Big Screen TV question - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

123c · #16 12-26-2008, 04:40 PM

I was just thinking about this very thing earlier today, when I was at Costco. I saw many TV's for under $400 that looked decent. They ranged from 22" up to 32". I am liking the 22" Vizio that is $299, but there was a nice 26" Sharp for not that much more. I am thinking the 22" will fit the bill, it will be going into my bedroom, which is 10'x12'.

catmandoo62 · #17 12-26-2008, 05:03 PM

i've heard set 2 1/2 times the size of the tv.so a 42 inch screen you would set about 105 inchs(9ft or so).which i myself feel could be a little more like say 3 1/2 times or 12 ft.

Emmerich · #18 12-26-2008, 05:19 PM

Doing some research, there is a lot of overlap, but for any size in the 40+ range, you pretty much have to be at least 6 feet away. I will be at 10 ft roughly, so anything from 40-55 would be okay. After seeing the one in my buddies house, the guy who said they look a lot smaller in the store is right on the money with that comment. I am probably shooting for the 48" range.

I did learn that Panasonic (not necessarily known as a top tier product) has excellent capability to display standard definition video, which when you think about it, is probably the majority of material out there. I watch mainly cable, not too much on the DVD side, and that is mostly old TV shows, with a few newer movies scattered in. A lot of sets are not good at SD output.

Palangi · #19 12-26-2008, 05:41 PM

How far back would you have to be to watch a 108 inch?

waybomb · #20 12-26-2008, 06:09 PM

I say no bigger than the wall is perfect.

catmandoo62 · #21 12-26-2008, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emmerich

I did learn that Panasonic (not necessarily known as a top tier product) has excellent capability to display standard definition video, which when you think about it, is probably the majority of material out there. I watch mainly cable, not too much on the DVD side, and that is mostly old TV shows, with a few newer movies scattered in. A lot of sets are not good at SD output.

i myself liked the panasonics over pretty much all the others.the others that did have a better pic were twice the money

Hatterasguy · #22 12-26-2008, 10:30 PM

I'd say for a regular sized room 42-48 is probably about right. I dislike monster TV's unless they are in a dedicated media room, they just seem to big.

I'm toying with the idea of getting a 32ish for my room next year, they are getting cheaper.

sfloriII · #23 12-27-2008, 02:10 PM

My wife and I debated over size for a while before agreeing on 42" for our set. Then we purchased it at Circuit City. After picking it up and installing it, I realized they had accidentaly given us a 46" instead!! I alerted them to the mistake and the clerk congratulated us on their mistake. So we got a 46" for the price of a 42".... oh yeah and a free blueray player as part of the package. No wonder Circuit City is going out of business!!

Anyway, our set is about 8.5 feet from our couch and the size is fine. One rule of thumb for me is that I never want to have to move my head to see things on the set. The entire TV's surface should be seen without having to move your head. Enjoy!!

mgburg · #24 12-27-2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfloriII

My wife and I debated over size for a while before agreeing on 42" for our set. Then we purchased it at Circuit City. After picking it up and installing it, I realized they had accidentaly given us a 46" instead!! I alerted them to the mistake and the clerk congratulated us on their mistake. So we got a 46" for the price of a 42".... oh yeah and a free blueray player as part of the package. No wonder Circuit City is going out of business!!

Anyway, our set is about 8.5 feet from our couch and the size is fine. One rule of thumb for me is that I never want to have to move my head to see things on the set. The entire TV's surface should be seen without having to move your head. Enjoy!!

So-o-o-o, what you're saying is if the picture is outside your peripheral vision, it's too big then?

How 'bout, you're too CLOSE!!!

sfloriII · #25 12-27-2008, 03:30 PM

Nah. Our couch is as set against the opposite wall. But we could get a bigger screen and still be okay... but I don't think I'll be able to sell the idea to my wife. After all, she actually wanted a 37" screen!!

In our bedroom we have an old 4:3 aspect ratio 20" screen. I've been lobbying for a nice LCD about 40" or so. But that'll be a few years. That old TV has to die first and that'll be a long time. Ugh.

super SEC · #26 12-27-2008, 04:49 PM

It really depends on the quality of the TV and the image resolution. In our living room we have a 60' and in our bedroom we have 61". Both are DLP sets with really great pictures. You can sit at 6' away and the HD picture looks awesome. If it's in SD format, you would need to be around 10' to 12' for the picture to look good.

Our son has a 46" 1080P LCD TV/computer monitor in his room. He sits around 3' to 4' from the screen when he is playing World of Warcraft or video games and the picture even at 2' from the screen is awesome on 1080P.

If you watch predomenantly SD format, go smaller. If you watch 1080P HD, go as big as you can afford. Get a tv or home theater receiver with a Faroudja or similar video scaler that takes every input, even analog, and scales them to 1080P so you can watch everything through HDMI. It makes a huge difference even on the SD formated channels.

A good home theater receiver for the money is the Pioneer Pioneer VSX-1018AHK: http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/538907182/pioneer-vsx-1018ahk You can hook all of your video sources to the receiver and have one HDMI cable running to your TV. It helps clean up the wiring mess and is even better if you have a wall mounted TV so you don't have to deal with multiple lines running to the set. If you need the speakers to go with the 7.1 system, the Onkyo SKS-HT540 is the best deal for the price. http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/544299412/onkyo-sks-ht540-b

suginami · #27 12-27-2008, 08:54 PM

I sit about 12' away from our TV. We settled on a 50" Panasonic plasma, which is the perfect size.

I would highly recommend the Panasonic plasma TV's. The specific model I bought turned out to be the highest rated plasma TV by Consumer Reports magazine.

iwrock · #28 12-28-2008, 12:11 AM

We sit about 12' from our 50" Pioneer.

johnathan1 · #29 12-28-2008, 01:32 AM

We have a 70 inch Mitsubishi in our living room, and 12ft seems to be a good distance for viewing.

sfloriII · #30 12-28-2008, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super SEC

If you need the speakers to go with the 7.1 system, the Onkyo SKS-HT540 is the best deal for the price. http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/544299412/onkyo-sks-ht540-b

I looked at the Onkyo TX-SR705 for about a year but at nearly $900 it was out of my price range. Two months ago I found it NEW on Amazon for $450. I just checked and it's still there at that price. I've been very pleased with this receiver/amp and it's also THX certified, which is nice. Another thing I like is that it's 7.1 surround sound. I'm set up for 5.1, so that leaves two channels that can be routed to speakers in my study also powered by the Onkyo that can play a separate source. So my wife can watch a movie in the family room while I also listen to CD music in the study at the same time! Pretty cool, huh?
Here's the website to the Onkyo on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR705-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B000OBMX0K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230492102&sr=1-1