How to set up the correct zoom/view on an Ultra-Wide Monitor (32:9)

[Belphe]

Hi,

 

I have recently upgraded to an ultra-wide monitor (5120 x 1440 - 32:9) but discovered that instead of having my vision simply extended on the sides, my view has maintained the old 16:9 aspect but cut strips at the top and bottom of the screen. In other words, I have the same FOV sideways but smaller up and down. On this size screen (49") its causing for my pilot to literary smash his face against the front dashboard as seen in the below screenshot:

 

 

The first idea to battle this was to simply zoom out. Great! The cockpit is now "normal" size and I get to see SO MUCH MORE on the sides. It helps a lot as one has a better feel of flying e.g. in a formation as the peripheral vision allows to understand positioning and motion so much better. Awesome! Well, not exactly..

As this new view is roughly 66% zoomed out the "un-scalable" symbology of the HUD and MFDs gets so blurry that no information can be easily read from them. All the letters and digits make nasty green fat spots and I need to... zoom in to be able to decipher them - screenshot below:

 

 

Shadows and LODs also fall apart as what is a comfortable zoom for me as the pilot is not the DEFAULT zoom for the game! See screenshot below:

 

 

Moving the actual pilot's head back doesn't do the trick either as the HUD retains it's size and the information is lost at the edges - screenshot below:

 

 

Is there a way to get the game to render the views based on vertical resolution (1440) while MAINTAINING the default zoom (0%) and having it simply ADD the extra field of view on both sides?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 18, 2020 by Belphe

[David OC]

Not totally sure what your asking here.

 

Its just FOV.

 

Make sure Your new Monitor is now set as default under DCS options. (5120 x 1440)

 

What I do is MOVE the pilot back so you can see the hud then adjust the FOV, it's a balance still as it is done in 2D.

 

I have it set "generally" for targeting, spotting, HUD and zoom in, out and reset as needed depending on what I need using the HOTAS.

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by David OC

[Belphe]

Not totally sure what your asking here.

 

Oh boy.. OK, let me try again.

PS. Your video example is not in ultra-wide.

 

This is a screenshot taken using my old monitor's resolution (2560x1440 - 16:9 aspect):

 

This is the same screenshot edited by me to imitate the extra spaces on each side I was expecting to see on my new monitor (5120x1400 - 32:9 aspect):

 

This is a screenshot taken in my new monitor's resolution (5120x1400 - 32:9 aspect):

 

This is yet another screenshot taken in that resolution (32:9 aspect) but with the Zoom Slider pushed back to -61% for keeping proportions:

 

All screenshots have been captured in borderless window but after testing I can confirm that fullscreen gives exactly the same results. Please view them in full size.

 

As you can see the cockpit proportions have been kept between screenshot 2 and 4. However, as seen in the last image, the HUD and MFDs become over-saturated and blurry to the point where their symbology is hardly readable. What's interesting is that the symbols are displayed badly also on the 3rd screenshot (although its difficult to see) so it is not the zooming that is causing them to look like that.

 

Screenshots 1 and 2 are a proof that clear symbols are achievable on this monitor but for some reason they get distorted when native resolution is used (both in windowed and fullscreen).

 

Zooming out to keep the cockpit size the same between 16:9 and 32:9 is also a bad solution as LODs and shadows get messed up in the process. Spotting the carrier, tanker or any object on the ground becomes a pain as, since we are now -61% zoomed out, they don't become visible as early as they should, when the view was at zoom 0.

 

My question: How can I keep the view as in screenshot 2 (with the HUD and MFDs clear) but get the sides expanded allowing broader vision as in screenshot 4 WITHOUT fiddling with the Zoom?

Edited March 18, 2020 by Belphe

[The_Nephilim]

Did you set the correct Aspect Ratio in DCS for the 32:9 monitor? that is 3.555.. :)

Edited March 18, 2020 by The_Nephilim

[Belphe]

Did you set the correct Aspect Ratio in DCS for the 32:9 monitor? that is 3.555.. :)

 

Sure did. It actually did this automatically

[David OC]

Oh boy.. OK, let me try again. Nice

 

Let me try.

 

STOP using the words (zoom 0) and ( -61% zoomed out) What is that?

 

It's FOV (Field of view) in degrees.

 

Edit

Make sure you set the default rez in windows and sim. The rest is just to setup the best default view you can (balance).

 

Then zoom in and out (It Changes the FOV in sim on the fly) that's the best you can do on a flat 2D screen.

