I’ve read various articles debating the importance of the 1080p. I want to set the record straight once and for all: if you are serious about properly setting up your viewing room, you will definitely benefit from 1080p (and even 1440p.) Why? Because the 1080p resolution is the first to deliver enough detail to your eyeball when you are seated at the proper distance from the screen. But don’t just take my word for it: read on for the proof.
There are a few obvious factors to being able to detect resolution differences: the resolution of the screen, the size of the screen, and the viewing distance. To be able to detect differences between resolutions, the screen must be large enough and you must sit close enough. So the question becomes “How do I know if need a higher resolution or not?”. Here is your answer.
Based on the resolving ability of the human eye, it is possible to estimate when the differences between resolutions will become apparent. A person with 20/20 vision can resolve 60 pixels per degree, which corresponds to recognizing the letter āEā on the 20/20 line of a Snellen eye chart from 20 feet away. Using the Home Theater Calculator spreadsheet as a base, I created a chart showing, for any given screen size, how close you need to sit to be able to detect some or all of the benefits of a higher resolution screen. (Click the picture below for a larger version.)
What the chart shows is that, for a 50-inch screen, the benefits of 720p vs. 480p start to become apparent at viewing distances closer than 14.6 feet and become fully apparent at 9.8 feet. For the same screen size, the benefits of 1080p vs. 720p start to become apparent when closer than 9.8 feet and become full apparent at 6.5 feet. In my opinion, 6.5 feet is closer than most people will sit to their 50″ plasma TV (even through the THX recommended viewing distance for a 50″ screen is 5.6 ft). So, most consumers will not be able to see the full benefit of their 1080p TV.
However, front projectors and rear projection displays are a different story. They make it very easy to obtain large screen sizes. Plus, LCD and Plasma displays are constantly getting larger and less expensive. In my home, for example, I have a 123-inch screen and a projector with a 1280×720 resolution. For a 123-inch screen, the benefits of 720p vs. 480p starts to become apparent at viewing distances closer than 36 feet (14 feet behind my back wall) and become fully apparent at 24 feet (2 feet behind my back wall). For the same screen size, the benefits of 1080p vs. 720p start to become apparent when closer than 24 feet and become full apparent at 16 feet (just between the first and second row of seating in my theater). This means that people in the back row of my home theater would see some improvement if I purchased a 1080p projector and that people in the front row would notice a drastic improvement. (Note: the THX recommended max viewing distance for a 123″ screen is 13.7 feet).
So, how close should you be sitting to your TV? Obviously, you need to look at your room and see what makes sense for how you will be using it. If you have a dedicated viewing room and can place seating anywhere you want, you can use this chart as a guideline. It’s based on THX and SMPTE specifications for movie theaters; the details are available in the Home Theater Calculator spreadsheet.
Looking at this chart, it is apparent that 1080p is the lowest resolution to fall within the recommended seating distance range. Any resolution less than 1080p is not detailed enough if you are sitting the proper distance from the screen. For me and many people with large projection screens, 1080p is the minimum resolution you’d want.
In fact, you could probably even benefit from 1440p. If you haven’t heard of 1440p, you will. Here’s a link to some info on Audioholics.com. It is part of the HDMI 1.3 spec, along with 48-bit color depth, and will probably surface for the public in 2009 or so. You’ll partially be able to see the benefits of 1440p at the THX Max Recommended viewing distance and the resolution benefits will be fully apparent if you are just a little closer. I’ve read of plans for resolutions reaching 2160p but I don’t see any benefit; you’d have to sit too darn close to the screen to notice any improvement. If you sit too close, you can’t see the far edges of the screen.
In conclusion
If you are a videophile with a properly setup viewing room, you should definitely be able to notice the resolution enhancement that 1080p brings. However, if you are an average consumer with a flat panel on the far wall of your family room, you are not likely to be close enough to notice any advantage. Check the chart above and use that to make your decision.
