Digital Home Canada

Perhaps the most common question that we receive on Digital Home Canada from readers who about to by a high definition television (HDTV) is what screen size they should buy?

Since there is no right size to buy, this week the Digital Home advisor provides readers with guidelines on what screen size might be right for them.

• measure the overall dimensions of your viewing room;
• decide where you want to place the television;
• measure the available area around where you will be placing the television while allowing room for additional components and speakers; and
• determine how far will you be sitting from the front of the screen.

The reason we recommend you measure the overall room size and the available area around where you will be placing the television is too ensure that you don't buy a television that won't fit in your room.

HDTV's look much smaller when you see them in a big showroom so make sure you determine the overall physical dimensions of any HDTV in order to ensure that it’s not too big for room. Don’t forget to allow room for other components such as speakers, A/V receiver, DVD player and PVR.

Provided your room is large enough to accommodate the screen sizes you’re considering, the most important measure in determining the optimal screen size is how far you will be sitting from the front of the screen. Measure the distance from where you’ll sit on the couch to the front of the screen. Make note of how far any viewing chairs will be from the television.

Generally speaking the farther you sit from the television, the bigger the screen size you’ll want, however, bigger is not necessarily better. Even if you can afford it, a 60” screen from eight feet away is not recommended; however, if you’re sitting 15 feet away, a 60” screen might be just right.

The next point to consider when selecting a large screen television is the type of programming you'll be watching it on. Generally speaking, the closer you sit to a television screen, the more likely you are to see imperfections in the picture quality. This is because as you move away from the screen, the human eye is unable to perceive minute details and the picture blends together with the adjacent detail.

Since an HD signal is superior to a SD (standard definition) signal, you can sit a lot closer to your television when HD programming is on without your eye being distracted by imperfections. This means the optimal viewing distance for HD programming is much shorter than the optimal viewing distance for SD programming.

When you visit the showroom, be sure to view the television from the same distance that you would in your home. Typically most people stand further back from the set in the store than in their home so they over estimate the size of television they need.

In addition, we recommend that you try to watch standard definition programming on any new HDTV you are considering. Many a reader has visited the Digital forums and told us how disappointed their HDTV looks when watching standard definition signals too close up!

The chart on the next page is a guide to the relative sizes of various 16:9 widescreen televisions along with suggested viewing distances by type of programming. (HD for high definition programming and SD for standard definition programming)

Next: Chart: Choosing the Right screen size