Ultra High Definition in rifle scopes and binoculars

[Sundodger]

I care about good class in my binos and spotter, but not in rifle scopes.

I am tired of optics manufacturers prioritizing high level glass and pointless reticles instead of making rifle scopes that hold zero, have big forgiving eye boxes, and smart reticles.

The number of very expensive scopes with nicer glass than needed, but have almost useless eye boxes at max mag and silly reticles is astonishing.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

Agreed with those above that say “HD/UHD” is meaningless.
Glass is already ridiculously good in the $1k+ range. FOV & DOF should be a priority over slapping another letter on clarity.

 

[jimh406]

I am tired of optics manufacturers prioritizing high level glass and pointless reticles instead of making rifle scopes that hold zero, have big forgiving eye boxes, and smart reticles.

What are big forgiving eye boxes and smart reticles?

 

[Sundodger]

What are big forgiving eye boxes and smart reticles?

Two components to the eyebox, concentric and distance from scope. The smaller an eye box the more perfectly concentric the center of your eyeball needs to be to the center of the scope. In regards to distance from scope it's how far-aft your eye can be from the focal point and still have a full view (no darkening edges.)

A forgiving eyebox means there is a large amount of "tolerance" that your eye can be from the "perfect position" and still have a full view though the scope.

We have all had those scopes where if your eye is one RCH away from perfection and the whole thing goes black. Those are annoying, but workable from a bench, but impossible to hunt with.

It would probably take me pages to write out what a smart reticle is, so I will just point out some things that make a reticle stupid but companies love to do. Having windage ticks all the way out, no one holds for that much wind. If you do the math, it's actually impossible. Too thin of reticle lines for hunting scopes, if I can't see my holds against black bear fur, it's too thin. Having drops on BDC reticles that I can't even begin to guess what caliber it could be used for.

 

[Kurts86]

Ultra High Definition (UHD) refers to an advanced optical system that offers unparalleled clarity, resolution, and detail. Think of the leap in quality when televisions upgraded from standard definition to high definition, and then to ultra high definition.

Please quantify this, otherwise it’s useless.

 

[General RE LEE]

I’m going to be odd man out and say yes, ED, UHD, HD does mean something to me. It tells me the optic likely uses extra low dispersion glass. ED glass does a better job correcting CA than standard glass.

If an optic is marketed as “UHD”, I would like to see a blurb on what it means similar to this one pager from Nikon.

Comparison of ED glass and ordinary lens | Sport Optics Guide -Fieldscopes- | Nikon Consumer