Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What size TV should I buy ?

So... don't actually have the money yet but it's becoming clear that I need a larger TV for the new house. I'm currently running the old 27" and have a borrowed 32" in the back of the car (too %$#%^$# heavy to carry up the stairs by myself) but at some point fairly soon I am going to have to get something larger.

The loft area is roughly 21 feet wide and 23 feet deep, with the TV in the center of the 21 foot wall. It's a 1-1/2 story house, so the loft is tucked under the 45 degree ceilings with essentially no walls.

I will almost definitely end up with the piano behind the seating position, so I have something like 10-12 feet from the front of a typical big-screen TV to the main viewing position. I arranged for power and cable runs to a post at the far end of the loft (assuming I would put in a projector) but given the seating distance and the relatively high light levels I'm thinking that a rear-projection TV is probably the way to go.

So... I see recommendations ranging from 1.6x diagonal to 2.25x diagonal for viewing distance depending on the resolution and quality of the TV and content. Assuming I will be running with decent quality DVD most of the time what mult8iplier do you think I should be using ?

10 foot viewing distance and 2.25x multiplier gives me about a 50" RPTV, which is nicely affordable. 12 feet and a 1.6 multiplier gives me around 90", implying a projector, and almost everything in between either needs a projector or a big expensive RPTV.

I am kinda leaning towards a good 50" RPTV, ideally something like a Sony SXRD so I can ooze gracefully into Blu-Ray/HD-DVD... what kind of viewing distance are people using with a 50" TV ?

Thanks,
John