THX Display Set-up Guide | How Big a TV Should You Buy?
April 17th, 2008 by Kevin
Bigger is better, right? People buying shiny new TVs always struggle as to how big a TV you should buy. With the prices of HDTVs falling, people can afford to buy bigger and bigger TVs.
To help everyone find the right size TV, THX has developed a quick process for calculating the optimum viewing distance for 1080p HDTVs.
- Step 1: Measure the diagonal screen size
- Step 2: Divide by .84
Basically, the methodology revolves around preserving a 40 degree viewing angle between where you sit and the width of your TV. I personally think this is kind of crazy. Take a 42″ TV. Dividing 42 by 0.84 gives you 50 inches. The optimum viewing distance is just over 4 feet! Talk about going blind.
To watch a movie 10 feet away from the screen, you would need over a 100 inch screen according to the good folks a THX. Wow. I suddenly feel very inadequate.
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