looking for a new TV I was going to go for a Plasma, (Panasonic 55VT30B) but after reading about bright rooms I decided I should go with LED.

The TV will be situated about 20ft from where we will be sitting, i cannot decide between a 50 or 55. The 55" TV`s that I am looking at are expensive.

My question to you guys, will 50" be too small for my room? And if so do you know of any 55" for around 1000 - 1200, sound and picture quality are more important than 3D or Internet connectivity.

To be honest at 20' then even a 55" won't be anywhere near large enough for HD.

Ideally you would want to cut your viewing distance.

the most we can do is place the TV on a stand rather than the wall, but even then it will only cut reduce by 7" Given the couch seat will be another 5-6" actual distance will be 19"

I do not understand the HD part in your comment, i am not overly fussed about seeing every pimple, letter on a F1 car. More concerned about overall picture quality and sound.

And that's what the poster very kindly tried to explain to you.

Sitting twenty feet back from an HDTV is pointless, you won't be able to discern between SD and HD.

For a 50" HDTV, ideal viewing distance is 6 foot.

That just makes a joke of HD for the majority of viewers.

So say the average viewer sits up to twice that and the average seems to be 40'' ish tvs, then whats the point of HD?

That explains why me and friends\relatives cant see the difference between freeview SD\HD and sky SD\HD on our own Tvs

There a optimal distance for a majority of people to sit. Too far and you don't see much benefit from HD, too close and SD wouldn't be very viewable.

A commonly accepted distance is 2.5 x diagonal size. So for a 50" screen that would 125" or around 10.5'. for 55" screen that would be around 11.5'

But even at 15' to 20' you should be able to notice SD vs HD if they were side by side. A lot is dependant on the source. Upscaled SD is never going to look as good as something filmed in HD and HD broadcast on Sky/Virgin is going to be lower quality then HD from blu-ray due to bandwidth. And same applies to online HD.

Bought a new plasma panny last year and im more than pleased with it, SD on sky looks fine to use at home, so cant commit to paying extra for sky HD at the risk of it wont look any different.

Have got freeview via built in tuner, but flicking between bbc sd - hd cant see any difference.

Have noticed Bluray players are cheap as chips nowadays, as are the films to watch on them.
Keep saying im go get one to see tv in all its glory

or it may just be my eyes getting old

Think the thread has gone off topic a bit, HD compatibility is on most TV`s.

But like I said I am more concerned about overall PQ and sound, and if i would get away with purchasing a 50"

Or would 50" be too small for my room. I will not be paying the extra £10.25 for HD on sky.

If you intend to buy that model of Panasonic plasma tv, if I were you I would hold off a few months for the new VT50 model.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/video-electronics/
is a good place to look at.
But they are mad on there tvs over there and pick up on the slightest thing but as a rule will get good advice on newer models coming out and if its worth waiting etc...

The problem you will have with asking for advice, is as i found out you will get everyone telling you one tv is better than the other. gave me a headache when i was looking for my new tv dam internet!

People will say you cant get good sound from a slim led -plasma tv but mine sounds ok.

i set a budget and looked for a good deal with price match and warranty.

I was used to my 42'' tv in less than a day, looks lost in my room, so would say the bigger the better.

edit ... the new panny plasmas have anti reflection filters fitted on them to vastly reduce screen reflection in a bright room

Hi, I know about the VT50, I was going for the VT30 but because all plasmas have glass I will have trouble viewing in our living room, one side of the room is all glass backing onto a south facing garden. So i am avoiding plasma, but i really liked the VT30, had stunning picture quality.and sound to match.

I am limiting my spending to £1300 max now, so that rules out the Sony HX923.

So now looking at the HX823, even though its last year model i am not fussed. its got good reviews sound is a concern.

But I am wanting to spend as little as possible as my whole house is being done up and its not cheap

long read but worth it..
but dont forget they can sometimes be over picky on av

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hardw...tv-review.html

As i said in previous post, some people say you cant get good sound out of a slim tv, but i wouldnt worry about it.

So because you have a HD telly you have to sit really close otherwise there is no point? And the ideal viewing distance for a 50 inch telly is SIX FEET? Absolutely bonkers. Which normal family are going to sit that close unless they have no choice because they have a small room? And in that case they should get a smaller telly.

Yep, i thought that as well

Actually the distance is not just about picture quality but also about field of view or how much of your vision is taken up by the TV. So the closer you are, the more of your vision is taken up by the TV and closer to cinema it is. I believe 6ft figure is for THX which roughly equals cinema viewing angle. For general viewing 2.5x size is the figure recommended giving distance of 10.5ft

As mentioned you can still notice a difference in picture at greater distances but that is down to the individual, sometimes it will take having them next to each other to notice.

If the distance you sit from the TV in your lounge cannot be reduced, Just buy the biggest TV in your budget range and go with it.....If there is nothing you can do about it none of the rubbish talked about here will have any effect.
In a home environment 20' is an exceptional distance, I would say. You may be better off going down the projector and screen route.
Only you know how important the TV will be to your viewing enjoyment. I would say that for Film enjoyment, it's way too far....Day to day, rubbish TV wouldn't make much difference....
Good luck with whatever you choose to do...

I have a 55" Samsung and sit around 9-10 feet from it and as for decent sound then I would imagine most people would be using a home cinema system for that BUT I don't use mine if the program being watched is broadcast in SD.

Just buy the biggest screen you can afford.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panason...88043-pdt.html

I have this set and VERY happy with it. It has all the gadgets and will future proof you for a good while.

If picture quality is what you are after then look no further

Sounds a very strange room layout that the OP has?
If the couch is 20' away from the TV wall, and can't be moved closer, what is in between? A swimming pool??


BTW I sit 8' away from a 40" screen, and can easily distinguish between SD and HD channels.

Distinguish? - yes - see much HD resolution? - no

You really need to be a maximum of twice the screen size to get decent benefit from HD, at 8' you're at least closer than the minimum for SD, so probably a 'reasonable compromise'.

Don't let Nigel see this post lol he'll lecture you about how good Sony tv's are lol. Sorry Nigel, couldn't resist

Thank you for the informative post.

Its the whole glass and bright room combination that is making me avoid Panny Plasmas, they do have great picture quality.

Am I the only person that doesn't like Panasonic Plasmas? The picture movement looks really strange and overly processed to me. My parents have one, and it does my head in. They don't seem to mind it.

no you aren't but i'm keeping silent. I don't want the Panasonic lynch mob coming round and i see that we both own Samsung's so we're gonna take a pasting for that too lol


Best tv's to buy according to most on DS

Panasonic
Sony
then it's a fight between Samsung and LG

I just find Pana's to be expensive, the same as Sony's but then i'm told that it's because they are far superior to Samsung and LG models.