How big should my TV be?

Wow, what a great question! I hear it all the time from my clients, and while there are a number of "rules of thumb", ultimately the decision comes down to personal preference.

Still, I'll try to list out some of the things we try to take into consideration when consulting with our clients.

The first thing to consider are your room size. A larger screen will cost more, and a small room will get overpowered by a large TV (and a large room will dwarf a small TV!). Ideally, if you are sitting less than 8-9 feet away from your TV, you will be best served with a 42" or smaller TV. If you are 10-12 feet away, you're looking at up to 50", and greater than 12 feet you'll want a 56-63" or even larger screen. Of course other room considerations come into play as well. For example, the screen needs to balance with the rest of the furnishings, and it needs to physically fit in the space - if you're mounting a flat-panel over the fireplace, you may have limitations because of the ceiling, mantle, fireplace opening, and other built-in elements of the room.

This rule of thumb is tempered by your desire to be immersed in the video. If you really hate that, a smaller screen will let you feel "outside looking in." But if you really want to be immersed in the action, a larger screen size will fill in your peripheral vision with more movie, sports, or video game action, making you part of the action.

Of course, budget plays a role, but to a smaller extent. The reason I say this is because if your budget is smaller, but you still want a really big TV, you can use a rear-projection or front-projection system instead of a panel (LCD or Plasma) TV. Panels generally cost more than projection units at the larger sizes. There are also budget-minded flat panel TVs that do a pretty good job for less money than the name brands. I'd caution, though, against getting caught up in the "cheap panel TV" sales hype that you'll see this holiday season. You really do get what you pay for, and you don't want to be stuck with a picture that's even worse than your old TV!

As always, if you're still confused about all of the options out there, give us a call, and we'll be glad to give you a free consultation!

Thanks -
Rob