Viewing Distance Discussion Thread

vade

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hi all,

need some advise. i'm planning to get a tv for my new house. viewing distance is about 3.2m or 10.5 feet. i only intend to get a hd-ready set as i'm mostly watching sd content.

my question is, do i get a 42in or go for 50in? most calculators i've tried say 42in should be enough, but i'm worried that, as pete will say, "that 42in tv will start to look smaller and smaller after a few days" haha. on the other hand, i'm wary of getting too big a tv that will affect viewing pleasure.

any advice will be much appreciated :)
 

petetherock

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I sit 2.3m from my Pioneer 50 " and I find it small

hi all,

need some advise. i'm planning to get a tv for my new house. viewing distance is about 3.2m or 10.5 feet. i only intend to get a hd-ready set as i'm mostly watching sd content.

my question is, do i get a 42in or go for 50in? most calculators i've tried say 42in should be enough, but i'm worried that, as pete will say, "that 42in tv will start to look smaller and smaller after a few days" haha. on the other hand, i'm wary of getting too big a tv that will affect viewing pleasure.

any advice will be much appreciated :)
 

lwm999

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hi all,

need some advise. i'm planning to get a tv for my new house. viewing distance is about 3.2m or 10.5 feet. i only intend to get a hd-ready set as i'm mostly watching sd content.

my question is, do i get a 42in or go for 50in? most calculators i've tried say 42in should be enough, but i'm worried that, as pete will say, "that 42in tv will start to look smaller and smaller after a few days" haha. on the other hand, i'm wary of getting too big a tv that will affect viewing pleasure.

any advice will be much appreciated :)
Which distance calculator did you use? Is the calculator meant for SD? For HD content, you need at least 50" at 3.2m.
 

Bernie7

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Which distance calculator did you use? Is the calculator meant for SD? For HD content, you need at least 50" at 3.2m.

It's worse than that....according to the chart on the first page of this thread, you'll need a monster 76" screen to see the glory of 1080i HD at 3.2m.
 

cscs3

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This kind of topics has been discussed many times. It is not the problem of just the viewing distance and you can or cannot see the different. Full HD model is getting cheaper, and along with it, more feature compared to those withour Full HD.

So if you can affort another 2 to 3 hundred more. Go for Full HD. Never never believe in theory of you cannot find the different etc. The reason is very clear, all dealer is trying to clear their non Full HD model in preparing for the Full HD days. They will give you all knind of reason why Full HD is not the way to go till HD ready model is going out of the market.

Just use the similar thinking of the monitor you use for your PC. Why in the old days 640 resolution, then 1024 and now getting higher and higher? Now a day, a TV is not just for TV use anymore!
 
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petetherock

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This poster wants forummers to buy Full HD models regardless of viewing distance, others reading this should think very hard about this opinion.



This kind of topics has been discussed many times. It is not the problem of just the viewing distance and you can or cannot see the different. Full HD model is getting cheaper, and along with it, more feature compared to those withour Full HD.

So if you can affort another 2 to 3 hundred more. Go for Full HD. Never never believe in theory of you cannot find the different etc. The reason is very clear, all dealer is trying to clear their non Full HD model in preparing for the Full HD days. They will give you all knind of reason why Full HD is not the way to go till HD ready model is going out of the market.

Just use the similar thinking of the monitor you use for your PC. Why in the old days 640 resolution, then 1024 and now getting higher and higher? Now a day, a TV is not just for TV use anymore!
 

Forsteri

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OK bro, so means u agree or dun agree to the statement below, from the site i gave? coz normal hdb flat....viewing dist at most 3-5m? nia.....


"As a general guideline, if you are getting a HDTV set which is less than 42 inch, you won't be able to notice the resolution difference between a HD Ready set vs a Full HD set. ".

Based on I read, the view distance for 42" TV to be between 10 - 12ft and therefore, within this range for normal HDB flat, HD Ready is already good. Furthermore, if we only view it on Standard free TV program. In this case, HD Ready set is good already instead of wasting money on full HD. Do anyone agree? :yawn:

They're many shop having good offer for cheap HD Ready set. Good time to buy?
 

thhbppt

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Question on plasma tv

Hi guys, it is true tat for FULL HD Plasma tv you can only see the diff if you are buying 52" and above? For 50" there are no diff btw FULL HD and HD Ready. In terms of graphics that they project.:s11:

Planning to buy a PY800 50". If not diff btw FULL HD and HD Ready for 50" might go for the PV80H.

Need some help guys. Thanks! :s13:
 

_LoNeLySouL_

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Hi guys, it is true tat for FULL HD Plasma tv you can only see the diff if you are buying 52" and above? For 50" there are no diff btw FULL HD and HD Ready. In terms of graphics that they project.

Planning to buy a PY800 50". If not diff btw FULL HD and HD Ready for 50" might go for the PV80H.

Need some help guys. Thanks!

i believe this qn not only applies to plasma...also applies to lcd...
it really depends on the distance from the tv that u are viewing from. it's just like taking one of those eye tests with numbers and letters..how much u can read also not only depends on ur eyesight, but also distance...
 
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petetherock

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What is big?

Someone recently mentioned that that 42" "shrunk" after a few weeks...

Yes, welcome to the shrinking phenomenon... :)

Small TVs in small bedrooms to suit our budgets are fine and one thing, but to use a small 40" in a large living room would be a mistake where the budget allows.

A 50" is a medium sized panel and even that will begin to get smaller the moment you get it. So size up the space, the viewing distance properly first.

Then sit back and enjoy!
 

Forsteri

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I read somewhere that the ideal viewing distance is 3 times of the size of TV screen.
For example:
42" TV x 3 = 126" (10.5ft)
50" TV x 3 = 150" (12.5 ft)
 

iMbEst

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there is no such thing as "ideal". at most it's just a reference point.

your eyes and my eyes are so different. We are human, not machines lor.....
 

petetherock

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This thread needs to be brought forward again and those considering full HD or HD ready, be it plasma or LCD should take note of this and the sticky above.
 

petetherock

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There has been a trend recently of new buyers looking for 32" full HD panels.

bear in mind that you need to sit almost within arm's reach of the panel to enjoy the benefit of full HD, otherwise you are wasting money.

Do your homework before you are seduced by all the marketing speak!
 

boonkeng

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Completely wrong concept. This type of reply is only from those who aleady bought HD Ready TV. Or sales person in those retail shop trying to sell all the HD Ready stock.

If price is the same, around the same or lower. Always pick a Full HD TV. This is the way it go. You will find the dot pitch is much smaller and almost not noticeable at same view distance. Also it covers about 20%+ more area even you are viewing non HD program.

In the next few months. You are going to see Full HD model even for 32".

how many months in exact? 3 months 6 months or 12 months? want to bet 1? It won't be out for the next 6 months for sure, and I seriously doubt it will be available in SG....

actually the panel itself could not be the most important factor. Most of the time, it's the source that you feed in. If you have a full HD source compared to a SD source or 720p source, you maybe able to see much more details even for HD-models. To be more practical, most people can't be bothered about this thing. We dun torture our eyes just to see more details, squeeze more juice out from our TV, it's not like playing with overclocking on your PC or something like that. Watching TV supposed to be a joy......

try that out with some apple quicktime movie trailers with different resolutions............


Well isn't 32inch full hd out in less then 6 months.
 
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