How Big of a TV Should You Get? Depends on Whom You Ask

(Re-post)

I've been casually researching the best TV to get and my living room positions viewers 8 feet from the screen. So how big should my new LCD TV be? Depends on whom you ask. My wife's uncle told me that "people in the know" would recommend going no bigger than 40 inches since at 8 feet a bigger TV would highlight defects in imaging. But CNETsuggests I can go up to 65 inches. 

But the LCD Buying Guide offers a distance-size calculator which at 8 feet suggests a screen of 32 inches, half the previous recommendation. 

But the Practical Home Theater Guide differs, offering the 2-to-5 Principle, stated as thus: "For optimum TV viewing distance, the nearest seating position should be limited to approximately twice the screen width . . . "

Then there's Crutchfield, which offers a guide that agrees with my uncle's 40-inch recommendation. 

Bottom-line is I'd to stick the TV in the living room on a trial basis and see how it looks. If I were so privileged, I'd like to sample various LCD and Plasma models. But my research tells me to get a 40- or 46-inch Samsung LCD 1080 with 120 Hz (which means refresh rate is faster and images look better). Now that I've narrowed down the focus, the fun is gone and I'm content with keeping my Toshiba conventional TV until the Samsung price reduces to a $1,000 or so. 

(Re-post)

I've been casually researching the best TV to get and my living room positions viewers 8 feet from the screen. So how big should my new LCD TV be? Depends on whom you ask. My wife's uncle told me that "people in the know" would recommend going no bigger than 40 inches since at 8 feet a bigger TV would highlight defects in imaging. But CNETsuggests I can go up to 65 inches. 

Comments

[MRe]

Hello Herculodge

don't bother about those calculations, buy the biggest you want to pay for.
(Those calculations date from the sixties when the resolution of a TVscreem was much less then today).

Greetings from Groningen ^top^ of Holland

[herculodge]

I have to agree with you. For example, my neighbor has a 50-inch Panasonic LCD in his living room and it doesn't seem too big at all even with the couch a few feet away. I could be happy with a 55-incher or so.