Aaaargh. Please help Viridian select a new TV.

Viridian,

You can find useful calculators for SMPTE and THX recommended viewing distances at:
www.hometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

You should view the newer Sony LCD XBR units. I believe the old response time problem for watching sports that Swampwalker alludes to is gone, and that LCDs are lighter and use less energy than plasmas. We moved our fine 36 XBR CRT downstairs, where the box looks too big, but a check on its value at Videogon suggests there is no market for big box TVs, so we'll keep it. We tend to keep TVs for over 20 years, and only a last year replaced a pair of 25 XBRs bought in 1979.

db

I found it interesting, the new Perfect Vision(August 2007 pg31) just had a list of these, THX recomended screen size for 12' viewing distance is 108", the minimum is 72". SMPTE specs out at 86" for this distance.

Thanks for the links guys. Kenny.....OUCH! Probably cheaper and more domestically acceptable to move my couch up a tad, like within 2' of the screen. 8^0

If new gen LCD response times are better, then that's great and at that screen size, pixel size may be an issue so that helps the LCD argument. Best to try before you buy, but try to find a place that will let you adjust the PQ, and where you can look at sports, DVD and cable TV (if you plan to use it) Some conventional cable signals look like $ t at 60 or 70" size. Not all sets deal with poor quality inputs as well as others. On some sets, a non-optimal signal is virtually unwatchable, although may be more of a function of source than display. As you probably know, most big box sets are goosed way up on brightness and some other parameters.