ISF states the the most important aspects of picture quality are (in order): 1) contrast ratio, 2) color saturation, 3) color accuracy, 4) resolution. Resolution is 4th on the list and plasma is generally superior to LCD in all of the other areas (but much more prone to reflections/glare.) So pick your display size, then measure your seating distance, and then use the charts above to figure out if you would benefit from the larger screen size. So be sure to calibrate your screen! I recommend the following for calibration.
Recommended Calibration Tools
- Disney WOW: World of Wonder Blu-ray
- Disney WOW: World of Wonder DVD
- Alternative options:
- DVD: Digital Video EssentialsĀ (the original calibration disc dating back to the 1990s)
- Blu-ray: Spears & Munsil High-Def Benchmark Disc (my favorite but hard to find)
- Blu-ray: Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics (an update to the original, but I don’t like it as well)
- Automatic Hardware Calibrator: Datacolor Spyder 3
“I don’t like reading charts – just tell me what resolution I need”
If you don’t like reading charts and are looking for a quick answer, enter you screen size below to see how close you’ll need to sit to fully appreciate various screen resolutions.
Note about “or closer” viewing distances calculated above: if you sit closer than the distances shown above, you will be able to see some (but not all) of the detail offered by the next higher resolution.
Wow.. great spreadsheet and article. Of course, when information is exposed to so many people you will find holes and criticicism -positive and negative- all over the place, in this era, capturing all the information regarding a technology and explaining clearly is tough. I appreciate the effort and constant work and mantainance you have put.
Anyways, I am planning on purchasing a panasonic cinema projector but debating on the model.
Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector
Brightness: 2000 ANSI lumens
Resolution: 720p native
Contrast Ratio: 6000:1
$1200
“OR”
Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector
> Brightness: 1500 ANSI lumens
> Resolution: 1080p native
> Contrast Ratio: 15000:1
$2600
My planned projector screen size is ~84″ diag, 16:9 off course, and viewing distance 11 ft. My current sources are just cable tv, and I will be getting a PS3 for games and blue ray DVD. Obviously the very subjective matter is if it is worth spending more than double for the 1080p projector.. ?
According to the info posted here there will be a noticeable difference when used with the PS3 source. The other curiosity is, given the exact screen size and viewing distance and resolution (say 720p), how does the image compare between a front LCD or plasma screen versus a projector (non DLP, LCD) ? , and by projector I don’t mean the projector TV’s but a cinema projector.
re: Knasser
I’m in a very similar position.. I would go with the cheaper 720p alternative. Unless you have money to burn and simply want the best, the extra $1400 is hardly justifiable.
re: Tory
I would get a 50″ panasonic plasma, 1080p if it’s not much more expensive. Generally, plasmas have superior image quality to LCD.
I view my 50 inch 768v plasma from 7.5 feet away. I cannot at this distance detect the individual pixels, so I can’t see how a 1080p would be of much benefit.
Blu-ray looks glorious and DVD (not using upscaling DVD) looks great as well.
I plan on getting a Panasonic TH-42PZ700A 1080p plasma for my bedroom soon. I really don’t need that resolution as again my viewing distance is 7.5 feet, but there are no 1366/768 plasmas (not an LCD fan) out there.
Very Detailed and useful tools u have produced, however
I believe this calculator and chart are a bit extreme. I currently have a FUll HD 40 inch TV (Bravia BRX2), and my approx viewing Distance from the TV is 85 inches. When i switch resolutions between 720p and 1080p, I can see the differences quite clearly (from the viewing distance i stated above), for example, the 1080p is a lot smoother and has a lot less aliasing than the 720p, and this can be seen, However the calculator and chart both suggest that I would not be able to tell the difference between the two resolutions at my curent viewing distance. (Btw, I am short sighted and wear glasses, if that makes any significance to my case).
So at the moment I am quite confused. Either the statistics used for both chart and calculator are slightly too underestimated (in terms of the required viewing distance (its maximum recommended viewing distance is inaccurately too short) or I have very good eyesight (which i doubt).
Please follow up with an explaination. Thank You.
Two things: video processors can introduce visible artifacts during resolution conversion and during interlacing/deinterlacing. Secondly, the sensitivity to distance variation increases quite a bit at smaller screen sizes.
