Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Is a 50" HDTV too big?

Haven't been on here in a very, very long time. I purchased the epic grand master with the vp100 center almost two years ago and am still extremely pleased!! Now its time to ditch the 32" CRT and go for the HDTV. I am thinking of a 50" DLP but out seating position is 10'-11' from the tv, is this too close and should I go with the 46" instead, any input would be appreciated, thanks!

A lot of the thread traffic in the last couple of days centered on things like :

- is my 8 foot wide screen too big for 12 foot seating distance ?

- is Randy's 10 foot wide screen too big for 14 foot seating distance ?

I think your 50" will be fine

Seriously, the rule of thumb for seating distance changes depending on the resolution of the TV and the image you are watching. If you are watching a lot of standard definition TV then you might still want a viewing distance something like 3x screen width, which would imply maybe 47" diagonal, but for DVD and HDTV you can sit closer or have a larger screen.

Honestly, I think the 50" would be fine even for watching mostly standard definition (SD) TV. For DVD and HD it's a no brainer, go with the 50.

o.k. I'm sold, that's what I wanted to hear, thanks, I am going to get one for a christmas present for my wife, lol.

Dibs on your life insurance payout!

I sit about 12' away from my 50", maybe close to 13. I think its a little farther than id like.

That's 13ft back John. on my 120" wide screen.

9 feet from 50 SXRD!

All y'all need to shut up.

8 feet from 27" CRT.

I was actually pretty happy 12 feet from my 27" CRT, although maybe it was a bit small. Once I borrowed a 32" CRT (relatively smaller than 27"/8feet) I would have stopped there -- my friends just kept whining about the picture size...

... and that's how I ended up sliding down the slippery slope of 2.35 constant height anamorphic wallet-sucking prism/lens thingies...

Stick with the 27". It works and gives you a nice bright picture. When projector folks start complaining about ambient light and "not enough pop" you can give them a disdainful stare.

Well I have decided....silly me......after researching and talking to a bunch of people I decided to screw the 50", I'm going for the 56"!! I am going to pick up the Samsung HL-S5687W, the latest and greatest DLP, this weekend. I already traded in my old cable box yesterday in exchange for their high def model and have 12 high def channels waiting for me right now as we speak! Can't wait!!

Great pick! My son has the same model. He is very pleased.

I've got the same model as well, and am very happy with it. I hope you will consider having it ISF calibrated. Not inexpensive, but worth it, in my opinion. YMMV

A Discussion on ISF Calibration

This is a year old but nice article about calibration.

Thanks for the info., I will think about having it done.

Just got back from ABC Wharehouse, I ended up with the 61" Samsung!! I ended up getting it for $2459, their list price was $3100, the stand for $189 and he threw in a five year warranty, unlimited bulbs, for $299. This did take some work on my part but overall I am very pleased!! I think I can squeeze out the seating distance to 12 feet, that't what I was worried about but like I told my wife, we will never have to wonder if we should have gone with the 61"! It won't be delivered until Tuesday, can't wait! Oh, and my vp 150 came today so I have some experimentation to do.

I'm assuming you got the 6187. Regardless, IMHO, you did very well. Enjoy!

As long as you are at least 10 feet away and watching mostly HD, you'll be fine with that size. SD might look a little worse from that close, but you didn't buy the TV for SD, did you

JR, since you started out wondering if 50" was too big, then went from 56" to 61", and since it can't be delivered until Tuesday, maybe you should consider that 100" Samsung. Just kidding; enjoy.