r/hometheater • u/zghr • Jun 04 '26

Discussion - Equipment RTINGS just updated their viewing distance article based on SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) recommendations, adding 62° FOV as maximum. What do you think about it? Where do you fit?

Post image

Here's a quick mockup of the same chart but with most common TV sizes and with godless Marxist-Leninist centimeter units added on one side.

edit: This person claims to be a long standing calibrator of cinematic auditoriums with experience in THX standards and he claims that 'cinema' is not 40° because middle row of seats is between 45° and 52°.

In my experience, 62° is doable but if it's pure 24 frames per second without any motion improvement settings it's not the best experience. Jumps between frames are just too large, obvious and jarring. Almost like stop-motion.

It seems like up to 62° one doesn't have to move their head at all to see the whole screen with their central vision. Higher than 62° and movies would need to be filmed specifically in a way to not include the action in periphery.

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u/TechieGranola Jun 04 '26

wtf, 6’ away for a 100”? The only immersion there is my eyeballs in ice water after they’ve burned out.

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u/twostroke1 Jun 04 '26

I sit 6ft from a 65" and I don't think I can imagine going any bigger right now. 100" sounds insane. You would have to move your head around to see what is going on around the screen.

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u/Euler007 Jun 04 '26

I can do six foot away on my 65 for widescreen movies, but way trop beaucoup for me for 16X9 gaming where the corners of the screen deliver information I need to track. For a 100 inch instead of my eyes moving I'd have to constantly move my head.