In your opinion, how much do you think a 46 inch would benefit me compared with my current 40 inch at the current viewing distance?
Roland: I think field-of-view is more important than resolution. If it fits your room, I’d definitely recommend getting a bigger screen.
Get a 1080p set no matter what – 720p is old technology. Blu-ray is 1080p, many digital broadcasts are 1080p, professional cinema and broadcast cameras are 1080 ,new consumer video cameras are 1080 – For text or computer images or viewing digital photos you need 1080 and games consoles like PS3 and xbox360 are all 1080 capable, as well as your PC.
The only reason you would ever get 720p or less is cash constraint you basically have bought a device which is sub-standard and incapable of showing the full quality of most digital image sources as these are allmost allways 1080.
As for distance sit close enough to see all the detail offered by the 1080p image. If you sit too far back you will be straining your eyes to see the details – dont hang your TV on the wall move it as close as necessary to see the full 1080 lines that is how the image should be viewed. – A bigger set allows you do sit further back and thus have more people comfortably viewing it.
It has taken years to get cinema quality viewing at home 1080p is equal to a 6 MegaPixel camera image, and has incredible image detail 1080p is the new standard definition.
Stephen70: Following your logic, everyone should spend $200,000 on a 4320p display. Sound like too much money? Sound like more resolution than you can see? It is, and the same argument applies to 1080p vs. 720p: there is no need to waste money if you can’t see the resolution advantage. Not every room, every couch, and every TV size is going to allow optimal viewing distances.
For the record, professional cinema uses resolutions up to 4096 x 2160; see the Sony 4k projectors.
Put your TV on a stand in the middle of the room? and have a bunch of cords running across the floor to the wall? That’s not even acceptable for a college dorm room. I’d much rather have a 123″ screen mounted on my wall than a 32″ TV sitting in the middle of the floor.
For the record, 1080p is no where close to 6 mega pixels. 1080 x 1920 = 2.0732 mega pixels. 35mm film is roughly equivalent to 6 million pixels (depending in ISO), making 70mm IMAX roughly equivalent to 24 million pixels. Perhaps 1080p is the new standard def. If so, then you’d better upgrade to the new high def.
Hi Carlton,
This article was very helpful and the research presented was outstanding and very clear. The only problem is that it still does not answer my biggest question.
1080P LCD OR PLASMA
I understand that the plasma has deeper black levels, higher contrast ratios and therefore more vibrant colors. LCD’s reproduction of black levels are merely a shade of dark gray, eventhough the details in 1080p are better. It is extremely unfortunate that I am forced to choose between 1080p or lcd due to budget restraints. With viewing distance of about 8 or 9 ft what would be the best combination of size and 1080p vs. lcd? (lighting is not a problem) My main viewing source will be from ps3 used for blu-ray movies and gaming.
Read this post for LCD vs. Plasma: https://carltonbale.com/2007/08/plasma-vs-lcd-revisited-screen-glare-is-still-the-deciding-factor/
If there is no glare and you don’t need the resolution, go plasma.
The thread consistently says plasma is preferred to LCD when there is “fast action.” But I do not recall ever seeing a definition of “fast action.” The only fast action I care about is football. I would prefer an LCD. Is football “too fast” for an LCD?
Great post carlton! Thanks for the useful info!
One thing to note is that 20-20 vision is actually rather sub-normal – Wiki suggests 20-12 to 20-16.
At 20-12 the viewing ratio changes dramatically – for 1080p you should sit 2.6 times the screen diagonal away. For 720p it’s 3.9 times the diagonal, for 576 it’s 4.9 and for 480p it’s 5.8. Compare that with 1.5, 2.3, 2.9 and 3.5 respectively for 20-20 vision…
Thanks a bunch. Outstanding article. I’ve spent most of the last week researching this exact topic. I’ve found the answers here. Thanks again!!
