Gadgetory

before you start building your dream home theater the first thing you want to do is find the optimal position for your TV since all the other components will surround it first let's talk about distance this number or formula has changed over the years as we've gone from standard of TV's to high def wide screens see back in the olden days you wanted to sit pretty far away from your screen so that you wouldn't notice how bad the picture was but now we've got content in 720 and 1080 P which means we can get bigger screens and sit a lot closer lots of manufacturers recommend that you take the diagonal size of your screen and multiply it by two and a half to get the distance and inches you should sit from your screen well at cnet we say that even with big screens the closer you sit the better so take your screen size and multiply it by one and a half and that's the distance in inches you should sit from your TV so for example a 40 inch screen x 1.5 gives you 60 inches or 5 feet sitting that close will give you a more immersive experience and you'll be able to appreciate all those crisp HD pixels then comes height there are a lot of opinions here but the bottom line is that the TV shouldn't be so high that you're craning your neck or so low that you're looking down at it a good starting point is to position the center of the TV at about eye level most times that means placing your TV on a relatively low stand but if you're hell-bent on placing it above something like a fireplace then go with an articulating mount which will allow you to tilt the TV down toward you and finally placement the biggest takeaway here is that you shouldn't place your GV opposite of any bright light sources not only will it ruin the appearance of whatever you're watching but it'll also give you ice train now lights can be turned off but if you have any windows you can would consider getting blackout curtains now you've got a real home theater so that's your basic setup but remember none of these tips are hard and fast rules so go ahead and play around with them and remember that really the best setup is the one that's most comfortable for you if you have any tips or any questions hit me up on Twitter and check out how to cnet com for more tips like this brucie net I'm Sharon Vaknin