The Glade 4.0

Looking into finally upgrading to a 1080p TV, and ducked into Best Buy today. They had some very nice LED TVs at a nice price. Size: 40".

My questions is: Does screen size really affect overall enjoyment, or (like the adult industry) is it just a false perception encouraged by popular culture (i.e. bigger is always better)?

In short: Will I necessarily be losing enjoyment by going from my current 46" TV to a 40"?

Current viewing range: I sit ~8-9 ft from my TV, but this, of course, can be modified.

Current TV: 46" DLP, 4 years old

Are you comfortable watching your current TV, or do YOU think it would be better if bigger.

I'm still not sure where the sweet spot is, but the biggest 1080ps (some friends have a 73") seem to me to be losing definition. Keep the approximate size you have now if you're relatively happy with it, go up a little if you like, down if you seem to be missing stuff on the sides.

Your perfect size for a TV isn't necessarily mine, or Talya's or Oonagh's or FarSky's. go to the store and measure off how far you are from the TV when its best for you, then compare that to what your set up at home is or could be.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

at that viewing distance, yes, get the 46, or bigger if you can.

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IMO yes, I was originally going to go with a 40-42" in my living room but ended up going with a 52" and was so glad I did because being over people's houses who had TV's in the 40-42" range at around the same seating distance the TV looked tiny and wasn't as enjoyable to watch.

Sasandra:

By same seating distance, do you mean the ~8-9 ft that I sit at?

I'm sure there will be some argument about this, but these sites have some valid points:
http://www.dtvcity.com/lcdtv/lcdscreensize.html
http://www.practical-home-theater-guide ... tance.html

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Well, as I said: My viewing distance can be altered (i.e. I can move my chair or TV itself forward a few feet, or change rooms that it's in).

Vindicarre:

Those links are neat. Seems I am just fine according to the first one, and only a foot or two off according to the second.

I would ideally like to merge my PC and TV somehow, but either configuration I think of presents problems.

Size only matters when you purchase the smaller one...then go to your friends and see the larger one.. Then you realize size does matter!

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Ask this TV

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I'd have to say it does matter, but I'm biased...




That said, something like 46" to 40" can be made up a lot by picture quality/features/etc. I'd take a 40" with good picture quality over a 46" with poor quality easy, and I don't know how those 2 displays compare.

Yes, I sit about 8ish ft from my TV, and my grandmother's it's about 7-8 ft but only a 40" TV, it looks so tiny, but then again i've gotten used to the 52" so that may have something to do with it, I suppose if you were only used to to say a 32" at that distance a 40" would then seem huge.

While not directly related to viewing size, some manufacturers also limit certain features that affect view quality to larger size televisions, such as text scrolling refinement (I forget the name now, but each manuf. has its own terminology for this tech), etc.

I went with a 52" LCD in my living room, probably 8-10 feet away. I probably could have gotten away with going smaller, but at the end of the day I didn't want to look at a smaller TV in a few months and say to myself "I wish I'd gone a bit bigger". When I was looking at televisions, every where I looked noted that as the number one complaint, or damned close to it.

We have a 46" TV in our living room. Is it enough? Yes, as that answer is being defined by "Is it comfortable for people sitting in the den to view from the sofa and chairs we have?" Would I like bigger? Sure, but that's a personal thing; I won't be truly satisfied until I have a house with an actual theater in it, a full 1080p projector and a screen the size of a wall. Is that right for you? Only you know.

Never settle. If you settle, you can be guaranteed that you're going to wish down the line that you'd not wasted that money on something that has now hamstrung you from getting what you actually want.

Honestly, it sounds very much like you're wanting to settle for a lesser screen size and want us to tell you "that's OK." We can't do that. Only you know how appropriate that TV is for your space, and we can't be tasked with taking that responsibility off of you.

If you can see the edges of the TV when you look at the center from wherever you sit, it's not too big.

If you can't comfortably sit in the same room it's in, it's too big.

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In time, this too shall pass.

Completely aside from the size question, LED is yummy.

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I just switched from a 720p Plasma to a 1080p LCD, both the same size (42") and the difference is pretty clear. I sit about six feet away, and I don't think I could have gone with a smaller tv, even if the quality was "better." I feel like a six inch loss would be noticeable and unsettling.

On a 46" screen, sitting 8 feet away, you're already barely sitting close enough to get the full benefit of 1080p. If you dropped down to 40", you would need to sit no further than six feet or so away to still be able to tell a difference between 720/1080.

Back in the day of Rear Projection, size and viewing distance was a big deal. You had to sit further than a certain distance away with the bigger sets, because a 480i projected image had a lot more noticeable grain and scan lines.

Now, in the era of 1080P, it does not make any difference at all. Everyone that has ever asked me this question "Should I get a 42, or a 50? Should I get a 50, or a 55? Should I get a 57, or a 65?"

If you're asking the question, you should get the largest set you're looking at. I believe it makes quite a bit of difference in your immersion in the material. I have a 57" in a side bedroom and a 42" in our main room, and there is a huge difference between the two.

This is a relatively big purchase, and at the size you're talking about, stepping up to the next size or two isn't really that huge of a leap overall, especially if you're going to hang onto the tv for awhile. Buyer's remorse will suck more.

Lenas:

Your reply text and graph appear to be a bit contradictory, so I will need some clarification, please.

According to that chart, you need a wall-sized screen to start to see the benefits of true HD, yet in your reply you are saying that you only need a 46" screen at 8 feet away. Unless I am reading the chart wrong, it seems to be a contradiction in terms.

The closer you sit, the higher the res you need on a larger screen.

THe graph says that 46" @ 8' is just about where 1080p is optimal.

I have an 80" screen and I sit about 15' away. So, I really only need a 720p projector. If I sat 8' away from the screen, I'd need a higher resolution to not be able to see pixelation, etc.

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Holy shitsnacks!

Rodahn,
The solid red line is where you can watch 1080p displays at their optimal distances. For example, if you sit 5 feet away, you'd want to have a 37" tv. If you sit 10 feet away, you'd need to over double the TV size (72"+) to see it with the same clarity.

Ah I see -- the big transparent triangle thingies were throwing me. I thought THEY were the focal points, and that quality increased from left to right.

Sorry, my bad -- epic chart reading fail

That just means your room is too small...