Mr. Bale,
I’ve read this trail going back two years and wondered if the newer HDTVs have any improvements that would change your view. I am planning to buy a 32 or 37″ TV. I will probably watch it from 5 feet away as I am nearsighted and hate to wear my glasses at home. My son is only 6 now but he will likely watch it from a somewhat greater distance. I do not watch a lot of TV, but we do watch movies from DVDs and a fair amount of PBS nature specials and the like. I have gone to Best Buy and Circuit City and looked at WALLS of TVs! It does seem to me that the 1080p TVs have sharper images. But would it make more sense to get at 720p with a very high contrast ratio instead? Thanks for any advice you may have.
Shaun: Nothing has changed since this was originally published. If you’re going to be 5′ away from a 37″ TV, I’d recommend going for 1080p resolution, assuming that you are watching (or will eventually be watching) mostly HD content. Within the panels that offer 1080p, I’d recommend the one with the best actual contrast ratio.
I have ordered a panny 42″pz85 but have beeen reading about the distance charts and it looks like i have messed up. I will be sitting 3.5 mtrs away but according to the table i will need to sit maybe a 1 mtre closer to benefit the 1080p blurays i will eventually be viewing. Taking into account the pz85 contrast ratios etc would i get away with a 46″ at 3.5 mtrs to benefit 1080p. Or would that still be to small? Thanks for reply.
At a distance of 3.5 meters (11.5 feet), 46″ would still be pretty small screen for 1080p. At that distance, a 60-inch diagonal screen would be the smallest for even 720p. 85 inches is about what you’d need to full-appreciate 1080p.
Ah ah according to the graph i would need an 80″ screen to fully benefit 1080p from 11.5 feet. This is a very unrealistic resolution for the average living room full stop.? What a con.
Carlton, you did not directly address a factor that makes a rather large difference in visual acuity, ambient illumination.
The resolution of the eye is diffraction limited by the size of the opening of the pupil. Back some mumble years ago we laid back a little in physics class and made some measurements of acuity. Since they were somewhat sloppy we simply looked for trends. With the pupil larger and fully dark adapted in a darked room all of us showed better visual acuity by a large margin than in a bright daylight setting.
This is one of the major reasons why films are shown in a darkened theater. You will see more detail in the visual presentation that way.
{^_^}
hey people the problem is verrry verry wrong that you thing!
i study pixels and tv many yearasss..
now TRUE:
– THE SIZE OF ONE PIXEL IS IMPORTANT,ANOTHER company have match large size of 1 dot pixel on the screen. right? now: when you have 1440p go follow only LCD for pc becouse in computers you know how many pixels have this monitor. so if you wath wideo tv or games on big one pixel from EXAMPLE 720P IS COPYAROUND THIS PIXEL COLOR AND MAKING SHIT VIEV.bIG screen but without recompressing to 1080p or 1440p what is MAGIC, ANY SIGNAL YOU HAVE CONVERT IN REALLY TIME to full enjoy GESS THIS HAVE ONLY PANASONIC š
Hello,
can you make the same charts with centimeters and meters instead of US units ?
Thanks.
Carlton,
Your chart says that a 50″ 1080p begins to become noticeable at 7′, but at what point do you start to loose your benefit?? Is it when you get to the 720p at 10′ on ht e chart or somewhere in between ?? Does your eye have some free play with the distance + – in either direction?? I’m going to the eye doctor tomorrow and if my eyes are less than 20/20 how does that affect my distance?? Even farther away?, please , NO.
Your response would be appreciated
In response to the last two comments, check out the Home Theater Calculator referenced in the third paragraph.
Hello,
I’m sorry but I don’t have the skills to use and modify Home Theater Calculator. š
Thanks.
Great article, very helpful. And damn there are a lot of retarded people making comments (talking about the first few idiots who replied.
-Thanks š
These charts that reference human vision acuity model to base resolution limits I find suspect. The human acuity model bases it’s assumpition on the eyes seeing 1/60 arc second on a static image, black/white contrast.
Most of the time, we are not trying to see a lone dot on a static image. Instead, more often it’s an edge transition with some type of movement involved. Movement by itself can help the eye resolve smaller items. Also, the eyes can resolve a sharper edge than the 1/60 ar second angle.
Lastly, I tried this out on my own. My 50″ plasma at 11 feet is very noticeable the benefit of 1080p.
