Aaaargh. Please help Viridian select a new TV.

I also sit 12ft from my TV and have no light issues. I just bought a 71" Samsung 1080P DLP and am extremely happy with it, the picture is awesome. At 12ft, anything less than 70" will be dissappointing for getting the theater experience for movies (IMHO). Surprisingly, my wife thinks the same thing for the size of the picture (she rarely chimes in as long as it works). Also, you should definitely get a TV that can except (and is capable of) 1080P if you go higher than a 50" TV.

Another important thing I should mention is that the Samsung customer service has been great when I called in twice (not for problems but just general questions).

Vman71

Surprisingly when I told the wife I was buying a bigger TV she told me I was mad, but when it arrived she immediately said it wasn't so big...

KT

Wow, you guys are great. Thanks for all of the guidance and advice. I must admit that I was considering a smaller set than the ones mentioned; I will have to increase the amount of real estate, and more importantly, funds alotted to this project. Better to do it right the first time and I appreciate avoiding the pitfall of buying too small a set.

Mark, being an audiogeek I never read the video posts here, so I really am in the dark. And you have a good memory, based on my previous post, I shelved the idea of mounting the TV over the fireplace as it would place it about 60" off of the floor and the consensus here was that was just too high up. I was in holding mode, until my 35" Mitsubishi tube set started going on the fritz. Now it's time to pull the trigger, before football season starts.

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