Typically, there is an upper and lower boundary for which the resolution and viewing distance (as a function of screen width) becomes important.
The idea is that you want to benefit from the additional resolution so as to not see scan-lines or pixels, yet be able to see increasing finer detail in the source material. As such, you want to naturally get closer, but not too close. Getting 'too' close means you are allowing yourself to see the pixels and or scan-lines and that is a distraction and reducing the enjoyment of the viewing.
So, in order to insure that you don't sit 'too' close to the screen you move back to insure you cannot discern pixels and or scna-lines. That is one boundary. But how far back to you sit? Well, if you sit too far back you lose the ability to see the additional detail provided by the additional resolution. Also, sitting too far back means your view can start to take in things not on the screen.
If things off of the screen (e.g. speakers, accent plants, frame pictures, etc.) then you can again become distracted. Being distracted from the content reduces the level of enjoyment because you are no longer engulfed or immersed in the content. So, sitting too far back can lead to other kinds of distractions, and this sets up another boundary.
The THX specification, and others, try to present these boundary concepts in degrees of angle measured to the left and right of a line from the sweet-spot seating position to a point dead-center on the screen. usually the angles have some flexibility, but they do offer some guidelines.
I think they typically base the recommended seating distance around 1.5 times the width of the screen. For instance, my upstairs theater has an 80" wide screen, and I just happen to sit 120" (10-feet) from it. Any close and I see scan lines. Any farther back and it becomes a boob-tube presentation.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GhostDoggy @ Dec 9th 2006 9:42AM
Typically, there is an upper and lower boundary for which the resolution and viewing distance (as a function of screen width) becomes important.
The idea is that you want to benefit from the additional resolution so as to not see scan-lines or pixels, yet be able to see increasing finer detail in the source material. As such, you want to naturally get closer, but not too close. Getting 'too' close means you are allowing yourself to see the pixels and or scan-lines and that is a distraction and reducing the enjoyment of the viewing.
So, in order to insure that you don't sit 'too' close to the screen you move back to insure you cannot discern pixels and or scna-lines. That is one boundary. But how far back to you sit? Well, if you sit too far back you lose the ability to see the additional detail provided by the additional resolution. Also, sitting too far back means your view can start to take in things not on the screen.
If things off of the screen (e.g. speakers, accent plants, frame pictures, etc.) then you can again become distracted. Being distracted from the content reduces the level of enjoyment because you are no longer engulfed or immersed in the content. So, sitting too far back can lead to other kinds of distractions, and this sets up another boundary.
The THX specification, and others, try to present these boundary concepts in degrees of angle measured to the left and right of a line from the sweet-spot seating position to a point dead-center on the screen. usually the angles have some flexibility, but they do offer some guidelines.
I think they typically base the recommended seating distance around 1.5 times the width of the screen. For instance, my upstairs theater has an 80" wide screen, and I just happen to sit 120" (10-feet) from it. Any close and I see scan lines. Any farther back and it becomes a boob-tube presentation.