So, people need to understand this human acuity model assumption is behind 99%+ of the recommendations for viewing distance. That model assumption needs to be questioned more.
Hi Carlton, great site! I learned a lot from it… however, I still have some unanswered questions..
I’m thinking of getting either plasma or LCD… just FYI, I’ll be viewing from about 7 ft from the screen.. I did a bit research and it seems that either 42″ or 46″ screen would be sufficient..
Also, I will be using the TV mainly for watching blu rays, games (ps3) and watching football (or sports in general)
I heard that plasma won’t have any blurring problems, since their response time really close to CRT, but prone to burn-in… in another hand, LCD will not have burn in problems, but have slow pixel response time..
I guess my question is, for my current viewing distance (abt 7 ft), would the blurring in LCD be a problem? Is it really significant compared to plasma? I’m planning to get last year’s Samsung model (refurb) with 8ms response time… is there a big difference compared to plasma (also samsung)? last thing, would 46″ gives me a headache from 7ft? or would I be better off with 42″?
I’m not really concerned with 720p or 1080p, I just don’t want to get headaches because of the blurriness…esp when watching fast action sports..
just wondering if anyone that has the similar setup are willing to share their experience… any help would be appreciated…
Thank you beforehand!
Help!
With Panasonice Pt-Ax200U
Dedicated Room
Screen Size. 135″
Sitting 18 – 20 feet Far.
Will The Picture Of a Normal DVD Look Good,
Please Help
Sorry, that last line should have read:
“The viewing distances in the graphs should be doubled.”
let’s conclude it one by one.
1. does 1080p matter?
yes it does. 1080 stands for the number of lines and it is currently the most number of lines for hdtvs that are commercially affordable (calling tv sets averaging $2,000 each affordable is indeed an irony of affordability) for home use. the optimal distance to which you should have your best view is when you sit as close as possible to the screen but at the same time you would not be able to distinguish the lines. if you have 1080 lines, that would take you closer to the screen to distinguish them than when you had say,480, where you could still see the lines even as far back. hence, you need to stay far to avoid seeing those ugly lines.
p stands for progressive scanning. meaning it refreshes all the 1080 lines at the same time. i on the other hand stands for interlaced scanning. interlaced scanning refreshes the odd and even numbered lines separately at different times. here, we can clearly see the advantage of progressive scanning during fast motion sequences over interlaced scanning. when there is a very fast motion sequence, let’s say it is faster than the rate at which the interlacing can refresh the screen, the images are distorted or juddered.
although progressive scanning may be better, it must also come with a faster response time. this is because during fast motion sequences, the transition of images must keep up with the rate at which hd content is flashed on the screen. some hdtvs claim that they have 5 ms response time (older models have 10 ms or more). response time is the time it takes a pixel to completely change from black to white and to black again. 5 ms rate is 200 times per second. response time should not be confused with the refresh rate or update rate. some latest lcd hdtvs have up to 120 hz(120 updates per second or 120 images every second) but so many older models have significantly slower refresh rates as slow as 15 hz.
if you have a very low response time of say, 5 ms but has a refresh rate of say, 10 hz, you wouldn’t enjoy the benefits of an hdtv in fast motion sequences because the refresh rate of your tv cannot keep up with the actual change of image or frequency of the motion sequence (response time has nothing to do with it, only the processing power of the player). slow refresh rates cause motion lag artefacts or the ones you see as ladders or squares. some call this distorted image as pixelized images which could be very irritating. slow refresh rates have no problems in still or slow moving scenes. now if you have a response time of say, 30 ms but has a very fast refresh rate, say, 120 hz, your screen will experience ghosting. ghosting is when there are images placed on top of the other as newer images are flashed while the previous image has not been completely removed.
