30 " Widescreen to small for living room?

[YOTR]

I am looking at the sony 30" widescreen and was wondering if this was to small for living room viewing. I am trying to keep my costs down but also want a good tv. We currently sit about 6 feet from the 27inch we have now. I thought about going the 34 inch widescreen route but am worried about color purity issues (my last big TV was a 36inch HDTV that had a ton of color purity issues..........had quite a few magnets put in that set). Thanks in advance to everyone that replies!!!

[homersapien]

30" is fine for my wife and I at 6-8'. Also thought about a 34", but the extra 100lb wasn't worth the extra inches :)

[YOTR]

[QUOTE=homersapien]30" is fine for my wife and I at 6-8'. Also thought about a 34", but the extra 100lb wasn't worth the extra inches :)[/QUOTE]




That is kind of why I don't want to go 34" either. My 36" sony was a beast and the color purity problems didn't help either :(

I would like to go LCD or DLP but they are just to expensive. Plus I still love the picture quality of CRT's to both of those options.

[teamme]

Purists will say that you should be sitting much closer than 6-8 feet for a 30" TV, but for most people, this size is perfect. So it's not true home theater...it's still a decent sized TV that looks great. I mean, most people still have a 28" TV in their home that they sit 10-12 feet back from. So you're still getting a much better experience than most people.

People also say that to really see HDTV, you must be sitting closer, but I can tell you that HD looks beautiful on my 30" from about 8 feet....MUCH more clear than non-HD.

I say go for it.

[YOTR]

[QUOTE=teamme]Purists will say that you should be sitting much closer than 6-8 feet for a 30" TV, but for most people, this size is perfect. So it's not true home theater...it's still a decent sized TV that looks great. I mean, most people still have a 28" TV in their home that they sit 10-12 feet back from. So you're still getting a much better experience than most people.

People also say that to really see HDTV, you must be sitting closer, but I can tell you that HD looks beautiful on my 30" from about 8 feet....MUCH more clear than non-HD.

I say go for it.[/QUOTE]



I might just do that. I should hear back from Sony any day now about a possible upgrade/credit. I really liked the picture on the 30" widescreen. It is definitely smaller than my old 36" but we sit pretty close to the tv when watching so it should be fine. I am still going to give the 34" sets a look though. I wish we could afford one of the 32" LCD's but I just don't want to put down $2K on that right now...........still to expensive for us.

[Gecko85]

[QUOTE=teamme]Purists will say that you should be sitting much closer than 6-8 feet for a 30" TV, but for most people, this size is perfect. So it's not true home theater...it's still a decent sized TV that looks great.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. 6ft viewing distance for a 30" is fine. 8ft for a 34" is fine. If you actually go by the "THX" viewing distance recommendations, you'd be sitting 2 feet away from a 34" tv. That's just insanely stupid. Unless you're in a dedicated theater room, where you can have a screen large enough to completely cover your field of vision, but allow you to sit far enough back, most of the distance calculators can be thrown out the window. Seriously, distance calclulator that many people post in these forums actually tells me to sit 2 feet away from my TV...I sit 8ft away, and it's just fine.

[YOTR]

[QUOTE=Gecko85]Agreed. 6ft viewing distance for a 30" is fine. 8ft for a 34" is fine. If you actually go by the "THX" viewing distance recommendations, you'd be sitting 2 feet away from a 34" tv. That's just insanely stupid. Unless you're in a dedicated theater room, where you can have a screen large enough to completely cover your field of vision, but allow you to sit far enough back, most of the distance calculators can be thrown out the window. Seriously, distance calclulator that many people post in these forums actually tells me to sit 2 feet away from my TV...I sit 8ft away, and it's just fine.[/QUOTE]


I know it will take some getting used to dropping from a 36 inch tv. At least it will be widescreen now, which is a big plus. I am also going to check out the 34" big brother of the xs955 series. I will probably just get the 30" one though. I hope I hear from Sony soon! :)

[DiamondDaveWV]

[QUOTE=YOTR] We currently sit about 6 feet from the 27inch we have now. I thought about going the 34 inch widescreen route but am worried about color purity issues [/QUOTE]

If you currently have a 27-inch set, then you will probably find a 30-inch widescreen too small. The screen on a 30-inch widescreen is about same height as the screen on a 24-inch standard definition set. So images on the 30-inch set will actually be smaller than what you're currently used to.

