Correct FOV/POV settings

Hi everyone, maybe you can help me out here.

Pretext (inb4 the FOV discussion kicks in):
I've read a lot of discussions about the correct FOV over the years, and that one should use his calculated FOV to avoid distortions in depth perception when racing. My calculated FOV is ~31°, and some time last year I tried to use that for a few months. Now I still use a setup with a single 27" monitor, so that FOV was very far forward and it felt incredibly slow. So slow in fact, that I constantly misjudged my speed going into corners. I also couldn't see anything that was to my side, even sharp corners became guesswork. I read that it takes some time to get used to it, so I kept at it but after a few months of trying I lost a lot of my enjoyment in Sim Racing that I only got back once i reverted to the 54° FOV that I used before. I'm quite content with the feeling of speed I get and I can generally judge corners and distances quite well with those settings - I use visual cures for braking and turning anyways. Calculated FOV will only become viable for me once I upgrade to triple screens, which I hope will happen some time this year.

OK, rant over, here is my question: Using 54° FOV, I am not sure about the POV. I obviously center it at the steering column and adjust the height just enough to be able to see out of the car. I usually also like to set the POV a bit to the front using the seat position setting in the onboard app, so that my physical steering wheel kind of lines up with the virtual one (which I then disable). Now some days ago I read a discussion on the rF2 Forum about POV and that detting the POV to far to the front or back messes with your perception of the point of rotation of your car, making it harder to judge the cars behavior and distorting visual cues about what the car is doing.

It was the first time I heard that, and I've been unsure ever since. Doe you have any more info on that, or any experiencees? I tried the use the standard POV Assetto gives us, which alignes with the driver figure in the cars, but it just seems not right. In relation to my physical wheel I feel less like being in the car - as far as that goes with a single monitor - and more like playing a game.

So is there a correct way to set POV (excluding calculated FOV)? Should I take the FOV down a few clicks instead of bringing the seat position forward or does the seat position not matter at all?

 

No such thing as correct point of view, and it's totally unrelated to field of view. PoV is entirely dependent on how tall your 'simulated' driver is and seating position preference.

Obviously the adjustments make it possible to use a totally unrealistic PoV but there's no definite right/wrong.

 

Or you could get VR goggles and all those issue would magically disappear. the FOV and POV would feel totally natural.
Getting the impression of being in a car by watching a monitor or monitors will always be a compromise at best.

 

Please try to explain how VR makes PoV 'correct'.

Edit: Sorry, realise that's not what you were suggesting. Even with VR tho, the PoV needs adjusting so it feels natural to each specific user. It's never automatically correct cos there's no such thing.

 

VR is not an option until there is a uniform standard across all variants - although I do see your point.

@BrunUK so car rotation feeling isn't influenced by my seating position is what you're saying? I#m not going forward massively far, just so that it fits. Sadly there is no counter on the seating postion, so I have no reference to give.

 

It is always correct for this specific user, , but there is also a way to fine tune, as we don't all drive the same way in real life, some like a close to the wheel position, some like to be further back, so yes it might not be set exactly like you personally like it in real life, the point is either way it feels natural in VR, and it always feel awkward watching a monitor.
It is one off those thing that always feel weird to me watching monitors for years, big, small, triples and used to drive me crazy because it is never right, and using the goggles for 30 second, all of it feels "perfect" as in not an issue anymore. with VR you are just there, not anymore trying to convince yourself that you are in a car like with monitor(s), but suddenly trying to convince yourself that you are not really there.

 

That is understood, good luck in your quest.

 

I used to have 24-inch monitor with 30 degrees of calculated fov. It's been a little over half a year since I upgraded to 27-inch 1440p monitor and just recently re-calculated the "realistic" fov. The new result was 35 degrees which instantly felt better because now I can actually see the apex most of the time.

I wouldn't go any higher tho' because you start to lose accuracy further you go. 30 degrees of "incorrect" fov made me more accurate only in the corners that I could see. I would suggest to use fov close to your calculated fov but large enough to actually see where you are going. 35 degrees works very well for me personally.

 

Cote Dazur already explained but I will add further.

With VR the virtual drivers "head" is replaced with your head, quite literally.

Your 'head' will be placed where the virtual drivers head is, meaning, when you look down at your body in VR you will see your legs and the seat straps as if they were on your person. From there I usually move the seat up a tick or two as I am taller.

My seat is on sliders, so I usually just center the 'camera' with the seat in a neutral position and just slide it as I would in real life and it all reflects as it would.

So having experienced VR POV, here is what I would do if I went back to a 2d screen: 1) Move the camera way back, as far back as you can with the FOV set as close as possible to what the calculated FOV is.

When I tried to run with a calculated FOV on a 2d screen my camera was pushed all the way up front so that the dashboard gauges could be somewhat visible through the gap in my steering wheel. and I barely saw any dashboard or even my A pillars. However to get what looks like it does in VR it's nearly impossible, you really do need a triple screen setup or a massive curve screen I guess.

With a single monitor setup you just need to compromise.

On a 27" single screen and around 25" away from the screen I believe I ran an FOV of around 35 and found that to be the best compromise, when calculated was 29 (or 30) but that was impossible to drive with.