TV buying guide

By David Katzmaier, CNET.com on 26 July 2004

Whether you want a new bedroom set or a massive home-theatre centerpiece, our CNET editors' guide gives you the full picture on shopping for a new TV.

1. Size up your screen

Size up your screen

The first thing you need to decide is how large a screen you want. Usually, the largest screens cost the most, but regardless, the TV should deliver the right-size picture for where you'll sit relative to the screen. Sitting closer to a smaller TV means you won't have to spend as much on a big screen. But if you sit too close, the picture will look poor.

Size factors: Regular TV-viewing distances | Wide-screen TV-viewing distances | Size and your room | Screen sizes and display types

Regular TV-viewing distances

Most viewers feel comfortable sitting away from the set at a distance that's between three and six times the width of the screen. The following chart can give you a rough estimate of the minimum and maximum viewing distances for regular 4:3 televisions.

4:3 TV diagonal screen size
(in centimetres)
Min. viewing distance
(in centimetres)
Max. viewing distance
(in centimetres)
33 79 158
48 116 232
51 122 244
61 146 293
69 165 329
81 195 390
91 219 451
102 244 488
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Wide-screen TV-viewing distances
You'll notice that we said regular televisions. Wide-screen televisions showing high-resolution DVD and digital TV look better than regular sets, allowing you to sit closer and experience a more immersive, theatre-like picture.

With wide-screen sets showing DVD or digital, you can sit as close as 1.5 times the screen's diagonal measurement and not notice any loss in quality, while sitting farther away than three times the screen size means you're likely to miss out on the immersive feel. Here's a rundown of minimum and maximum recommended viewing distances for wide-screen sets.

16:9 TV diagonal screen size
(in centimetres)
Min. viewing distance
(in centimetres)
Max. viewing distance
(in centimetres)
66 100 198
76 116 232
86 131 259
107 162 320
119 180 360
127 192 381
140 210 390
152 229 457
165 247 494
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Size and your room
Generally, 61 cm (24 inch) and smaller sets are great for bedrooms or guest rooms but too small for the main living room. Sets with bigger screens are large enough for the whole family to enjoy and will probably be too much for most small bedrooms. Remember that tube TVs are also fairly deep and get bulkier as the screen size increases. You'll want to pick out a deep-enough spot for the TV so that it doesn't protrude awkwardly into the room.

If you're mounting the set inside an entertainment centre, be sure it fits in every dimension; also, leave a few centimetres on all sides so that the TV has enough ventilation. If you're getting a bigger set, you may want to consider a dedicated stand; many TV makers sell matching stands that increase the aesthetic appeal of their hefty boxes.

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Screen sizes and display types
Most tube televisions have screens that measure between 33cm and 92cm diagonally. After that, TVs switch from standard tubes to rear-projection or plasma models. These different TV types have their own strengths and drawbacks.
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Topics: tv, viewing, wide, hdtv, picture, quality, screen, display, connectivity, size

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Comments (6)

  • STIMPY commented on 18/04/2009 15:41 Report abuse

    i say we use our new system to measure tvs you should use pixels to the power of 10 or even squids how many squids your tv is .... yes squids >.>

  • cybergod commented on 18/04/2009 00:27 Report abuse

    Hmmm. Inches vs centimetres? Have a bloody look around. Retailers keep switching from calling it XX" or ""cm.I personally am totally confused. Even Harvey Norman use both and it is simply stupid.

  • Cal commented on 22/10/2008 02:40 Report abuse

    I agree with Pieter.

  • Pieter commented on 08/09/2008 14:53 Report abuse

    We use centimeters because we use the metric system. Only silly old USA uses inches. Catch up. It's been years and years...

  • jmbau commented on 13/10/2007 18:09 Report abuse

    Really helpful info. Thanks a heap - this helped me sort my way through a maze of somewhat confusing gobbledegook and understand what is important and what I should be looking for. Appreciate it!

  • rodcat commented on 19/08/2007 17:53 Report abuse

    what's with the centimetres ? why not use inches ?

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