SiGGy answered the up scaling question so I understood it. Thanx!

Now the question is will the image quality of a Blu-ray player show up on a 40" 1080p LCD when viewed from about 8'-12'?

This looks like a good deal;

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-S360-...6&sr=8-1-fkmr0

 

Yes it will. You can even go bigger.

 

8-12' is a pretty big range. that's a 50% difference.

Without question, the smaller the ratio between viewing distance and tv size, the more obvious the DVD -> Blu-ray difference will be.
i.e getting a bigger tv or sitting closer. Although too big will make regular tv look pretty nasty.

- Frank

 

At 8-12' watching HD content you can realistically go 52"

Yes as Chod says SD content wont look as nice, but SD content doesnt look as nice on a HD TV regardless, and you get used to seeing the difference.

 

I have a 46" 1080p Aquos and sit 9 feet away, it looks great from anything that is 720p up.

I have an HD TiVo XL providing TV, the quality varies wildly based on the channel/show but HD looks awesome even though 1080i is as high as it goes.

I have a PS3 supplying Blu Ray which looks amazing as well as a Toshiba HD DVD player. HD disks look as good as Blu Ray and the Toshiba does a great job upconverting regular DVDs.

At this distance I'd like a minimum of a 50" set and will most likely be getting a 55" soon.

I would not like to be watching a 40" from 8-12 feet, that is just me.

As an aside, I don't know about this gen of player but I had a first gen Sony (and just about every one else) and they take forever to open the damn drawer, forget about being ready to play the disk, that is the sole reason I got the PS3 as I am not a gamer.

 

I would go bigger than 40" for that distance. I sit about 9' and I have a 52". And wish it was bigger.

 

I have the same set up, and I'm content. Any further back (10 or more feet), and I'd need a larger TV.

 

^^If I was in the market for an inexpensive Blu-ray player I would be buying this one. Here's a review from "What HiFi".

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Sony-BDP-S360/