Do you guys care about the best viewing distance from your TV when gaming?

[RobAlister]

Here's the thing, I'm going to get either an Xbox One or PS4 soon and I want to play it on a 1080p TV. So far I've only owned 720p TVs. There's this thing about how close you have to sit to a TV depending on it's size. For example, if you have a 40" 1080p TV and you sit too far away, you won't be able to tell the difference between a 1080p source and a 720p source.

So, I've been scouring the internet for about a week to see what kind of TV gamers have and how far they sit from their TVs. It's been very confusing. Some people do sit very close, but a lot of people sit far away. So based on all of the viewing distance charts out there, they're not seeing their games in 1080p (or at least their eyes aren't registering the 1080p resolution).

A few people have told me to just sit wherever I want because it doesn't matter. That's a nice sentiment, but I don't want to pay a bunch for a 1080p TV if it's just going to look the same as a cheaper 720p TV.


I hope none of this has been confusing and even though it seems like a TV issue, I'm asking purely for gaming. This TV will specifically be purchased for gaming.

 

[Josh123914]

I usually sit about 2 metres away. I probably shouldn't, but that's as far as the cable will extend to in order to charge the controller.

This is with a 720p screen though. I have a friend who owns a 1080p screen, but after using that, 720p isn't exactly unbearable. It's clearly inferior, but I can live without shelling out hundreds of pounds for one.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I've got a 46-inch Samsung LED TV that goes to 1080p, and I sit about my body length away from it, which is approximatley 1.92 metres (farther if I'm in a lying back position).

I don't know what the ideal distance is, the one I have works for me. Whether you're too far or too close is something you'll have to judge for yourself. I don't know the lay-out of your living quarters, but if it's a standard TV-to-couch ratio I'd be surprised if you couldn't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. And if you're going to worry about absorbing the most out of that 1080p, you're just going annoy yourself nitpicking.

Just sit as close as your sitting to your 720p set now and I doubt there'd be much of a problem.

 

[ultrabiome]

When I was upgrading my TV in advance of a PS3 purchase a few years ago (from analog TVs), I went through this same process. From my research, I remember the general rule was that if you go 40" and above, go 1080p. If you sit at least 4-6 feet from the TV, then 40" is the right size for optimizing matching your eye's resolution with the TVs. If you sit further back, you can get a bigger TV to optimize it, but if you sit too close, you'll see pixels.

Unless you're really broke though, or you can only fit a tiny TV, go 1080p if you can. You're future-proofing yourself - over air TV (at least in the US) is now broadcast in 1080p, and the max resolution of current and last gen systems is still 1080p. You could even plug in a PC to it and still look good too!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I have a pretty small LED TV and sit about 1-2 meters away. I'm not that careful with my laptop though.
You're essentially staring straight into light when looking at a screen, so remember to keep the distance and don't overdo it guys.

 

[Xeros]

I use a 32-inch HDTV as my computer monitor, so my eyes are front a center about a foot away.

 

[RobAlister]

Unless you're really broke though, or you can only fit a tiny TV, go 1080p if you can. You're future-proofing yourself - over air TV (at least in the US) is now broadcast in 1080p, and the max resolution of current and last gen systems is still 1080p. You could even plug in a PC to it and still look good too!

Yeah, I'm definitely getting 1080p, just haven't decided on a size yet. Do you mind if I ask what size TV you have?

You're essentially staring straight into light when looking at a screen, so remember to keep the distance and don't overdo it guys.

That's another thing that's been bugging me. It seems odd for people to be encouraged to sit so close to a TV.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Did a quick search and found this, not sure if their science is accurate but it's hell of a lot better then random internet idiot guesswork.
http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/size-to-distance-relationship

In short humans do have a limited angular resolution, which is not completely set in stone because it varies with contrast and how good your eyes are in the first place, but at some point you can't pick up extra details. For 40 inch 1080p it seems 6 feet is what you aim for, beyond 7 you start loosing details and at 10+ you theoretically can't see the difference between 720-1080p.
Obviously this math is based on average standard pixel size used in TVs, if the pixels were bigger or smaller the distances could vary infinitely, which is why a 1080p phone still requires you to hold it right up to your face.

 

[Lufia Erim]

To be honest, i never thought about it. I have a 50" 1080p LED samsung television. And sit about body length away on my couch. So about 6 feet.

While i dont really have much of a choice in the matter since my couch is pressed up on a wall and my television is also pressed on a wall directly in front of it. But when i have to sit closer to charge my ps4 controller or something i find I'm a tad bit too close and it's uncomfortable.

 

[ultrabiome]

Unless you're really broke though, or you can only fit a tiny TV, go 1080p if you can. You're future-proofing yourself - over air TV (at least in the US) is now broadcast in 1080p, and the max resolution of current and last gen systems is still 1080p. You could even plug in a PC to it and still look good too!

Yeah, I'm definitely getting 1080p, just haven't decided on a size yet. Do you mind if I ask what size TV you have?

A 40" or 42". Seems big enough when we are watching from the couch (~6-8 ft away), but I can move in a little closer when I'm gaming without seeing pixels. I've got a medium sized living room, so it is both functionally visible without dwarfing the rest of the room. Smaller TV sizes are just not as visually comfortable (we aren't talking computer monitors here - for reference I have a 22" 1080p monitor which is approximately equivalent for how close I am), so I wouldn't recommend much smaller for console gaming, unless you live in a trailer or otherwise compact living space. I did spend much of my youth 3 feet away from a 13" tube TV (B&W when I was younger! we got a color one for xmas when I was 8 or 9) playing Atari, NES and SNES games. With gamings higher resolution today, that would be rough.

