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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6697908" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Yeah, 300m is the median. The arithmetic mean (&quot;average&quot;) will be somewhat higher than the median of course (450m?), but median is more interesting from a D&amp;D perspective.Youtube videos aren't really representative of actual human visual acuity, because of computer screen size issues and video encoding issues--what is easy to see in person will not be easy to see on Youtube. I'd prefer to compare it to an eye chart, which everyone is or should be familiar with. The top line on an eye chart (biggest E) has a ratio of 68.75 : 1 for distance : height. The letters on the 20/20 line are 1/10 that size, with a ratio of 687.5 to 1. In short, at 800 meters, someone who is merely 1.16 meters tall is as tall as the 20/20 line on the eye chart (not even the lowest line). A human figure will be almost as large as the 20/40 line of letters, and your eye has more than enough visual acuity to resolve it as a human figure if atmospheric effects don't get in the way and if the figure it clearly outlined against a background, instead of attempting to hide. A larger visual target, e.g. a dozen orcs mounted on Large size wargs, would be correspondingly more visible if they weren't trying to hide, just as a car is visible at great distances. In short, visual acuity is not a significant limiting factor on encounter distance in D&amp;D, or shouldn't be if the DM knows anything at all about vision. Stealth and terrain will be the limiting factors.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 6697908, member: 6787650"] Yeah, 300m is the median. The arithmetic mean ("average") will be somewhat higher than the median of course (450m?), but median is more interesting from a D&D perspective. Youtube videos aren't really representative of actual human visual acuity, because of computer screen size issues and video encoding issues--what is easy to see in person will not be easy to see on Youtube. I'd prefer to compare it to an eye chart, which everyone is or should be familiar with. The top line on an eye chart (biggest E) has a ratio of 68.75 : 1 for distance : height. The letters on the 20/20 line are 1/10 that size, with a ratio of 687.5 to 1. In short, at 800 meters, someone who is merely 1.16 meters tall is as tall as the 20/20 line on the eye chart (not even the lowest line). A human figure will be almost as large as the 20/40 line of letters, and your eye has more than enough visual acuity to resolve it as a human figure [I]if[/I] atmospheric effects don't get in the way and [I]if[/I] the figure it clearly outlined against a background, instead of attempting to hide. A larger visual target, e.g. a dozen orcs mounted on Large size wargs, would be correspondingly more visible if they weren't trying to hide, just as a car is visible at great distances. In short, visual acuity is not a significant limiting factor on encounter distance in D&D, or shouldn't be if the DM knows anything at all about vision. Stealth and terrain will be the limiting factors. [/QUOTE]

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