Sim racing FOV calculator
A correct field of view makes the car on screen match what your eyes would see from the same seat, so speed and distances look right. Enter your screen size, aspect ratio and the distance from your eyes to the screen. For triple screens the calculator also gives the angle to turn each side screen so it faces you.
Results
- Horizontal FOV (all three screens)
- 131.1°
- Vertical FOV
- 24.9°
- Side screen turned in by
- 44.1°
- Angle between screens
- 135.9°
How the numbers are worked out
Screen width and height. A screen's diagonal d and its aspect ratio a:b give the picture width W = d·a / √(a² + b²) and height H = d·b / √(a² + b²). The diagonal is taken in inches, as screens are sold, and converted when you work in centimeters (1 inch = 2.54 cm).
One screen. With your eyes level with the center of the screen at distance D, the horizontal field of view is 2·atan((W/2) / D) and the vertical field of view is 2·atan((H/2) / D).
Three screens. The side screens are turned so each one faces your eyes: the line from your eyes to the middle of a side screen meets that screen at a right angle. Each side screen hinges at the outer edge of the center screen's frame, so the bezel width t (the frame at each screen edge) moves the hinge outward. With w = W/2, the side screen turns in by 2·atan((w + t) / D) from flat, and the total horizontal field of view is 4·atan((w + t) / D) + 2·atan(w / D). With no bezel this is exactly three times the single-screen figure. The vertical field of view is the center screen's.
Using the result. Games ask for field of view in different ways: horizontal or vertical, for the whole setup or for one screen, and some use their own scale. Check which one your game's setting expects before you enter a number.