Normal Viewing Distance?

[MichiganFarts]

Here's a term I haven't really heard since I was in high school taking photography classes.

I don't hear it at work, where the concept would be highly useful.

I don't ever remember hearing it here, on TPF.

From what I remember, it was used to judge what would be acceptable quality, for the size of a print. If your photo measures 'x', you should be viewing from 'x' distance.

Is there a chart for this, or a known standard? And how does this come into play, when viewing images larger, than say 4" x 6" on your monitor? Should you sit back in your chair, or zoom out from your image to an acceptable viewing distance before you decide to judge whether or not certain aspects are good?

And not just from a quality aspect, but from any or all technical aspects. Such as, possibly, distracting elements in a photo, that you may not see if you're another foot away from the photo.

In short: Do we at times have our noses too close to our wide-screen monitors when judging a photo?

 

[Big Mike]

photo viewing distance - Google Search

 

[MichiganFarts]

photo viewing distance - Google Search

Thank you, and now that we all know Google exists, there is no more use for TPF. Please delete all forums except the OT now.

It would be interesting to go through your post history and find out how many things you actually answered could have been Googled also.

 

[Big Mike]

I bring up viewing distance every time someone mentions print size. So you must not have tried too hard to find it here on the forum.

 

[Canon AE-1]

:lmao:

 

[KmH]

Essentially the larger the photo, the farther away viewers stand to look at it as a function of the average human field-of-view.

Viewing a print is so different than looking at a computer display the 2 are not really comparable. We see prints by fore lit or reflected light, and computer displays by back lit or projected light.

To see a digital image on a computer display at a life like size the photo has to be displayed at 100%(1 photo pixel = 1 computer display pixel). If you have a photo with pixel dimensions of 3000 pixels by 2000 pixels, all of the photo cannot be displayed at one time on most computer displays without having to scroll up and/or down.

Not all computer displays have the same pixels-per-inch.

I routinely process photos solely based on their intended output. In other words I process photos differently for computer display than for printing.

An example is sharpening. Photos destined for a print can usually be sharpened more than photos for electronic display, though ultimately image content, quality of the exposure, print type (chromogenic or inkjet), and print paper also play a significant role.
Digital prints can only be accurately made when soft-proofed

Other issues with electronic display are display calibration, and browser performance. Not all web browsers are color-aware.

 

[MichiganFarts]

These are interesting points KMH.

I work with large format printing for the last 7 years. Our systems were supposedly set up so that they would accurately represent our profiles on our monitors. But they really don't, and nothing really beats a proof sheet for me.

Even so, we'll hear from sales people that the customer "thought the color looked good on their computer screen, so just print it like it looks on the screen".

We'd mess with the contrast on our monitors as a joke, and say "Hey, that's how they want it".

 

[MichiganFarts]

I bring up viewing distance every time someone mentions print size. So you must not have tried too hard to find it here on the forum.

I was not trying to say that it had never been brought up here before, rather that I don't hear about it like I remember when I was learning film photography.

I never searched for it when I was learning about it in high school either, but I heard about it and remember parts of it.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

photo viewing distance - Google Search

Thank you, and now that we all know Google exists, there is no more use for TPF. Please delete all forums except the OT now.

It would be interesting to go through your post history and find out how many things you actually answered could have been Googled also.

Going through peoples history is fun.

 

[kundalini]

If your photo measures 'x', you should be viewing from 'x' distance.

I'll make a slight correction........

If your photo measures 'X' by 'Y', you should be viewing from 'Z' distance.