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I was intrigued reading the Cambridge University research report on how much detail the eye can actually see. According to Wikipedia, the Snellen Eye Test Chart (which you see in every eye doctor's office) was created by Herman Snellen in 1862 to test vision acuity. That's evolved into the current LogMAR chart but neither have been empirically tested.
So, the researchers from the University of Cambridge decided to find out. The human eye, like a camera lens, views the outside world using a field of view shaped like a cone. So, it made sense to determine how many pixels per degree we see, rather than pixels per inch or centimeter. The Snellen chart assumes human vision is 60 pixels per degree (ppd). But, this new research proved we can see black and white text at 94 ppd, red and green patterns at 89 ppd, and yellow and violet at 53 ppd. (Link)
These numbers, too, are not surprising. Text that is colored is harder to read, especially if there is not sufficient contrast with the background.
I remember writing, back when 4K was just starting to appear in production, that we really didn't need 4K because, at normal viewing distances, we can't see the extra pixels. Naturally this didn't stop manufacturers from pushing 5K, 6K, and, now, 8K monitors.
IEEE research in 2023 also showed that, "on average, subjects prefer to sit at a distance of 2.07 [times the screen height]". What this means is that "the increased video quality of 8K HDR against 4K HDR content decreases with distance... beyond 2H the quality difference was very little or zero." (Link)
While there are benefits to shooting with frame sizes larger than 4K in terms of video walls, improved chroma downsampling, and the ability to crop to match different frame sizes, there's no significant benefit to distributing media larger than 4K, and, in most cases, not even larger that 1080p
It was an interesting report, giving me lots to think about.
Until next Monday, stay hopeful, stay healthy and edit well.
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