Being reticle designer and proud member of project team, I am happy to tell that your concerns too were considered very carefully.
As FinnAccuracy original MSR / MSR2 riflescope reticles, Vector X MSR-DMR is designed with absolute guideline of fundamental binocular use: Reticle has to be non obstructive, clear and simple for any observing use - while offering precision and versatility when mil references are needed.
Reticle design notes:
- Upper 50% of FOV is perfectly clean for any observing use
- When display is not on, wide lower center part of reticle is clean without any etched structures
- Uaers will get full reticle functionality with both basic and range enhancer use
- "T" elements blend nicely with display, are kept very close to it for multiple reasons
- Outside "T" hairlines, reticle extensions are subtle dots and also toward outer areas of FOV. Dot weights are balanced so that they are not effecting general clear feel. Still, If wider or taller reference size than T is needed, eye catches on them immediately.
- Dot-grids can be used as layover mil reference on top of target. They are most obstructive elements of reticle, but are also located in outer FOV area. Grid element weights are light, for precision and daytime use.
- Center area cross is 1x1 mrad, with 1mrad stepped dot extensions. Center cross area is compact but still useful refence for many needs, calling shot corrections based on impact signature for instance.
For those who appreciate good optical quality, I can confirm that it is good! Rather early prototype Vector X test mule I benchmarked against Zeiss Victory RF 45mm objective version was already preforming same, if not slightly better than Zeiss. But Vector X optical system was still improved after that, so final version is even better. Image also remains good when pushed up to 17x with range enhancers. This includes other than bright daytime use, enhancer quality is also very good.
Edit - P.S.
Photo taken with 12x42 and mobile phone, no range enhancers. Reticle feel is very different against practical backgrounds - black&white reticle drawing changes its appearance to very highlighted. Only elements eye catches immediately in real life are center cross and compact mil-T:s, rest are there if needed and when eye concentrates on it. Bit hard to explain, but functionality and "real-life feel" on practical use is based on dimensioning, weights and locations on FOV as combination.
Phone adapters were also considered when eyepiece was designed, so almost any cheap Amazon phone adapter will work very nicely. Also display refresh rate matters and was taken into account, display won't flicker annoyingly when Vector X owners want to capture photos or video. Eyepiece is also very easy to remove for cleaning, very useful but rather rare feature in binoculars.
Nearly all people who worked with rangefinders in the military know the compass calibration under the name "chicken dance" ... so we put the chicken in the HUD when compensation needs to be done.