 

and that is one wacky beaut NEW rez and would have checked before buying for DCS. I think 21:9 would be good / better for DCS and or for first person shooters. Unless specifically optimize for 32:9, perhaps a few FPS shooters.

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by David OC

[Belphe]

Thanks @David OC .

 

I used the words "zoom" because that is what ED called it in their axis controls setup. I'll call it FOV if it makes it easier.

 

The resolutions I'm using are native, both in Windows and DCS (5120 x 1440). Zooming out to achieve the satisfactory FOV is not that bad but loosing objects' visibility is.. and I'm already at max draw distance etc. :(

 

PS. I was able to resolve the blurry HUD & MFDs following this thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=218251&page=6

Edited March 19, 2020 by Belphe

[rhinofilms]

I've been wondering how to solve the fisheye (zoom out) effect with ultrawides and based on this very valuable post it looks like the only way is to zoom in until you lose vertical FOV (compared to 16:9 aspect monitor) instead of gaining horizontal FOV.

Does anyone know if DCS plans to address this?

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, rhinofilms said:

I've been wondering how to solve the fisheye (zoom out) effect with ultrawides and based on this very valuable post it looks like the only way is to zoom in until you lose vertical FOV (compared to 16:9 aspect monitor) instead of gaining horizontal FOV.

 

I set a proper default FOV, using this procedure:

 

 

[xoxen]

On 3/19/2020 at 12:27 PM, Belphe said:

Thanks @David OC .

 

I used the words "zoom" because that is what ED called it in their axis controls setup. I'll call it FOV if it makes it easier.

 

The resolutions I'm using are native, both in Windows and DCS (5120 x 1440). Zooming out to achieve the satisfactory FOV is not that bad but loosing objects' visibility is.. and I'm already at max draw distance etc.

 

PS. I was able to resolve the blurry HUD & MFDs following this thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=218251&page=6

 

This is exactly what I did. I´m coming from 3x 27" displays with an overall resolution of 7680x1440 and now have also a 32:9 screen with 5120x1440. I always used the slider and also had the blurry HUD. Modifying this lua (MDG_strokesDefs.lua) to the dimensions 0.55 and 0.35 gave me back a good visibilty. With the new FOV information in the options you can easily say what it actually is by zooming in and out with the slider and stop where it is fine for you. Then jump into the options and read it. I´m actually at a FOV of 118°, came from 137° with my 3 display setup. The fisheye effect was even larger, so I´m all fine with it for now. But I will follow the advice above my post as well to see if I can improve it.

Unfortunately modifying the mentioned lua does not let me pass the integrity check anymore. Was not an issue so far but since 2 patches or so.

(those are the original dimensions)

Edited December 9, 2022 by xoxen

[Mars Exulte]

On 12/7/2022 at 4:41 PM, rhinofilms said:

I've been wondering how to solve the fisheye (zoom out) effect with ultrawides and based on this very valuable post it looks like the only way is to zoom in until you lose vertical FOV (compared to 16:9 aspect monitor) instead of gaining horizontal FOV.

Correct

On 12/7/2022 at 4:41 PM, rhinofilms said:

Does anyone know if DCS plans to address this?

You cannot address physics and the universe. The fish eye effect is a natural consequence of rendering a three dimensional world on a two dimensional object that may or may not conform correctly. Generally fisheye means you're zoomed too far out. There is an approximate position with the zoom for your size monitor and its relative position from your seated self, but you'll just have to adjust it until you find it.

I have a 35'' curved Ultrasuede that I sit relatively close to, so it fills most of my fov. I set the zoom so it roughly corresponds what I would see through that ''window'' and that's that.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Mars Exulte

[markturner1960]

 I recently brought a Samsung G9 @ 5120 x 1440 and without reading this thread figured out that the easiest way to avoid distortion is just to adjust the in / out up / down head position of the pilot until the HUD is displayed ciorrectly in the frame, then zoom the view in / out until it feels right and when you pan your view around, there are no fisheye type visual distortions. Then according to the situation, ( spotting far away targets etc) I zoom in and out. 

What does the new FOV slider in options do in relation to the above? 

Edited December 11, 2022 by markturner1960

[rhinofilms]

I think the point is that widescreen monitors don't actually provide any additional horizontal FOV that isn't be achieved by reducing the FOV with the slider which of course introduces the fisheye.  I was hoping a widescreen would be like removing the blinds from a horse, but instead of objects continuing to rotate to reflect where they are in relation to your 12 o'clock as you pass them, they're just stretched. 

Markturner: If you adjust the FOV such that there's no fisheye, do you lose the top and bottom as shown in the third screenshot from Belphe?