Distance to screen, 16 ft. Too far??

19 years ago

Help!

I'm trying to get a floor plan together for a familly room and would like to mount a 37 or 40" (maximum) TV on the bookshelves existing on either side of the fireplace. the viewing distance form the furthest point (person sitting in a recliner) is 16 feet, even with the TV on a pull out shelf. We aren't planning to use an HD feed in this room because the quality of the non HDTV broadcasts are not good, and that is what we will be watching most of the time. We will also use it to watch DVDs. Is it just too far away to consider??

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Comments (9)

jimisham
19 years ago
Google: TV "viewing distance", and you'll come up with several sites that'll help you decide.
Being 16 feet away from the TV set, it seems to me you'd want a bigger set.
MongoCT
19 years ago
I had a 32" set 16' from the seating area. It seemed fine until...

...I got a front projector and now I have a 120" screen viewed from 16'.

The 37"/40" screen will be fine from that distance.

Go to a showroom and check it out.

Mongo
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KTKelly
19 years ago
Good advice in the first post, not so good in the second.

As a professional I would STRONGLY recommend a larger screen size. Something in the 50" range would be best.

And for what it's worth, you will be buying a HD set unless you're going to buy something used....

Besides, even if you could locate an analog TV, why in the world would you? After all, ALL programming will be HD in less than 2 years....
jjam
Original Author
19 years ago
I did check it out and have decided to scrap the idea of the TV placement at 16 ft. Looking at a new way to arrange the room that would put the TV on a wall where viewing distance would be about 10-12 ft. Now the problem is the set would be directly opposite a wall of windows. Any ideas on the type of set that would handle daytime glare the best?
markmizzou
19 years ago
Three letters --- LCD -- -- three brands -- Sharp - Sony - Samsung !!
randymeyer
19 years ago
LCD is what you want for a living room with lots of light.
Check out Mitsubishi's 46".
nine7xbam
19 years ago
All tv programming WILL NOT be in HD in two years , the switch is to the digital broadcast standard which uses less bandwidth and is supposed to give better picture quality and audio . People still using an antenna to get a signal or an older analog tuner set will need a digital converter box . If you are already using a digital or satellite cable box you will notice no difference . It will be up to each individual network to decide whether or not to broadcast in HD , and given the high cost of HD equipment I don't see a whole lot making the switch .
KTKelly
19 years ago
Confused?
nine7xbam
19 years ago
Not at all . While I have an HD tv and wish that all broadcasts will be in HD when analog broadcasting ends Feb 17 2009 , that simply isn't the case . The digital signal offers standard ,enhanced , and high definition signals and it will be up to each broadcast network to decide which format they want to broadcast in . See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Is Digital TV the same as HDTV ?