What television screen size do you recommend?

In my 25+ years of recommending audio and video gear to customers, I can’t recall once hearing anyone say, “I wish I would have bought a smaller TV.” But I have many memories of my clients wishing that their TV was bigger. So what I have learned from this experience is that you should always but the biggest TV your room, viewing distance, and budget will allow. And that’s especially true with today’s high resolution HDTVs.

That being said, there is a formula we use at Sound Advice that helps us determine the best screen size and viewing distance for a particular application. It‘s a rough estimate, but it gets us into the ball park, so to speak. Here it is:

Viewing Distance = 1.5 to 2.5 x TV screen size

Plugging in a few popular TV screen sizes give us:

Screen Size: 32” Viewing Distance: 3 feet
Screen Size: 40” Viewing Distance: 4 feet
Screen Size: 50” Viewing Distance: 6 feet
Screen Size: 65” Viewing Distance: 8 feet
Screen Size: 75” to 88″ Viewing Distance: 10 feet or more

Of course, many other considerations must be factored in when making a screen size decision. Let’s look at some common room applications and discuss a few of these.

In a living room?
In a living room, an important consideration is how well the TV blends in with the room’s décor and architectural details. Nowadays, we almost always recommend flat-panel televisions LCD or LED in living rooms. And since décor is important, we usually determine the best screen size by first measuring the distance from the seating area to the proposed TV location, and then calculating the biggest screen size that taste and budget allows.

But in general, the vast majority of televisions that Sound Advice installs in living rooms are in the 65” to 75″ range. This seems to be the “sweet spot’ for a large enough picture for enjoyable viewing, but without overpowering the room’s aesthetics. And for great home theater surround sound in the living room, we recommend in-ceiling and in-wall architectural speakers in the rear combined with floor standing speakers in the front. The current crop of these speakers sound excellent and provide the perfect balance of sonic performance and designer aesthetics. During your Free In-Home Consultation, your Sound Advice sales consultant will make all of the critical measurements and work with your interior designer to come up with the perfect television solution for your living room.

In a den?
A traditional den is more of a personal space. A place to get away, read, contemplate, and maybe watch the financial news, or catch up on some sports. A den is also traditionally a small to medium-sized room, so the screen size must be appropriate for the viewing distance.

Because of these limitations, Sound Advice usually recommends a 65” to 75” television for viewing in the den. Of course, this a generalization and during your Free In-Home Consultation, your salesperson will be able to much more accurately determine the ideal screen size for your room, viewing distance, and budget.

In the media room? 
This is where you want the absolute largest screen size for the room size and your budget considerations. The home theater experience is all about big: a big picture and big sound. Without both of these, you might as well be watching a 19” tube TV. That being said, there are of course limitations. Using the screen size formula described above, Sound Advice consultants will determine the biggest size for the room.

In a media or home theater room, the type of television technology we recommend can also vary. A 75″ to 88″ LED TV might be perfect, but quite often the best solution is a video projector with a separate video screen, particularly in large rooms. With these so-called two-piece video projector systems, the screen size is entirely open. If the room lighting is controlled with dimmers and shades and if the viewing distance is far enough, screen sizes of 200” or more are entirely practical, and often recommended. Again, your Sound Advice consultant will put together a custom plan for your media room that will take into account all of these factors, and most of all, give you, your friends and family a viewing experience that will “Blow Your Socks Off!!!”

In the kitchen?  
“The kitchen is where the heart is.“ That’s what my mom used to always say. She was, as usual, absolutely right. But in many of today’s homes, kitchens are very different from that of my childhood experience. The small , busy, cluttered room full of cooking machinery has been opened up to join the other living spaces. Often known as a “great room,” a counter that can be used for both food preparation and informal eating usually divides the kitchen area with the living/dining space. All of which presents new challenges for the entertainment system designer.

I f the television is primarily to be viewed in the kitchen area itself, a smaller size thin-panel TV is usually perfect. A 32” screen mounted to a swiveling bracket is the perfect solution, and can be viewed from anywhere in the room. But if the television is to be shared by both the kitchen and by the living space, a much bigger screen will be needed. Again, our screen size formula comes in handy. The difference here is that there may be several viewing locations at the same time. If the kids are sitting on the sofa, and mom is in the kitchen, what may be the perfect size for the kids may be way too small for mom. A compromise screen size is one solution. Or maybe it’s two smaller televisions. Your Sound Advice consultant can discuss these and more possibilities during the Free In-Home Consultation. It’s only a click or phone call away.

In the bathroom? 
What better place is there than the bathroom to catch up on morning news, traffic, and sports. But shelf space is usually at a premium. A small screen LCD TV is a good solution. It won’t take up that much space. But if you want the coolest, stealthiest solution, change out your regular mirror for a two-way mirror (the outside is reflective, the inside is transparent). Sound Advice can install a thin-panel TV BEHIND the the two-way mirror. When the TV is turned off, all you see are the normal reflections. When the TV is turned on, the TV magically appears on the mirror. No shelf space. No muss. No fuss. The perfect bathroom TV. Give us a call or click for our Free In-Home Consultation for the best bathroom entertainment ideas since the rubber ducky.

Two hundred years from now, historians will describe televisions as belonging to two distinct eras: pre-HDTV and post-HDTV. The improvement in the television viewing experience since the advent of HDTV has been so vast, that it makes the prior era look quaint and horse and buggy-ish. The detail, sharpness and overall picture quality of an HDTV is so amazing and life-like, it simply makes everything before look dull and lifeless. So step out of that gray Studebaker and get behind the wheel of a red BMW. You will never look behind. 

Picture resolution and what all those numbers mean  
480i? 480p? 720p? 1080i? 1080p? We hear these numbers thrown around whenever HDTVs are described in brochures, ads, and even here on the Sound Advice website. These numbers describe the picture resolution, or sharpness. The higher the number, the more picture information is displayed on the screen. And the more information on the screen, the sharper the picture is going to appear.

480i is the old NTSC broadcast standard. If you’re watching the Beatles perform on the “Ed Sullivan Show,“ you’re watching a 480i picture. 480p is DVD picture resolution. 720p, 1080i, and 1080p are HDTV picture resolution numbers.

Now let’s talk about the letters. If there is a letter “i” after the number, the picture is interlaced. If there is a letter ”p”, the picture is progressive. All television images consist of scanning lines that run left to right across the screen. On an interlaced picture, the odd numbered lines (1, 3, 5, etc.) are displayed first, then the even lines are displayed immediately after. Because the odd and even lines alternate so quickly, your eye is tricked into believing it’s one solid picture. On a progressive picture, all of the scanning lines are displayed simultaneously. In general, a progressive picture appears more film-like and a bit more stable to the eye.

So which one should I get? 
Right now, the state-of-the-art is 1080p and that’s what we usually recommend, especially for larger televisions that serve as the home’s primary source of entertainment. A 1080p Blu-ray movie playing through one of these televisions sets is a spectacle that can’t be duplicated. Even when viewing a 720p or 1080i resolution broadcast, the picture on a 1080p television is still smoother and more film-like. 1080p is found on most of our best HDTVs and it makes a significant difference that’s worth every penny.

Want to know more?
Your Sound Advice sales consultant is your source for all things HDTV. Give us a call or click for a Free In-Home Consultation. We’ll be happy to answer all your HDTV questions and make recommendations that will bring the high-definition viewing experience into your home. The exciting new era of HDTV awaits. Give us a call.

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