What Smooth Operator said is correct, and matches what I've been saying and seen. How close are you expecting to be from this TV? If you're never going to be outside of 8 feet from it, I doubt anything bigger than 40", maybe 50" max, is necessary. If you have a chance, go to a retail store and try to position yourself where you would sit and move around to see how much you can tolerate in terms of pixilation and image size. (Immersion is great, but if you also have to move your eyes or head to see the entire screen, it might be too much - although that close you probably can see pixels.)

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Input lag is the most important thing with regards to a TV and gaming. I don't think 720p or 1080p really matters. Hell, I played competitively on a SDTV with my PS3 and I could see everything, even opponents in invisible cloaks. Can you even go above 32" at 720p anymore? I'd think that pretty much all TVs above 32" would be 1080p or at least the vast majority of them. I purposefully got a 32" at 1080p because I'm using it as a monitor as well.

Sitting close to a TV doesn't damage your eyes, Penn and Teller did a Bullshit episode about that. You should really sit where ever you are comfortable. Of course, you can sit too close; for example, if you get a big TV and sit so close you have to turn your neck to see the radar in the corner (in a shooter), that's too close and you won't play as well as you could.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I just want to be able to read and see shit. I mean shadows of mordor has such fucking tiny text I practically have to go face-to-face just to read what's the Counter button.

No matter the ratio, it's just set to super tiny.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It's true that depending on how far away you sit you stop seeing the difference in resolution. However, this shouldn't matter to you. It's 2015. Almost 2016. Just get a 1080p TV that fits your budget and don't worry about that. There are other details that are far more important like the panel, contrast, color reproduction etc.

 

[haplo99]

Unless you're really broke though, or you can only fit a tiny TV, go 1080p if you can. You're future-proofing yourself - over air TV (at least in the US) is now broadcast in 1080p

just to clear up a misconception from when I worked for a cable company. HD despite what advertisements or sales reps might tell you doesn't mean 1080p for TV. The only people who get that or better from the local stations are the cable companies who have a direct fibre link to the station, if they have to get the signal via a satellite uplink they have to drop down in quality, and then resending it means heavily compressing the image stream

it would be like broadcasting your blu-ray over your home wifi. you might if you're lucky be able to do it, but you best hope no one else is really using the wifi.

on the main topic though. 4k is here and pushing through, and 8k is right round the corner so for a TV I'd skip 720 completely and figure 1080p is a minimum. and make sure it is 1080P and not 1080I, seen ore than a few caught out with that one.

for size, bigger isn't always better, quality counts for a lot. you can really tell the difference between a good TV and a crap one so don't look at reviews, go into bust buy(US) or currys(UK) or something simler and look at them, compare them side by side. then go home and find one at a reasonable price as both of those stores mark stuff up to ridiculous amounts

 

[baddude1337]

I haave a 55 inch 1080p TV in my room at the end of my bed. so maybe 8-10 feet away. That distance is fine, don't see any individual pixels at all, even with it being a large screen. I see no need for a 4K TV when I will only notice a difference with my eyeballs touching it, personally.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I only have a monitor that I use for both my PC and 360 (soon to be a ps4) so the living room console set-up isn't something I have to worry about.

With that said, I'm usually about 1 and 1/4 arm's length away from the screen, so I can still read text with relative ease and sit comfortably. It's a 24" 1080p and, frankly, if I sit farther back than this I tend to get some pretty prolific eye strain.

Oh, and I see absolutely zero need for a 4k and up screen.

I don't see pixels at 1080 on a screen this size anyway.

 

[haplo99]

wasn't

Oh, and I see absolutely zero need for a 4k and up screen.

wasn't that long ago people were saying that about 720 and 1080 screens.

anyway, I wasn't saying GET one, just thats the direction the technology is going and there's no point getting less than a 1080 as that is becoming the current baseline for TV's. have to really look to find a 720 only, or an SD TV these days

admittedly the current gen struggle with full 1080 at decent framerates, but still in this day and age there is little to no reason to go below 1080

 

[Tsun Tzu]

wasn't that long ago people were saying that about 720 and 1080 screens.

anyway, I wasn't saying GET one, just thats the direction the technology is going and there's no point getting less than a 1080 as that is becoming the current baseline for TV's. have to really look to find a 720 only, or an SD TV these days

admittedly the current gen struggle with full 1080 at decent framerates, but still in this day and age there is little to no reason to go below 1080

I wouldn't go lower than 1080p at this point. Perfect price point and great quality for mid-size and smaller.

But. Bah. 4k depends on the size of the screen, more than anything else.

A 5 inch phone doesn't stand to see any sort of appreciable difference from more than 1080p. A 60-70 inch has more of a case just because of the sheer scale/ppi necessary for the display...but our eyes sorta have a finite resolution. Unless we're sitting like seven millimeters away from the thing at all times.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I use a 32 inch 1440p monitor as my TV. When playing PC games I generally sit between 2-4 feet away (depends on whether I'm using keyboard + mouse or controller), and when I'm playing console games I sit about 7 feet away.

I have bad eyesight, but when wearing glasses I have 20-15 vision (and I wear my glasses pretty much all the time).

 

[Jamash]

I don't really care about the best viewing distance, but out of curiosity I looked it up for my size TV and discovered that I had been naturally sitting at the optimum distance for that size screen anyway (4' for a 32").

However this probably means that I do subconsciously care about the viewing distance and would not sit too far away from a screen, adjusting my position to what felt comfortable if I was too far away.

That being said, this is only for gaming where being able to read text and notice and react to small details is important. If I was just passively watching TV, then I can be comfortable with a much greater viewing distance that I could tolerate when gaming (or browsing the internet or reading a book).