scott182

I tried doing a search on this, but couldn't find much. I'll be moving into a house with a space of about 12 feet wall-to-wall, and I'm probably going to get a rear-projection DLP, so the distance from my eyes to the front of the TV will be just about 8 feet.

Is this too close for a 61" 1080p set? I gather it is plenty far for hi-def material, but of course, I won't be watching only 1080p or even 720p sources. I have a large collection of standard-def DVDs that I have no intention of replacing anytime soon (if it were even possible at this point) and the majority of TV channels are still in SD in my area. The biggest TV I've ever had is a 27", so I have absolutely no frame of reference for this.

Brian Shannon

Have you tried going to a store and sitting 8 feet from a 61" set?

scott182

I've tried this, but the only problem is I don't always know what type of source material they are using. With hi-def stuff, it looks fine from 5 or 6 feet away, so I guess I'm really more concerned about how standard-def TV and DVDs will look. And unfortunately, I don't know anyone with a similar set I could watch.

X

I used to sit 8' from a very good 53" set watching regular DVD and would have liked to been closer. It would have looked fine.

For SD, I needed to be much farther away. So far away that I really never bothered watching SD on that set.

Sdallnct

There is some formula out there. Something like 1.5X screen width. But I have never paid much attention to it. There are to many variables. I have 2 rows of seating in my media room, one at 12 and one at 14 for a 94" screen. The front row is good for HD and DVDp and acceptable for OTA TV (but it is a smaller image since it got to 4:3). But compressed SD (Dishnetwork) looks terrible on the front row. On the second row I'd give it a C-. Watchable but that is about it.

Tho in all honesty, I don't know if these rating are influenced by the fact that I'm very use to HD and DVDp now as that is the vast majority of what I watch.

It will aslo depend on your particular set. Some sets handle SD better then others.

scott182

So, the consensus seems to be that regular DVD would be fine from 8 feet away, maybe even better upconverted or at least in 480p. But regular TV will probably look like garbage, even at 4:3, which is equivalent to 50". Most of the shows I watch are on broadcast TV or HBO, which I get in HD, so it sounds like I might be okay. This won't be my only TV, so I can always use another one for standard-def TV.

My other option is to install a rear projector and a screen, which would get me about 10 feet from the screen, but I don't really want to do this because of cost and the work involved, and I'd be tempted to project a 70-80" image, leaving me in about the same position relative to screen size.

dvdsteve2000

I have a 61" DLP in my small living room. We sit from 5 to 9 feet away and it looks great. If you stand back at the entrance-way of the room it may look a little 'better', but nothing really worth a mention. I love it close-up & personal.

cultshock

To be honest, standard TV looks kinda bad (to my eyes) on my set (60" 1080p) at even 10 or 12 feet away. (but then again, I have a TV that isn't known for handling standard TV that great). I sit about 10 feet away from my set, but I think even at 8 feet away, HD material and upconverted standard DVDs (as long as the transfer is really good) look fine. You would be a bit closer than normally recommended for that size TV though (of course it also depends on what kind of RP you get. If you got a LCD RP, you would probably notice screen door effect, for example)

scott182

dvdsteve2000, how bad does regular TV look from that distance? Is it unwatchable or just unpleasant? For the little bit of regular TV I watch, I can handle just unpleasant.

dvdsteve2000

I think it looks good. Sometimes it looks crappy, but I think it's just a certain channel or show. VERY FEW times have I said "Wow, that looks like shit". My kids watch alot of SpongeBob/Jimmy Neutron/Fairly Oddparents & such, and I think it looks great. Even TVLand looks decent most of the time. For some reason, Nickelodeon has had the worst picture I've seen so far (for about the last 2 weeks). It has saturated color & a green shadow around the right side of everything, but this is just isolated to that one channel.

I play 360 online and I wish I could be even closer while playing...looks great close up.

I actually spend most of my time laying on the floor about 6' from the TV, and my wife usually lays on the couch (5-9' away) and we have no picture-quality complaints.

Numanoid

I sit about 11' back from my 125" front projection, which according to all "the rules" is way too close. I love it and so does everyone else. I even watch SD compressed satellite channels on it and the picture quality of those rarely bothers me. My money says that not only will you like it fine, but that you'll probably want something bigger once you've had it a bit.

scott182

Well, I did an experiment with my 27" CRT that does 16:9 mode. I sat an equivalent distance watching a DVD in 16:9 mode (~3.5 ft) and watching regular TV in standard 4:3 mode (~4.5 ft). I had no problems watching either from that distance.

Thanks for your comments. I'll definitely be going with the 61".

X

SD TV probably isn't going to look the same as your test on a regular TV.

The Bus

I sit that close to a 42" set in my bedroom. At first it seemed extravagant and obscenely large. Now, it could be bigger.

scott182

3.5 feet or 8 feet?

cultshock

That's true. Since HDTVs are optimized for HD signals, SD signals will probably look worse on them than they do on an older non-HD TV. At least that's the case with my TV (but it may depend on the model too. My model isn't known for handling standard TV signals that great).