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Glossary:Field of view (FOV)

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
A diagram demonstrating field of view

Field of view refers to the amount of game view that is on display during a game. A useful introduction to field of vision in video games is available from Wikipedia. All PCGamingWiki game articles are required to list problems with FOV as well as appropriate fixes if available.


Understanding FOV

Vertical And Horizontal FOV

One difference that often causes confusion is the measurement of FOV - most titles will expose the number horizontally, some however, opt for vertical.

  • Horizontal is by far the more common way of it being exposed to users. An example of a game that uses this is Team Fortress 2.
  • Vertical is less common, and less understood. An example of a game that uses this is Battlefield 3.

An intrinsic value of vertical FOV is that it does not need to change to compensate for a wider view, only the aspect ratio does. An example of this is on a 16:9 display, a vertical FOV of 70 will produce 102 horizontal whereas a 16:10 display would yield 96 horizontal. This can lead to some confusion because seeing such a low value can initially appear jarring when it is actually closely in line with other titles.

To further complicate matters, some games expose the horizontal number but internally compensate for the aspect ratio. Team Fortress 2 is also an example of this -- depending on the aspect ratio, 90 FOV is likely not "really" 90. On the other hand, a game that does NOT compensate for aspect ratio is Quake. These behaviors are more commonly recognized as 'Hor+' and 'Vert-' respectively.

Problem

PC Games FOV Problem

Many PC games support the change of FOV. For example, Source engine games such as Team Fortress 2 use a FOV slider which allows the FOV to change between 75-90. However with the advent of simultaneous console ports, many games are no longer optimised with the correct FOV. A low FOV is acceptable when the viewer in some distance from a screen, for example, when playing from a couch with a large display. However, when PC gamers play games using a monitor, this can result in FOV being more noticeable. This can also cause problems with players who have migraines from having forced tunnel vision.

Vertical FoV

When faced with a game using vertical FoV, you can use this calculator to convert from the standard horizontal FoV, into a vertical FoV. It was designed for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but it should work for most games using vertical FoV.

A few examples for common monitor resolutions:

  • 90° horizontal FoV @ 1920 x 1080 = 59° vertical FoV.
  • 90° horizontal FoV @ 1920 x 1200 = 65° vertical FoV.

Multimonitor Problem

FOV options are also crucial when displaying a game in an ultra widescreen format, for example, when using 3 or 6 monitor configurations.

Fixing Resources

Widescreen Gaming Forum

World of Warcraft being played on 6 monitors

This is the largest community online dedicated to fixing FOV and aspect-ratio issues, as well as the configuation of PC games with multi-monitor set ups. Their extremely active community shares videos, information, settings and profiles for fixing FOV issues.

Widescreen Fixer

Widescreen Fixer is a very well-supported FOV utility. It uses rendering call overrides to widen the projection matrix at the API level and, as such, widens the field of view, but can distort the image incorrectly from game to game. It supports several games and is not detectable by multiplayer anti-hack systems. This tool works best for multiple-monitor desktops.

Game-specific

  • Modern Warfare 3: AgentREV has developed an in-game FoV changer that modifies the engine's cg_fov variable to correctly adjust the field of view without distorting the image. It was developed to assist players who suffer from eye strain and nausea associated with the game's low default field of view when played in widescreen aspect ratios. As it only modifies the non-executable memory space of the game, it is not VAC-detectable.