SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Monster TVs: How Big Is Too Big?
Viewing distance Screen size 8.1 to 10.8 feet
6.5 to 8.6 feet 5 to 6.6 feet
3.25 to 4.3 feet
65-inch 52-inch 40-inch 26-inch
Manufacturers have supersized televisions, but not every home is right for the gargantuan new models. ::
BY JANE BLAKEMORE S
o you’re drooling over that new 80-inch, whoppingly huge plasma TV that looks like it will fit
perfectly in your living room. You might want to think twice. TVs
have gotten massive in recent years, and prices on them have come down, but they are not for everyone. According to top electronics
experts, the first step you need to take before picking out a flat-screen TV is to reach for the tape measure, and discover whether your viewing area is big enough for that giant new set. It all comes down to how close you
will be sitting to your TV screen. “You want a TV set that is big enough to be involving, but small enough that the picture is still sharp and clear,” says John Dahl, education director for THX, one of the nation’s top sources for rating new gadgetry. When TV shopping, size translates to distance; how far the size of your
66 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | AUGUST 2012
favorite TV-watching room allows you to sit from the screen should determine the size of the TV you should buy. There is no hard and fast rule
— your eyesight and personal preferences come into play — but a review of various industry standards shows some general agreement. For example, Steve Kindig,
electronics wizard for Crutchfield, one of the largest electronics dealers, tells Newsmax that you should multiply the inch measurement of the TV you plan to buy (TVs are measured diagonally) by 1.52, and then divide by 12 to get feet, to see if it’s going to work out for you. For example, this means that for
a 26-inch TV, you would want to sit about 3.25 to 4.3 feet away. For a 40-inch, sit 5 to 6.6 feet away; for a 52-incher, sit 6.5 to 8.6 feet away; for a 65-inch, sit 8.1 to 10.8 feet away. That 80-inch superset? You’d want
to be roughly 10 to 13.3 feet away. For some people, even 13 feet will be uncomfortably close. “You can sit closer when you are
watching high-quality Blu-ray or 3-D images,” Kindig tells Newsmax, “but for standard cable and satellite, if you’re sitting too close, you get fuzzy detail or colors that are blotchy.”
Robert Silva, tech expert with
About.com, says another issue to consider is weight. A 60-inch plasma set can weigh more than 100 pounds. “If you mount it on the wall, you need to make sure it’s fastened into studs and not just drywall,” he says. How high should you mount it?
From your favorite chair, your eyes should be roughly level with the vertical center of the screen. If you still want that giant TV,
remember that you likely won’t be taking it home with you the same day. Rare is the person who has a vehicle that can fit an 80-inch behemoth. So you’ll have to wait for delivery.
SIZE MATTERS Average size of TVs sold, by year:
2015 projected sales average:
60” 2011 average: 38”
27”
2004 average:
PHOTO COMPOSITE: COUPLE/YURI ARCURS MEDIA/SUPERFUSION/SUPERSTOCK/TV/MIKE HARRINGTON/GETTY IMAGES / MONITOR/ISTOCKPHOTO
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