Originally posted by: richardycc
at 12-15ft, you need at least a 50incher.
At that distance even a 50" TV is going to look kind of small. My in-laws sit 15 feet from their 50" TV, and I sit 9 feet from mine. It's a night-and-day difference in viewing experience. To get the same effect of being 9 feet from a 50", you'd need a 67" TV from 12 feet and an 83" TV from 15 feet. You might think this is extreme, but if you read the
Screen size, resolution, viewing distance "poll", you'll see that I'm actually farther from my screen than the majority of the forum members, but I wouldn't want to be any closer since my TV is 720p. Also,
this is a lengthy thread with someone looking for a TV from around a 12-foot viewing distance.
I'd personally recommend getting a big rear-projection TV. It will give you the best bang for your buck. In the previously linked thread, the OP mentioned that Costco had a 73" Mitsubishi DLP TV for $2000, so they might have some other rear-projection TVs in store even though I see none online.
Edit: I just noticed the sub-$500 part. If that's really all you can spend, then you would be best served by a 42" Panasonic plasma. It's been on sale for around $600 a few times recently. It was on sale at Sears, but I don't see it on their website any more. They might still have it in store though. Here's
another thread with someone looking for a TV in your size and price range. I personally started out by looking to spend $500-700 on a 32-37" TV and wound up spending $1,900 on a 50" plasma. I'm very, very pleased with my decision, but I had to scrimp and save for a long time to increase my budget that much.
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