It might be the AFOV that is a contributing factor in this issue of 'Wow' (not a factual wow, but the subjective one....) ;-)
I think a wide AFOV can be immersive, regardless of the TRUE fov, imho. A wide, immersive effect is the equivalent of sitting closer to a movie screen, and the narrow AFOV is like sitting in the balcony. Same FOV, but you're further, perceptually, from the screen.
The Leica Trinovid HD 8x32, and the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42, both have fairly narrow AFOV, to my eyes (nor do they have exceptionally wide fields in their class anyways..) 'Balcony views'
On the opposite end of the spectrum, both the SF 8x42, and Noctivid 10 x 42 have immersive views to my eyes, even though the Noctivid FOV is smaller than either the Conquest or the Trinovid. The effect seems much more reliant on the relationship of eye relief and AFOV.
-Bill
Bill,
i don't understand complicated technical matters, like "which end of a hammer works?", but it seems to me you are making a good point here on the contribution of Apparent FOV to the "wow" factor.
My current understanding based on this thread and others: A larger linear or true FOV will show a larger part of the world but a larger AFOV can show a more enjoyable or immersive image that also "appears" larger than one might expect given the linear FOV.
For example, I have several different 10x32s all of which have FOV of @ 360'. But one of the models must have a smaller Apparent FOV, the visible image being surrounded by a thick black ring ("tunnel effect?"). This causes the image to appear much smaller to me than 360' and is much less enjoyable than the others. Toward the other end of the spectrum, the SW 12x50 EL has a 300' FOV but must have a relatively good Apparent FOV (63 degrees) as the overall scope of the image to me looks surprisingly more expansive than 300' would suggest, i.e. I don't think the 12x50 "wow" effect is due only to the 12x mag and otherwise excellent optics alone.
Mike