I have a question regarding viewing distance for two TV's i have. The first TV is a 61inch Sammy DLP 1080p and the other is a 42 inch Philips Ambilight 2 LCD. I just purchased a house and am trying to figure out which room to put which TV. Ultimately i would like a "theater room" and have one TV in there and the other in the living room. The viewing distance for the theater room is approx 8.5-9 feet, and the living room is 12.5-13 feet. I know logic would say to put the bigger TV in the bigger room, but im curious to see if the 61 inch in the smaller room would be too close (or if the smaller set in the bigger room would be too small).

The idea being that when i want to hang out with fiancee and watch TV shows we watch in living room, but when i want to hit the ole PS3, watch football or just retire to the man cave, i go to the theater room. Any thoughts or calculations that can help?

I have a 50" Samsung DLP in my living room that I sit just over 10 feet from. I can say without a doubt that Id have no problem sitting closer to it (because I do when I'm playing the Wii). If I were you, I'd put the bigger TV in your smaller room for your "theater room" (better experience) and put the smaller LCD in the living room. The LCD will probably seem much less obtrusive (than the DLP) as well if your living room isn't overly large.

Don't know if this helps, but I sit 12.5-13 feet away from my 126" screen and I sit 8.5-9 feet away from my 70"

Thanks for the input guys, thats exactly what im thinking. At my old apt when i play PS2 i sat about 5 feet away (gotta be immersed in NCAA). Its a newer model TV, so its not like im staring at pixellation all over the place. Just gotta (cant believe im saying this) run it by the ole fiancee now......

There are industry (SMPTE (http://www.smpte.org/) and THX recommended viewing distances and viewing distances based on viewing angle, as well as recommendations based on visual acuity and display resolution. Do an internet search on viewing distance.

This site has a calculator that will compute an optimum distance using several standards. http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

These recommended distances appear valid to me. Initially I set up our 50" plasma more or less the way things were with the old CRT (fairly long sight lines) and of course 50 trumped 32. Headqurters approved a change and now we are just over the THX maximum. Closer would be better.

I find it odd (maybe not odd, but interesting) that for THX standards it says for my screen size, a MAXIMUM viewing distance of 8 feet is wanted.......Maybe im not understanding something.....

I just checked the THX site and the current recommendation (http://thx.com/home/setup/display.html) is a 40 degree viewing angle, calculated by dividing the display width by 0.73. If your 61" display has a width of 53" then the THX viewing distance would be 6.5"

The online calculator uses a 36 degree viewing angle and gives an optimum distance of 6.8' and a maximum of 9.6'

These numbers deal with arc of vision, balancing the narrower area of sharp vision with the impact of a wider more realistic display area with detail at the edges not in clear focus. Like our real life peripheral vision.

The other factor with displays is how far we can be from the display and still discern the differences in resolution. Detail is lost with increasing distance so 1080p is wasted in the cheap seats.

At any rate it is worth experimenting with different distances and knowing that room size is not directly related to display size.

At any rate it is worth experimenting with different distances and knowing that room size is not directly related to display size.
Do you mean that just because the wall is 13' wide I may not want a 13' wide screen? This can't be right. ;)

I completely agree. Experimentation is the key. Some folks prefer the front row of a movie theater, some prefer the last row and many are in-between. The THX and SMPTE standards are starting points (guide lines); but, in the end, it's your equipment, your room and your eyes. Sit where you want to get the experience you want. You might ask your fiancee to join in since this decision could affect your joint happiness.

Trust me, i plan to get her involved in this process. That way i can at least say she was consulted :) I plan on having it around 8 feet away, that way the "Theater" experience is there, and if i wanna watch a few football games in there with some buddies, then we will be able to handle it too.......