• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Optimal viewing distance for 4K - 65in = 6.4ft (!!!)

My first thought is that the key word is optimal... which leaves open that it is STILL an improvement over 1080p at further distances. I'll need to see if the optimal distance for that has been posted.
 
Heh, by pure chance I'm actually right around this (for 65-inch) so it seems pretty accurate. I moved my sofa and chairs around a lot when I was doing my set up and just went with what naturally felt the best and it's really close to this.
 
My first thought is that the key word is optimal... which leaves open that it is STILL an improvement over 1080p at further distances. I'll need to see if the optimal distance for that has been posted.
Yeah it's the optimal distance we're talking about, they say the 4K resolution becomes less meaningful the longer away you are and once you're twice the distance listed you could just as well use a 1080p TV instead. Considering the native vs checkerboarding discussions I think most here are looking for an optimal 4K scenario because outside of these distances I doubt that it would matter. It would actually be interesting to know the setup people have who're discussion those things.
 
What is the basis of the 0.84 magic number and why would we believe the relationship is a linear transformation when almost every relationship with area is quadratic?
 
Im at about 8 feet from a 65. I think it's good. I could stand to move it up a foot, maybe two, but the floor space is valuable so whatever. Plus I was at the same distance from a 50 just a couple months ago before it broke, so I've already made a pretty huge increase to eyeball tv real estate recently. I definitely felt too far away back then, but now it's just about perfect.

And I think being a little farther than "optimal" probably just means more natural antialiasing, which is a good thing. Im still getting used to how much worse 1080p streams look now all blown up. I was completely ready to ditch bluray for an all digital future but now I just bought my first 4k bluray. There goes that.
 
I feel like medical professionals would laugh at this figure. 2m from a 65" sounds like it would involve a lot of additional eye/head movement.
 
What is the basis of the 0.84 magic number and why would we believe the relationship is a linear transformation when almost every relationship with area is quadratic?
Viewing distance recommendations are typically based on image height.
Since they assume that the aspect ratio is going to be 16:9, they simplify it by giving a recommendation based on the diagonal instead of saying "1.7 image heights", which would require most people to look up specs or measure the display.
 
I'm about 8 feet away from my 60" I use on my gaming machines and Poker rig. It's pretty sweet at that and I'm not sure I would want to be much closer.
 
I feel like medical professionals would laugh at this figure. 2m from a 65" sounds like it would involve a lot of additional eye/head movement.

It really doesn't. I don't have to turn my head either, it's a pretty comfortable distance where the whole screen fits in your view.
 
Does this take account how gosh darn bright HDR can get? I sit 2x the recommended distance, and when something bright comes on my screen it can get blindingly bright. If I sat any closer it would hurt.
 
Does this take account how gosh darn bright HDR can get? I sit 2x the recommended distance, and when something bright comes on my screen it can get blindingly bright. If I sat any closer it would hurt.
I would expect the opposite to be true. There's not going to be much difference in brightness whether you're 5ft, 10ft, or 20ft from a TV.
Daylight is very bright compared to an HDR TV, but when it's daytime everything is bright so it's not uncomfortable.
If someone shines a flashlight into your eyes at night it can be blinding because it's only a tiny portion of your vision which is being hit by the light, even if it's only a fraction as bright as daylight.

The more of your vision you fill with the HDR TV, the more comfortable it should be to watch.
The level of ambient light in the room will make a difference too. The darker the room is, the greater the difference between the TV and the surroundings will be, so it can be less comfortable to watch.
That's one of the selling points for Philips' TVs with their Ambilight system - it's supposed to be more comfortable to watch since the room is never pitch black.
 
I always find this stuff to be utter shite. Buy a TV that feels right for your room and where you sit. Everyone and every situation is different.

I like as big as possible as close as possible.

That's not actually good though. Like you are legit missing out on some quality.
 
Anecdotally, my sofa is about 10 feet away from my TV.

Initially my PS4 was hooked up to a 1080p 46" LCD. Many games (most?) had text that was barely readable. Bloodborne is the game I played the most and a good example. Item descriptions were readable, but it was difficult.

Recently the 46" went on Craigslist and was replaced with a 65" LED. It's a 4K set but still hooked up to the same old PS4 Casual so everything is in 1080p. This feels like a better fit for the room. Text is now easily readable, and finer details in game are easier to see.

It's still dramatic how much more detailed games are when viewed up close. Sometimes I'll stand next to the TV for a minute when changing controllers, and the amount of stuff happening on screen is impressive. Lots of that is hard to see from the sofa.

I play a ton of PC games at a desk, so maybe my eyes are just used to having the screen be inches away.

Anyway, I believe the numbers in the OP. For gaming, the screen has to be practically looming over me for the best viewing experience.
 
It's pretty simple to understand. The further you sit from your display the less pronounced the increase in detail becomes from 4k or even 1080p over 720p.

When I play my WiiU / Switch / Xbox One games I sit on my bed about 7 feet from my display and they look fantastic (no jaggies / lower res textures don't look nearly as bad etc). When I play on my PS4 Pro I sit in a chair about 3 feet from the display to enjoy the full clarity and detail cb4k provides.

I could have just stuck with a standard PS4 and played it from my bed but there are improvements like framerate over just resolution which made it worthwhile for me.
 
Hmm I have a 124" screen for a 1080p projector and sit about 12ft away, pic looks awesome to me.

Yeah I'm 10, maybe 10.5 feet away from a 110" 1080p projector screen and it looks really sharp. Of course if you walk up to the screen the pixels become obvious, but from about 6 ft and further it's pretty tough to notice. I'd have a hard time justifying an upgrade to 4k at this point.
 
I always find this stuff to be utter shite. Buy a TV that feels right for your room and where you sit. Everyone and every situation is different.

I like as big as possible as close as possible.

They are giving measurements of how much detail you can see at different distances. It can be useful information for some people.
 
Top Bottom