Fov (field of view) - here's what i think.

So I've been reading some on FOV and using various calculators to determine my best settings. Assetto Corsa uses vertical FOV and with my 23 inch screen and 1 meter distance my vFOV is calculated to around 20.

Obviously to those who have tried correct FOV settings on a single monitor, you'll know how disorienting it is.

Assetto Corsa on the other hand, by default, uses 56 FOV for the cockpit cam, and provides a more satisfying sense of speed, but at the expense of reaction time and visual cues in the game. you may not see those tire marks you use as braking distance indicators till too late.

So here's what I came up with.

Default FOV minus Calculated vFOV.

The result, for me at least is 36, right in the middle of the 2 extremes and is where I'm gonna leave it. I want the best of both worlds.

 

"But it goes to eleven!"

 

you do realize that people who have a larger correct fov will get a smaller fov with your formula?

 

" Assetto Corsa uses vertical FOV " / " Project CARS uses horizontal FOV "

Can someone please explain to me what that even means in practical terms? As you can see(pun intended), human field of view is both horizontal and vertical. I'm puzzled.

 

For those that haven't seen it;



I run a 23" screen, at around 30" (iir)
using the iRacing calculator, my FOV comes out to to 26. But it's VERY narrow.
As per the video above, you can add some to give a bit of extra depth. I used to run at 46, then, 42, then 38 and have slowly worked down to 32. I was running 26 for a while, but on a single screen its simply far too close. 32 seems to be a nice compromise, to which I then move the seat position in game around to match.

To give awareness, I use Spotter (with Gamermuscles english voices) and RealHeadmotion so I can use my d-pad on my wheel to look left/right etc. (it doesn't work normally on a DFGT)

All in all, it does take some getting used to, and occasionally I may increase it for other cars, but generally try and stick with the one setting and it does improve things.

 

FOV is an angle, draw an imaginary pyramid from your screen to your eye, the angle at your eye is FOV - if it's horizontal, it's the angle between the sides of the pyramid, if it's vertical it's between top & bottom.

Really they measure the same thing (proportion of distance & size of screen, thus how much of your field of view it occupies) just slightly different ways. As long as your screen has square pixels, you can calculate one if you know the other.

 

All i mean is right in the middle of whats recommended and what's common. I grew up with Ridge Racer and similar titles, where FOV isn't relayed realistically. Both default FOV and recommended were undrivable, so i decided to try in the middle and it worked.

Hopefully i can help others who have issues with FOV, without having to defend myself on a forum.

 

The formula for "the middle" would be

( Default FOV plus Calculated vFOV ) divided by 2



I think for a single monitor, vertical FOV of 30-35 is a good compromise

 

I run 40 in AC on my 27 inch. The screen's on an ergo mount so I can move it quite close. Narrower does feel better and helps with judging distances.

Less than 40 and I have problems spotting exits to corners.

 

48 FOV. Can't remember what my screen is, but it's not huge, but still fairly big.
No problem judging distances, can see well around corners and can see around me. Might turn it down a bit some time in the future but seeing as I can hit my marks nearly perfectly...

 

This whole FOV thing is an interesting topic. There was a kind of hidden agenda in my post before, which is that I've questioned the correctness of the Project Immersion AC calculator in another thread because with my setup (46" TV @ 53"/135cm distance) it's giving me 24 degrees - which is completely ridiculous - but I was told that it's correct because "Assetto Corsa uses vertical FOV & Project CARS uses horizontal FOV".

Now, the Project Cars calculator gives me 41, and iRacing calculator 45 degrees FOV which are quite similar results and much, much more realistic than the 24 I get from Project Immersion. So who to trust here, and where does that horizontal/vertical difference come from?

 

because your monitor is wider than high.

iRacing and pCARS calculator giving different FOV is funny

 

The thing to remember about FOV is that in a real car, you don't see your dashboard/mirrors/speedo etc in focus - therefore, they are all in your peripheral. What the monitor replicates is JUST what you focus on, which is why it looks so odd.

Try it when you're in your own car. Just stare forwards, exactly as you would at the game. Chances are the top of the steering wheel is only _just_ in focus, with the side pillar and part of the dash there. The rest is out of focus until you move your eyes (and unfortunately eye tracking is far away from us yet).

 

I think peope just overthink this really hard, and that calculated fov is only viable if you have a setup that covers your vision in screen estate.

So for all single screen users, just set what looks good and feels comfortable. f11 for virtual mirror in mp.
i started with default and worked my way down to 40, but now i tend to go up again.

 

@John Lennonjohto the Project Immersion calculator is absolutely correct and although you might not enjoy driving with a 24 degree FOV, neither would I, this is the correct value for the screen size and distance you are sitting/driving from it.
Your issue is that you are too far away, try, just to see how it feels, to use the proper FOV value as per the Project Immersion calculator, sitting about 2 feet from your screen, and you will have an opportunity to realize how immersive and rewarding driving with the proper FOV can be.

Getting to know the proper value for FOV and moving my screen much closer to my wheel, in my case 32 inch TV at 24 inch eye to center of the screen distance, yield 37 degree for AC, has given me the best SIM experience and put all perspectives, distances to the car in front and radius of turns in a very natural and intuitive way.

What would be ridiculous would be to deprive yourself of the opportunity to take your SIM experience to the next level driving with a realistic Field Of View.

Thank you for MrPix to host this great calculator, allowing SIM racers around the world to get a better immersion of their favorite SIM.

 

screw all the calculators. Just find a setting you're comfortable with. I've tried as low as 34° fov and as high as 58°fov and both felt uncomfortable for me. Eventually I went for 45 - 48 ° fov and it feels good.
Same thing i.r.l. (when it comes to sense of speed). One moment I've got the feeling that I'm driving really slow while I'm actually driving like 90 - 100kph on the roads near the village I live in and other days even driving only 60-70kph feels fast as hell. It'll always change a bit and it'll always feel a bit different. So just pick something you find comfortable and play around a bit.

 

We don't feel G forces, can't properly move our heads around in the car and don't have ear fluids working.

Claiming SIM SIM SIM is stupid, to me. Sometimes "ultra realism" results in a less realistic, subpar performance. I like my 48FOV, because it's enough and lets me drive effectively. Using something close to under 35 would be hell, especially on my not huge monitor.
I want to see the gauges and part of the steering wheel on the screen, and adequately to the sides. I hit my marks more accurately than most simracers I see, so...

 

You can use a wider FOV if you can move your monitor closer to your wheel. I have my monitor right behind my wheel, I try to set it up to look like my wheel is coming out of the dash on the monitor.

 

I use always 59º and move the camera closer to the wheel to have that speed feeling with suficient cockpit view and road. done