the linking word as

.."it is never the same as seeing it on the big screen" In this sentence, the word "as" is followed by a ing form? Is it possible to say: "..it is never the same as to see it on the big screen"

Solution 1:

You find constructions such as those below.

• 'to say or think “is” would be the same as to say or think “is not”

• (…] subject is just the same as to say this— that a subject of ends, namely, a rational being himself

• .. or a (apertly of receiving Body, seems to me the same as to urge that darkness must be shmet/Jing

• For to cite an author is the same as to cite a witness

• To be baptized in the name of the Father, &c. is the same as to be baptized unto the Father ; as to believe on the name of Christ, is the same as to believe in Christ,

I see no reason why it would be incorrect for the verb "to see". In fact this very construction is rather common (ngram).

Solution 2:

[1] It is never the same as [seeing it on the big screen].

[2]* It is never the same as [to see it on the big screen].

The simple answer to your question is no.

Leaving aside interrogatives, infinitival clauses don't generally function as complement to a preposition, so [2] is ungrammatical.

The major exception is with the compound preposition "in order", as in "I go to the gym in order to keep fit".