2. what really is the advantage of getting a 1080p if i can have the same quality at 480p but just sit a little far back?
the advantage of getting a 1080p is that you can sit nearer to the screen and have your field of vision filled by it just exactly like what you will experience in the movie theaters without compromise on the clarity and quality of the image. if you are not really much into detail and just want to watch movies so that you may know the story or have something to know about, reading up to this point has been really pointless for you. getting a tv with lower resolution will force you to sit farther and have your field of vision occupied by a lot of useless space as if you were peeping through a hole. that doesn’t sound entertaining, does it?
more entertainment -> better
1080p -> more entertainment
therefore,
1080p -> better
1080p -> better
expensive -> 1080p
therefore,
expensive -> better
from the two above, in other words
more entertainment -> expensive
if you look at it this way, only people who would have the money to burn are the ones who will care about the very nice details and the thing we call entertainment… really.
3. does type of technology matter? what is the best technology? what are the advantages of one type of technology over the other?
yes, the type of technology matters. but we will only limit our discussion between lcd and plasma technologies as they are in the rat race now. let’s categorize each of their advantages.
a. performance in color and contrast.
plasma has better performance than lcd because it can render deeper blacks. deeper blacks can translate to better color rendition because it can accurately remove or add shades to the color. however, there is only a certain degree to which human eye can identify what is black and what is blacker. at this point, going contrast ratios as humongous as 1000000:1 is pretty unnecessary unless you are a professional reviewer or critic of hdtvs. there are also tvs that have contrast ratios as small as 15000:1 but can render better life like colors than the ones with monstrous numbers. in the end, it all boils down to the performance of a specific model of the tv as they are quite different from each other even if some of them came from the same manufacturer.
plasmas have generally better display performances although newer lcds are catching up. about 70% of current lcds in the market have angle-view problems, which could really make your experience irritating if you are viewing at a certain skewed angle.
b. refresh rate, response time, and lag time.
i have explained refresh rate and response time above but there is still a third time-based criteria in the performance of hdtvs. lag time is the time it takes the tv processor to convert digital signals from a source (such as bluray players or dvd) into images. this latency does not compromise the quality of the images but causes an extensive delay in the flashing of the images. if you compare a crt, plasma, and hdtv side by side, you will notice that the lcd’s images are quite delayed than the crt or plasma (crt and plasma have similar mechanisms but different technologies). lag time is primarily due to lcd mechanism.
although there have been considerable improvements in the lcd technology in the past year or two, there are still some reports/reviews claiming that some of the latest lcds are still struggling with image quality during fast motion sequences.
if you plan on watching fast motion scenes such as sports or action and that you don’t want to see motion artefacts or any motion-related aberrations, you should stay away from lcds.
overall, plasmas have a better performance when it comes to dealing with fast-motion sequences.
c. lifetime.
plasmas have generally shorter life spans than lcd. this is because plasmas employ heating element in its technology. and as we know, heat causes deterioration. plasmas produce colors by heating inert gases. lcds produce colors by exciting a red-green-blue pixel with electric charges and manipulating it to give off . this will account for minor or almost no deterioration at all.
plasmas will eventually lose their accurate color rendering ability after some time. the average bulb lifetime of older plasmas is 40,000 hours, while newer plasmas could deteriorate after 90,000 hours (about 24 years if you are watching at an average of 10 hours per day). bulb lifetimes are usually expressed in terms of half lives. half life is the time it takes before the display deteriorates to half of its full performance. you may still use your plasma after about 90,000 hours but the images might obviously have lost some of their exact colors.
if you want your tv to stay with you for a longer period of time, you should choose lcd, but then again, minimum of 10 years with plasma is already quite long.
d. physical properties and power consumption
plasmas are generally heavier than lcds by as much as four times and consume more power. this is because it takes greater amount of power to heat the gases when vivid and bright colors are to be flashed.
if you want a lighter set, choose lcd. but what is the point of choosing a lighter tv when you don’t intend to move it at all or quite often.
e. other issues
if you are planning to use the tv with still images held for a longer period of time, you should stay clear of the plasmas as they suffer from burn ins. when plasma gets a burn in, it cannot be repaired anymore, you either have to replace the screen or purchase a new one. burn in is a shadow that is left by the still image from literally overheating a specific area for a considerable amount of time. the amount of time that still images can inflict burn in is about 10 minutes, sometimes even less.
lcds do not suffer from burn in problems.
