Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CAD: X = 4 * h
Powerpoint: X = 6 * h
Movies: X = 8 * h
Important: this rule evolved with the majority of projections in the format XGA (1024 x 768). With formats like SXGA, SXGA+ and
HD(1080) this changes because the screen height is not built by 768 pixels but by 1024, 1050 and 1080 pixels. This is an increase
of about 35 to 40 percent. All details that are presented in native pixel resolution become smaller for 35 to 40 percent !
Also the image height should be within the following range:
Distance of farthest Viewer / 8 < Image Height < Distance of closest Viewer / 2
Higher resolutions always have the disadvantage of smaller text sizes, except the text is zoomed.
1) A often used rule of thumb: the text height should be at least 4mm per one meter of viewing distance. For example: Viewing
distance = 10m => the text height should be at least 40mm.
2) The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration, USA) suggests for letters that must be very well readable (security messages) a letter
size of at least 20 acrminutes (MOA) based on the human eye's characteristics: FAA Human Factors. 20 arcminutes correspond to
1/200 of the viewing distance.
3) With high resolution projection rule 1 and 2 result in a text height that is too large for a regular Excel display on a regular
projection size. For these circumstances a tighter rule can be used: dividing the maximum viewing distance by 500 to get the
absolute minimum text height (the absolute minimum for good eyes). It represents a viewing angle of about 7 arcminutes (1 degree
= 60 arcminutes).
4) For good readable text with text sizes like 'Arial 10pt' the maximum viewing distance should be divided by 500 to get the
necessary text height. But with higher resolutions (HD) this often results in image sizes that are too large to be installed (ceiling
height etc.).
The distance visual acuity is the visual sharpness or clearness of human eye view. With normal viewing abilities two objects can be
just seen individually with an viewing angle of 1 arcminute (MOA). This equals approximately an object distance of 1,5mm at a
distance of 5 meters or 1,75mm at a distance of 6 meters (20 feet).
Normal visual ability means that a person who can see this clearly has a Distance Visual Acuity of 5/5 (Europe) or 6/6 (Britain) or
20/20 (US). If a person is tested for a visual acuity of 6/12 (or 20/40), she or he can differentiate two objects only at half distance.
The term "6/12" means that two objects with a separation of 1 arcminute at a distance of 12 meters can only be seen separately at
a distance of 6 meters, the term "20/40" means equally that two objects with a separation of 1 arcminute at a distance of 40 feet can
only be seen separately at a distance of 20 feet.
Visual Loss
Visual Acuity
no or slight loss
6/6 - 6/18
20/20 - 20/60
moderate loss
6/18 - 6/60
20/60 - 20/200
severe loss
Based on the rules of visual acuity letters and numbers should have at least five times the height of the minimum distance between
two recognizable objects. This results in a minimum letter and number hight of 5 arcminutes, there as 7 arcminutes are
acknowledged for general good readability.
Screen Position
The bottom of the screen should be in a high enough vertical position, allowing those seated in the rear of the audience to see the
screen completely. The distance between floor and screen should be about 1.1 to 1.2 meters (43" .. 48").
distance between floor and screen: 0.9 meters (35") - too low
Viewing Angle
The maximum acceptable viewing angle should be 45 degrees. Beyond that characters and image elements become
undecipherable. Ideally, all viewers should be seated within 30 of the projection axis, and never more than 45 off axis.
Screen center should be no more than 20 above the eye level of any viewer.
projection on axis