  We confront the thermal NLO vector spectral function (both the transverse and
longitudinal channel with respect to spatial momentum, both above and below the
light cone) with continuum-extrapolated lattice data (both quenched and with
$N_{\rm f} = 2$, at $T \sim 1.2 T_{\rm c}$). The perturbative side incorporates
new results, whose main features are summarized. The resolution of the lattice
data is good enough to constrain the scale choice of $\alpha_{\rm s}$ on the
perturbative side. The comparison supports the previous indication that the
true spectral function falls below the resummed NLO one in a substantial
frequency domain. Our results may help to scrutinize direct spectral
reconstruction attempts from lattice QCD.
