How far to Sit from your HDTV
Ever wanted to know how far to sit from your HDTV? It’s not too hard to calculate, and this website has such a calculator all ready for your use on their webpage.
I plugged my figures in, and for a 57″ HDTV, it says that the maximum THX viewing distance is 9 feet (for a 26 degree viewing angle). The recommended THX viewing distance is 6.4 feet, for a 36 degree viewing angle. I currently sit at about the maximum THX viewing distance, so I guess I’m not optimum. The problem, though, is that I view HDTV, DVD, and normal television. For HDTV and probably DVD I could get away with sitting closer. But for normal television I think the picture quality would just look terrible sitting at 6.5 feet.
How do you guys fair in this calculation?
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May 15th, 2006 at 8:39 am
I have a 32″ wide-screen TV & my main sitting distance is roughly 6ft.
RESULTS:
21.9 deg. Current Viewing angle
12.1 Feet Maximum recommended viewing distance
4.3 Feet Maximum recommended SMPTE viewing distance (30 degree viewing angle)
5 Feet Maximum THX viewing distance (26 degree viewing angle)
3.6 Feet Recommended THX viewing distance (36 degree viewing angle).
I sit roughly the same distance when I’m playing on my PS2, watching DVDs or normal TV. Sometimes I sit closer when I play games.
May 15th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
I sit somewhere around 8 feet from my 57″. This is despite the fact that my TV is in the living room. I can only do that because my place is essentially a bachelor pad. I can’t see too many females allowing this close a viewing distance as the fixed distance from the TV (one of this size, anyway).
The point about the recommended distance being too close for SD television programming is a valid one. I suppose this is one of the areas where front projectors with a zoom lens may have an upper hand; i.e., zoom to a smaller size when watching the news, and zoom to a larger size when watching a movie or HD programming. The same goes for the WAF (wife acceptance factor). If your SO is irked by the size of Katie Couric while watching morning television, you can keep the projection size small by default, but blow it up to fill your field of view when watching a movie at night.
I wonder if many front projector users habitually do this. I’ve never used a front projector, so I have no first-hand insight.