4. why do i need to buy 1080p.
high definition players such as dvd and bluray can transmit very high quality signals but the quality with which you will be able to view these contents is dictated by the capacity of your screen. so if you have a bluray player and a 480 tv set, it would all be a waste. but if you have a 1080 set, you could view amazing pictures even with just an upconverting dvd.
5. does an hdtv model matter or all of hdtvs the same?
yes. it matters among different models of hdtvs available on the market and no, any two tvs are hardly alike even between the same model but of different sizes. it is best to check the hdtv review sites.
here are some of the best hdtvs:
– panasonic viera th-50pz800u
– pioneer kuro pdp-5020fd
– panasonic viera th-50pz850u
– samsung hl61a750
– samsung ln52a650
and take note that these units are 2008 models. there might be even better models in the future which will make these present bests less expensive.
Dear CarltonBale: I have been looking for an answer to entry no. 110, where Aakash asks about how long a HDMI-signal can be not to degrade the signal. 13 ft is suggested, but often longer cables may be required between a projector and the blue-ray source. What is true here? Can a longer cable be OK without degrading the HDMI 1080p signal?
The answer to HDMI cable length is that it depends on the cable. In my experience, I’ve had no problems with a 25′ cable from monoprice.com. For most cable/device combinations, 25′ is OK. If you are going to go longer than this, you need a repeater/amplifier in the line. To go longer than that (up to about 300′), there are distribution systems where you connect 2 Cat5 network cables between two boxes (one box is HDMI input, the other output.) They cost about $150. Hope this helps.
hey there, just wondering, was thinking bout buying a 50 – 56 ” HDTV, gt about 500 – 1000 GBP to spend, so probably gonna go with a 720p i think, unless i can find a 1080p 1. probably gonna be about 8 – 12 feet away from screen. i got a ps3 and all the 3rd gen consles.
but basically what i want to know is this…
if i bought a 56 inch plasma screen, and i was to play Call Of Duty 4 for about 12 hours straight, would my plasma give me really bad burn ins?
or even if u woch a movie on sky, will u always have the little sky logo in the top left corner?
plasma seems to be better than LCD in alsmost every way appart fromt his.
so…little help please?
can u email me back, thanks.
slaphappyjelly@msn.com
or leave message on ma website. thanks š
Quick question.
I’m going to buy a 32″ LCD flatscreen TV. I’ll be viewing it from about 7 feet away. Will 1080p make any difference? I doubt it myself. 720p would be just as effective at that range, surely?
Thanks for the graph Carlton.
May I ask at what size screen versus viewing distance does SD become pixelated?
At 10ft your graph recommends a screen of over 70inches for full 1080p benefit.
However, If you are going to watch everything from 1080p to SD (for normal TV) at 10 ft viewing distance, then the SD would look like abstract art. You would need to find a way to downscale the image, which to me would be frustrating after spending all that money on a shiney big new TV.
Where I live a 70inch Bravia X is 145 000dirhams or $40 000USD. It would seem that unless you have this kind of coin then the whole 1080p debate is a complete waste of time, and you’re better off sticking with DVD & saving your money for when 70inch TV’s are more affordable
Thanks very much, I needed to read this to convince myself to buy 1080 rather than 720…
I am now happier taking the plunge.
Best wishes,
I’m the kinda guy that think clarity is not a bad thing at any distance. It is not always about what one can see or hear but what difference resolution actually makes.
For example: The human ear has it’s range (audible sound) but good sound systems can play well above and below your ears capacity. this is not for the brag factor, what you can’t hear affects what you can. A guitar string giving off a tone is not limited to a short/specific frequency it benefits from the distortions and harmonics outside it’s preferred note.
Therefore people argue that a vinyl in good condition is better than a cd or audio dvd, especially for non electronic sounds (string instruments, vocals, percussion and so on).
The same goes for picture quality. It is not only what you see in regards to detail. It also what lies between what you see. Super Mario suffers greatly from High Def, it should be played on an old fuzzy set so you can’t see the lack of detail and the squarness of it.?
I guess it all comes down to what you are watching. I for one am happy with 1080p.
Thanks for an interesting article.