Craig P

Within viewing distance with a good pair of polarized lenses. Say 30’?
 
With the rest of your post in mind, I had livescope for 4 years and felt it taught me everything I wanted to learn from it so with my earlier statement, I moved on as I felt it would deter learning more.  FWIW, I learned a TON!! using it.  It taught me everything that I was seeing on sidescan and downscan. Kind of odd but when I look at side and down imaging now, my brain sees it in 3D. Without livescope, that would not be possible.  I also learned a ton about fish behavior. Seeing on screen what a jerk or pause could do to a fish blew my mind and I now use those methods every cast. 
 
I would not suggest not using livescope, it is a great learning tool.

Looks like the fun is about to begin!  How long til the boat gets in?

So worth it.  As anglers, we are trying to eliminate water so that we can get to catching quicker.  Being able to see out 60-100' at the console when idling tells us quickly we can skip something with confidence or find that solitary structure that doesn't get much attention from other anglers.
 
When at the bow, I stare at sidescan and mapping almost as much as people who use FFS.  I can't tell you how many fish I've caught because of it.  Sometimes I see the fish, other times, I see that isolated rock or structure that I would not have seen otherwise.
 
Since you are in Pa, you may be familiar with Leaser Lake at 117 acres.  It is a small lake with many habitat improvements.  Sure, you could aimlessly boat around to find some rock piles but sidescan will get you right on them with little effort and give you a much better understanding of how wide and high a pile is and maybe even see some fish.