Comments on: HDTV Seating Distance Chart

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:57:31 +0000

Great info. Thanx!!

For those who are a little confused, the diagonal column is a listing of the “Diagonal Size”(42 = 42″.
The width & height are just that, the width & height of screen. Like it says on the chart, all is in inches.

By: best hdtv :: best hdtv :: February :: 2009

best hdtv :: best hdtv :: February :: 2009 — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 09:08:38 +0000

[...] First, do your homework. Decide how much you want to spend, what size screen you want within your budget and the display technology you’d prefer (LCD, plasma, DLP rear projector). The HD Guru’s™ seating distance chart http://hdguru.com/?p=6 can help you pick the optimum screen size. Research on-line reviews to help you narrow your choices. [...]

By: Raymond

Raymond — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:06:05 +0000

I sit about 80″ or 6.7 feet away from my TV, which is currently a 32″ Sony XBR2 LCD. I am debating to go to a 42″ Panasonic Plasma (either a 720P or the 1080P). I’m a little confused about the optimal distance though. What do you recommend I do at my viewing distance? Am I sitting too close to get a 720P (ie, seeing pixels), and so should pay more for the 1080P? Or would 720P be fine, and it wouldn’t really be worth it to get a 1080P?

By: jim

jim — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:44:18 +0000

I’m confused about the seating chart. I will be sitting 11 feet away from the screen and am considering 3 tv’s. They are the Samsung hls7178w, the samsung hls6767w and the mitsubishi wd65831. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

P.S. I’m just finishing a new home and am also interested in the samsung lns4696d and the lns4096d for 2 additional rooms. Would you recommend waiting for their new models with the led backlit technology?

1) While an 83″ set will be opitmal at that viewing distance you will see an improvement in image sharpness with a 1080p set over a 720p set as long is the screen size is 57″ or larger.

2) The LED backlight units will provider better color gamut, contrast ratios and better black levels than the CCFL backlit LCD flat panels, though they will cost more money and expect higher power consumption. BTW, for the best image quality the HD Guru recommends plasma over LCD

The HD Guru

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 02:45:59 +0000

Just a stupid question here, what’s the difference of actually connecting componet cables and actually using an hdmi cable? Is there any better quality, is it a higher pixal rate instead of like 1080 i and hdmi being 1240i or whatever..just a question you guys, if you guys could please comment back i am just wondering about this.

In a perfect world with perfect products there would not be a difference. However, in the real world my tests have revealed that many HDTVs have a better bandwidth capacity with the HDMI input. This translates into more fine detail seen on the HDTV screen. For simplicity and often better image, I recommend using HDMI ( a good cable is also only a few dollars, read my article on “What retailers don’t want you to know about HDMI”

The HD Guru

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:39:05 +0000

Any help on speaker placement?

By: Ken Smith

Ken Smith — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:24:10 +0000

Thanks Guru for your quick reply. If I understand correctly though, should I get the largest size screen I can afford and enjoy? All equal, I would see more detail with a 65″ over a 50″ at the distance noted before?

Thanks again.

By: Ken Smith

Ken Smith — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:23:00 +0000

Hello,

It is around 16′(192″) from my sitting area to where the TV would go. According to your distance guide I would need a 81″-82″ screen for that distance? Am I reading your chart correctly? According to the distance charts on other sites, a 65″ inch screen would do. What would your suggestions be for that distance. Re-arranging is not really an option due to layout of room.

Thank you.

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This is the maximum distance to be viewing with a given screen size for your eyes to resolve all the detail within the image. You will still get a benefit of HDTV over standard definiton images, sitting further from the max distance, it just not be a detailed as if you had the appropriate size screen or moved closer. Don’t worry be happy. The chart is a guide to let consumers know how close they should be to a given screen size to get all the visual joy of watching content in HDTV.

Make an informed decision and enjoy the world of HDTV.

The HD Guru

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:52:48 +0000

I have a Mitsubishi 52 inch DLP it only has one HDMI slot what would be the best hook up to make?
I have HD cable, Onko surround sound A/V Receiver,DVD (not HD)
Great web sight!
Thanks,
Bill

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If your surround receiver has HDMI switching use it. Does your Mitsubishi accept CableCARD? If yes, switch to CableCARD and use HDMI for the DVD player . If not, if you have an upconverting DVD player you would probably have to use HDMI to use its upconversion and use component video output from your HD cable box. or get an HDMI switcher.

The HD Guru

By: Leonard Faircloth

Leonard Faircloth — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 03:06:06 +0000

Hi HD Guru,
Great site & thanks for bring it up. Is it necessary to get a DVD player with an upconverter for a HDTV 1080p
Thanks again,
Leonard F.

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If the upconversion is better than the one within the TV.

Check out my deinterlacing test resylts for guidence.

The HD Guru