PS4 FOV

Hi all,

What field of view degree are people using?

I have been running with it a bit higher, around 75* to get more peripheral experience of speed.

I'd be interested to hear the thoughts and experiences of others.

 

I use what I feel to be more realistic and that is 1:1

Have the actual cockpit at the distance it would be in real life, makes your turning in for corners feel right and natural, well this is my opinion and finding anyway.

 

It depends on the monitor size and the distance you play. You can use this site to calculate it http://www.projectimmersion.com/fov/

 

I am using a FoV of 30° on a 55" TV due to the fact that I am sitting nearly 2m away. I used several calculators to find the right FoV, but I am still not sure if it's really the right one. Off course I have a really good view on the street and corners, but on the negative side I don't see the side mirrors and in some cars barely the dashboard. I am now wondering if it would change anything if I change my seating position and move the seat a bit backwards. Would the proportion be still the same?

 

I have a 49" TV and sit around 1.2m away from mine, you can see in my DP that the steering wheel fits the dash at a 1:1 scale, I dont know if FOV changes for the Dash View at all but its the one I use. What setup do you drive with, controller or wheel?

You'll notice in Cockpit view or Dash View that if you cant see enough of the car to view the mirrors, then the game normally puts a mirror at the top centre for you.

Try the Tool or Calculator that Peppetod linked and see if it make a difference, but FOV is also is very personal and one person might like and feel its right for them when the calculated distance is not (thats why I enjoy 1:1)

 

sure, it depends on personal preferences. I am using a wheel and pedals for driving, but for me it won't work with the 1:1 view as the TV ist mounted at the wall and therefore much higher than my seating position. So no FoV adjustment would match the dashboard in cockpit view with my wheel, but that's okay and I need to live with it for now.

The virtual mirror in races works fine, so I normally don't need the side mirrors, but I'd like to see some more of the cockpit and driver arms to have a better feeling of the car without changing the FoV as it fits for me. That's why I thought I move the seat a bit backwards to have some more details of the cockpit showing and it shouldn't affect the FoV setting.?

 

Like I said, not to sure if the FOV setting even play's a part in the Dash Cam view, if you using the Cockpit Cam then you'll see more arms and wheel and dash, and the settings for FOV will change there I'm very sure of that, so check you are in the Cockpit Cam view first and then adjust to fit your liking, but I doubt moving the seat back will make it better and probably feel worse for you.

 

I am always driving in cockpit view. with dashboard I meant the instrument panel and virtual steering wheel of the car. Of course changing FoV makes a huge difference in cockpit view. I had mine on 56° (default) and 50° before and the new settings make a huge difference. Now it feels much better. I think I just need to try to move the seat backwards, leaving FoV on 30° and check if it makes any difference.
Not an ideal setup, but as I am not able to use a separate screen I have to live with some compromise, but want to have the best and most realistic setting possible.

 

you can either go with the "realistic" approach using calculators and live with the fact that, unless you play VERY close to your tv/monitor your lateral vision will be severely limited.. or try a more pragmatic approach and go "as low as possible" while retaining the ability to see the apex of slow corners.

The big problem with high FOV is that all corners start to become the same, you'll loose a lot of feel of how much a particular corner is really turning and you will also loose a lot of information about elevation changes.. in other words, high FOV will make everything straight and flat.. 75 FOV is, IMO way above what I would consider ideal.
High FOV also has the bad effect of rendering what we "don't need".. in a race game you should look at where you are going, not where you are.. high fov will have a lot of pixels of stuff around you but few(er) pixels of where you are going.
Final thoughts.. think about it, but do not get obsessed about it..

 

Dash Cam is what I use, and dont think the setting for FOV works with that view, but I only see the top of the dash as in my PD, I get to see the road clearer ahead in tight corners too as Lord Kuno's just said.

Cockpit Cam is more for VR use in my eyes and if using for normal flat panel then I would move that view closer to the dash to accommodate for what I would only be seeing of the dash at the distance I was sitting away as it would be in real life for me.

Edit: Ohhh on a side note, AC use vertical FOV not horizontal.

 

I play 1 meter far from my 55" monitor with a 38° FOV. The firs time I played this way I noticed a much more accurate drive, especially along the curves.

 

I play at 40, based on the size of /distance from my monitor I drive, various calculators reckon I should be set at low 30's/high 20's for 1:1

40 felt like to best compromise to me, but if it weren't for the Real Head Movement app allowing me to look towards the apex I would probably need to be higher

 

at the beginning i played with fov 50, 80cm from my 27" monitor.

then i found this "fov-thing" and now mostly fov<30, still 80cm and 27"

i cant see the mirrors, dashboard in most cars disappear. thats the bad aspect.
but now slow corners are no more "i survived it" - now its having fun. i can see the apex, can "feel" the speed.
for me it was one of the most important improvements since i started with simracing (feb 2017).

 

Thanks! That's interesting. I guess the reason I was trying the high setting was to try gain a greater appreciation of speed....more for braking point purposes.

 

Cheers mate.

 

thanks for the explanation. I'd go with the realistic approach and use the calculators. Unfortunately they only work in a specific range and my setup ist not ideal and I am sitting far away beyond any calculator scale so I have to compromise, but that's okay as driving improves with the right settings.

very good comment I normally like to have it as realistic as possible and therefore trying different settings all the time instead of racing. need to find a good compromise and stop messing around with settings

 

yeah that's the very thing to avoid. Having a consistent FOV setting is more important than finding the "right" one. The objective is to build a mental database of "I see this curvature and it means this radius"... every time we change FOV we delete our mental database and have to start from scratch.

 

Here's my methodology:

- Research and understand FOV
- Relate that research and understanding to practical models (the "window" metaphor, etc)
- Use online calculators to find the "optimal" FOV
- Try that out and realize that even with a 55" television less than 1m from my face, it feels like I'm looking at the world through a cereal box
- Toss all of the above out the window and find a setting that lets me see what I need to, with nothing that I don't

I find this value to be around 65° (vertical FOV) when using "dash" view, and 55° when using cockpit view.

 

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses.
Some very helpful comments here.

What a great community!

 

I select default, then set it to 71* then I move the seat forward to my liking, usually just about cuts the bottom of the steering wheel off.