With the stock cockpit views does anybody know what FOV angle they translate to and does a HP Reverb G2 narrow or increase the FOV compared to a TV? Hope this makes sense, cheers
I’m thinking my G2 is narrowing my FOV. However the depth more that makes up for it.
You can change the FOV on the TV by zooming in or out, whereas it usually stays at a fixed value in VR. You can zoom out to get a much wider FOV than VR but there’s going to be a lot of distortion.
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The biggest difference is the fact that with the G2 (or any other HMD) you can turn around and look around, i.e. your available FoV is 360, like in real life. The actual FoV of the G2 is something like 95 deg., so you do look at the world like thru diving goggles.
The good thing is you forget that limitation after a very short time, because of the amazing fact that you can just turn your head (or body) and naturally look at EVERYTHING in the virtual world!
There simply is no comparison with a flat screen. VR is a completey different animal…
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The FOV of the rendered view will be the same on a 4K TV of any resolution. A 16:9 screen will have a horizontal FOV of about 90 degrees in MSFS (IIRC).
The FOV of the actual screen will differ based on the size and viewing distance, and if it doesn’t match the view FOV there will be some distortion, or things will appear too small or too large.
You can work out the angles with trigonometry; note that the screen size is usually given as the diagonal not the horizontal size, so don’t forget to use the Pythagorean theorem to get the horizontal leg of the right triangle!
The FOV of VR goggles is fixed at some value (usually “about 90 degrees” depending on the device) however it’s easier to move your head around, and it’s supposed to match the “real” FOV of the rendering so you don’t have distortion as you look around.
It doesn’t compare. FOV is one thing, but a much more important factor is the “sweet spot”. In the G2 (and probably most other headsets, don’t have experience) the image is only sharp if you look straight ahead. To look at some gauges you cannot just look down, you have to physically move your head and keep looking straight. Else everything will be blurry.
This is my main gripe with VR and actually a reason I stopped using it after having fun with it for a few months. The depth perception is fantastic, but having to move your head all the time is tiring, annoying and enforces bad habits. It’s OK if you’re just having fun, but doing a semi-realistic flight on anything more complex than the Savage Cub is annoying. You have to keep fighting your instincts and your eyes quickly get tired looking for the impossible to achieve focus.
FOW could also be better but it’s mainly for the “wow” factor. It’s not really useable.
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What are the bad habits?
I find VR to be way more natural when it comes to basic VFR.
Perhaps learning procedures, using autopilot, IFR, etc. may be better done in 2D.
I’ve actually forced myself in situations in VR, like getting lost, to stay in VR and work with what is in the VR airplane. I could easily drop out and Google what I need, lol. Or don’t take off the headset and look at little nav map.
Even simple things like finding and lining up with the runway can be a good learning experience in VR. Getting good at +/-18 math etc.
It may be stuff that for a real pilot may not be something that’s a needed experience in VR.
Moving your whole head instead of just looking down or to the sides with your eyes. Regarding Little Navmap, there are addons to show it inside VR. Through the web browser plugin. You can turn off the current position indication, to mimic a paper map with your route drawn onto it. That’s as realistic VFR as it gets. Of course you need your leg times and courses (taking into consideration wind) calculated and also displayed.
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