Screen Size Advice

[kinda]

Hello,

Hoping someone may be able to provide some advice on this.

I've decided that as a way forward into HD viewing I will get a Plasma / LCD for now and get a projector later for a bigger, better experience with films and maybe the odd sporting event.

Normal viewing distance would be about 9 - 11 feet in the current room, and I'm wondering if a 1080P 42" screen would be about right for viewing SD material and also getting the benefit HD and a decent cinematic experience? Should I go a bit bigger maybe 37"? My sources would be a Sagem Freeview+ box that can upscale to 1080i and a toshiba XDE500 DVD player, plus a BlueRay player going forward.

My current TV is a 36" CRT which is fine for DVD and SD TV at the moment, and which is maybe a couple of feet closer than the new screen would be.

I've seen lots of graphs and advice on the internet but they tend to recommend huge sized screens at normal distances, as they're working to cinema standards, and also have big discrepancies between SD and HD distances, but don't really take into account upscaling.

Any real-world experience that you guys can feed in would be muich appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Kinda

I watch a 50inch plasma at 12ft which is fine with good sd stuff and excellent with blu ray.

Generally people wish they had gone bigger rather than smaller!

 

[hammill]

dustymrb:

Hello Kinda

I watch a 50inch plasma at 12ft which is fine with good sd stuff and excellent with blu ray.

Generally people wish they had gone bigger rather than smaller!

I second that

 

[matthewpiano]

I'd say a 46" should be a good size but it does depend on what your are viewing. If its mostly disc based stuff you'd probably even get away with a 52". If you watch a lot of SD broadcast TV I'd be inclined to make 46" the maximum.

 

[kinda]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, having looked I feel as if maybe I'd get away with a 46" - 50", (I've seen a Phillips 47" 7404 that I liked at £1070, but the 42" version is about £300 cheaper), although a lot of it would be SD material especially in the shorter term and I'm worried as to the quality if the screen is big.

The other aspect is that I don't want to spend loads as ultimately any money saved goes towards the later projector which is what I'll be looking to for my films ultimately, with the Plasma / LCD just needing to be decent for TV and the like. I also feel as if if I get a TV that is actually 46 - 50" I may find it hard to justify spending a further £1500 - 2000 on a projector in the future.

However, on the other hand I may well have the Plasma / LCD only for quite a while before I get a projector so I want it to be decent for SD and films.

I just can't make a decision, and have been like this for ages, which is why I've still got my 36" CRT!

 

[matthewpiano]

Given your last post, I'd probably save the money and plump for the 42". The SD TV will look good on it and it will leave some money to put towards your main project.

 

[DJEPSON]

I sit about 15 feet away from my 42" screen and have to say wish I had got bigger hence looking now at 50" plus, I can visibily notice the detail watching a blu-ray movie if I start to move to closer and its annoying me now especially as I have just bought a surround sound set-up I feel that am being let down on the visual side

 

[Anonymous]

Hi kinda, I sit 3mtrs away from a 50` Plasma,I watch SD and HD with no regrets at all try the Samsung 7 or 8 series

Good Luck and Happy Viewing.

 

[bigboss]

If you're going to use your TV for 90% of the viewing, & only 10% on the projector (or thereabouts), I would recommend a 50 inch TV. My viewing distance from a 50-inch plasma is only 8ft & I'm glad I invested in a 50-inch screen. If you delay your projector purchase by 6 months, the price will fall down to your budget.

 

[kinda]

Thanks for all the input. Much appreciated.

I'm maybe going to change the way round I do this and demo projectors at the sub-£1000 level, and possibly get the projecvtor first.

I could keep my CRT in the meantime, and see how I'm using the projector and TV, which would give me a better idea of TV screen size required. Depending on bulb life and performance in light I might even just have a projector going forward, but I'm thinking it unlikely.

It means the CRT won't go for a while, and we'll still have to put up with it's 70cm depth, but I am attached to it, and it does a great job with SD.