Venkat Ji, can you help?
 
my 42" plasma was about 12ft away, and I moved it to about 8 ft a few days ago and I prefer it a lot this way. 12ft was too far. 8 ft is ideal. 12ft was fine with my 29" crt, but with 42" plasma, 8 ft is fine.

With an HDTV, you need to change your viewing habits. get those sofas closer guys, its a lot better closer.

+1 to that. HD has changed everything.

For me, the very idea of HD TV/Projection Screen was/is about an immersive experience. In my Home Theater, I have a 42 inch Plasma(HD@720P) screen and a 120 inch Projector Screen (Full HD@1080P). I had initially placed the sofa touching the rear wall at 14 feet. But now, we move the sofa to 8 feet while watching on 42 inch Plasma and 12 feet while watching movies on my Projector screen. I thought I am biased and hence checked with my dad and wife and they both said they were comfortable and there was no eye strain even when we watched a 4 hour movie (Jodha Akbar - HD version) on the 120 inch screen.

I used to think 120 inch would be an overkill for my room, but reading on "Projectorscreenstore" changed my mind. This site gives you only a maximum viewing distance and this bit was actually an eye-opener and I found it true.

Viewing from this distance or closer will result in a more immersive experience, and also lessen eye strain caused by watching a smaller image in a dark room.

Source link: Viewing Distance Calculator

Having said this, it is again a matter of personal preference. I like a more "In your face + immersive experience" while our "Bassking" manu4punjab sits at 19ft for the same screen. Knowing him, one would have thought otherwise, but he felt dizzy at anything closer. So, it is about your preference and comfort level.
 
Just bought a 50 in plasma and IMHO, one should buy the biggest screen that the budget permits:). I've tried watching from 8 ft as well as 12ft - both are great and I do not feel any eye strain or loss of PQ. My suggestion would be to spend some time in the showroom and watch diff sizes from diff distances and then make your decision.
 
hey bro

i have 120 inch screen and i sit around 19feet from it coz anyless i start feel dizzy and kinda headache

the optimum distance from screen is basically 1.5 to 5times as venkat sir suggest so as for me for 120 inch optimum distance is kinda 12 to 20 feet

also taste matters some like to sit close and some like to sit veryyyy close and some like me sit far :)
 
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

i wish 5 times would have been there as ideal distance..lol.. it would have been in my budget!!!
 
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I watch 46" from a distance of 7-8feet depending on my seating position... It just feels comfortable. Any far I lose the impact... May be require a bigger screen like 60":D
 
On a side note...for them who are moving from the CRT 4:3 to LCD 16:9 aspect ratio here is the web site that allows you to compare screen area between different size screens. This give you a Good mapping of your size moving to LCD.

Compute TV dimensions
 
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