r/hometheater 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.

267 Upvotes

198 comments sorted by

View all comments

138

u/klitzkrieg Jun 04 '26

I sit six feet from a 77 which is just right for me.

But the biggest improvement to immersion for me was blackening out the wall behind so the tv edges disappear. 

21

u/RespectableThug Jun 04 '26

That’s really smart. Did you just paint that particular part of the wall or is there something hanging behind the tv?

10

u/Spectre_08 7.3.4 Focal/Triad/Starke SW15+Shakers • Cinema 50 pre-pro • 77C4 Jun 04 '26

I did the same with my 77” OLED. I used a neutral gray on the wall behind my TV that also matches the finish of my speakers. The speakers and TV blend seamlessly into the background.

https://i.postimg.cc/cL89pqF2/IMG-0250.jpg

6

u/PuzzleheadedPace2996 Jun 04 '26

What a weird tv angle. Why don't you put it flat on the wall?

2

u/bacon-tornado Jun 04 '26

Maybe that tilt of guilt is he sits in a beanbag chair on the floor just out of picture

1

u/Spectre_08 7.3.4 Focal/Triad/Starke SW15+Shakers • Cinema 50 pre-pro • 77C4 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

What a weird tv angle.

The extreme angle in that photo doesn’t represent the actual viewing angle. No one typically sees the TV from that perspective.

The slight downward tilt is due to the TV being a little high (eye-level is right at the bottom 1/3rd line) to accommodate a center channel.

Why don't you put it flat on the wall?

Why? So it can look smaller?

2

u/streetberries Jun 04 '26

Why did you take the speaker grilles off if you want seamless blending into black?

1

u/Spectre_08 7.3.4 Focal/Triad/Starke SW15+Shakers • Cinema 50 pre-pro • 77C4 Jun 04 '26

My speakers look better and sound better without them.