The screen on a 34-inch widescreen is about the same height as a 27-inch standard definition set.

[drudiggs]

[QUOTE=DiamondDaveWV]If you currently have a 27-inch set, then you will probably find a 30-inch widescreen too small. The screen on a 30-inch widescreen is about same height as the screen on a 24-inch standard definition set. So images on the 30-inch set will actually be smaller than what you're currently used to.

The screen on a 34-inch widescreen is about the same height as a 27-inch standard definition set.[/QUOTE]

I don't think the size is too small. I just went from a 32" 4:3 to the 30" 16:9 Sony. The height is indeed about 4-5" shorter on the 30", and the lengths are exactly the same. However, I haven't missed the extra height after adjusting to watching a widescreen tv. Just my opinion, but I like the size of this tv; I think it's great. And I also sit about 6' from the tv, soon to be 4' when I move.

[teamme]

[QUOTE=DiamondDaveWV]If you currently have a 27-inch set, then you will probably find a 30-inch widescreen too small. The screen on a 30-inch widescreen is about same height as the screen on a 24-inch standard definition set. So images on the 30-inch set will actually be smaller than what you're currently used to.

The screen on a 34-inch widescreen is about the same height as a 27-inch standard definition set.[/QUOTE]

It really depends on your viewing habits. I watch lots of widescreen movies on DVD, and lots of widescreen HDTV. On the 30" widescreen TV, these are actually much bigger than on a 27" or 28" TV. Sure, if I'm watching the news or a rerun of Seinfeld, my screen might be slightly smaller, but I'm not really looking for high quality when watching these.....I don't need a "theater experience" for crumby cable from crumby source material. And if you're looking at buying a widescreen TV, chances are you're doing for the movies, HDTV and future compatibility. But I guess it depends on the person and their viewing habits.....

[justsc]

In May I was wanting to upgrade my 27" 4:3 set for the master bedroom. I had set as my choices a 32: 4:3 hd set, or a 30" ws hd set. I looked around and read all the forums. What I purchased was Sony's 43" ws set. And I am SO glad I did. It turned out to be just right for a master bedroom with a viewing distance of 5 feet.

Now I know for sure that when I upgrade the living room set I'll be getting something larger, maybe as much as 50" diagonally.

[Budget_HT]

[QUOTE=YOTR]I might just do that. I should hear back from Sony any day now about a possible upgrade/credit. I really liked the picture on the 30" widescreen. It is definitely smaller than my old 36" but we sit pretty close to the tv when watching so it should be fine. I am still going to give the 34" sets a look though. I wish we could afford one of the 32" LCD's but I just don't want to put down $2K on that right now...........still to expensive for us.[/QUOTE]

We recently bought a 32" LCD HD-ready TV for $999 at Sam's Club. It is a Vizio brand, unknown to most folks, but it has an excellent picture. There are several other similar models available for nealy the same price at other stores.

I would take a serious look at these 32" LCDs if I were you. In fact, I did compare direct-view CRTs (I previoulsy owned a 36" direct-view Hitachi) that cost less than the LCD, but none compared in picture clarity and resolution. Also, the LCDs have NO geometry or convergence issues, although they are not as good for black levels.

Let your eyes be the judge, and remember that in your own home you will not be comparing your choice with any others like you would in the showroom.

For me, $999 compared to over $2000 for brand-name comparables made it a no-brainer.

Good luck!

[Chris Gerhard]

I have the KV-30XBR910 30" and think 4' to 6' is great for that size display. Any further back and 34" would be required for me.

Chris