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zozobra
New Participant
August 9, 2014

Near or Far Pupillary Distance?

  • August 9, 2014
  • 10 replies
  • 15604 views
Howdy everyone,

I was wondering what the proper pupillary distance to measure is. If you're measuring your IPD while looking at something near, it can be a few millimeters smaller than if you're looking at the distance. Most of the PD calculators I've seen people using, like a mirror or webcam, measure the user while they're looking at something pretty close. I'm lucky to live with an optometrist, who measured my IPD at 58 because she's used to measuring near PDs, while the Oculus tool pegged me around 61 which is close to my PD while looking at infinity.

In theory it makes more sense to me to measure someone's PD while they're looking at infinity because the Oculus doesn't require you to converge at all. I haven't seen much discussion about it either way, so I was hoping to see what you guys thought.

    10 replies

    brantlew
    Participant
    August 9, 2014
    Oculus calculates and uses the far IPD.
    Jedi2016
    Up and Coming
    August 9, 2014
    "brantlew" wrote:
    Oculus calculates and uses the far IPD.

    I read a comment the other day that the IPD measurement of the Rift is off by about 2mm (too high). The user input a measurement 2mm lower than what the Rift recommended (much closer to what he saw doing the "mirror test" and others like it) and all the chromatic aberration problems he was having went away. Can you comment?

    I'm thinking that, given a proper measurement of far-focus IPD from a optician (I have an appointment on Monday, for something else, but I plan on asking for an IPD measurement while I'm there), I should simply ignore the Rift's internal tests and input what my doctor tells me.
    brantlew
    Participant
    August 10, 2014
    "Jedi2016" wrote:
    "brantlew" wrote:
    Oculus calculates and uses the far IPD.

    I read a comment the other day that the IPD measurement of the Rift is off by about 2mm (too high). The user input a measurement 2mm lower than what the Rift recommended (much closer to what he saw doing the "mirror test" and others like it) and all the chromatic aberration problems he was having went away. Can you comment?

    I'm thinking that, given a proper measurement of far-focus IPD from a optician (I have an appointment on Monday, for something else, but I plan on asking for an IPD measurement while I'm thereMy ), I should simply ignore the Rift's internal tests and input what my doctor tells me.


    Currently chroma correction is static. It does not change with IPD so that comment is misleading. Chroma is however very sensitive to headset positioning so users may experience different chroma each time they put the headset on if they are not careful placing it. My suggestion is this - don't position the headset for optimal comfort. Position it for optimal lens alignment. Go find a scene with lots of white objects (they show off chroma the most) and play with the positioning of the headset until you minimize chroma affects. Many people can eliminate them entirely with proper vertical placement, but some people with outlier IPDs will continue to see some chromatic aberration. Learn this headset position and use it every time you wear your headset.
    Jedi2016
    Up and Coming
    August 11, 2014
    "brantlew" wrote:
    "Jedi2016" wrote:
    "brantlew" wrote:
    My suggestion is this - don't position the headset for optimal comfort. Position it for optimal lens alignment.

    I trust that will change with CV1. People are going to want them to be comfortable more than anything else, especially for any kind of long-term use.
    PuckStar
    Participant
    August 11, 2014
    just want to say it''s funny that my wife is also optometrist and also measured my IPD and it''s 58 as well :).

    Anyway did you set it at 61, as Oculus says so? And is it working all fine?
    Jedi2016
    Up and Coming
    August 12, 2014
    I went to my optometrist yesterday, and they looked through the records for my IPD. There were four total readings in the last year: 61, 62, 62, and 63. "Let's call it 62", she says.. hehe.
    zozobraAuthor
    New Participant
    August 15, 2014
    "PuckStar" wrote:
    just want to say it''s funny that my wife is also optometrist and also measured my IPD and it''s 58 as well :).

    Anyway did you set it at 61, as Oculus says so? And is it working all fine?


    Yeah, it's comfortable at 61 for me. The 0.4.1 SDK seems to have a more advanced pupil/eye geometry calculator that put me at 61.2, so that's what I'm going with for now.
    Wireline
    Up and Coming
    August 24, 2014
    Hi chaps

    Slightly old thread, but I just found this useful little video. If you wear prescription glasses, theres a way to get your IPD with little more than a photo of yourself wearing your specs

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHXztIBhDA

    Note I am not associated with any spec selling company (they won't let me be in dark rooms alone with people anyway) :)
    GeorgeXie
    New Participant
    December 26, 2024

    It seems that only far PD is relevant for a VR headet, unless you’re buying computer or reading glasses. Far pupillary distance is when you’re looking off into the distance, while the near pupillary distance measures the distance from the center of your pupils when you focus your eyes on something close by, like when you’re reading. Near FD is usually about 3 to 4 millimeters shorter than your far PD.

    GeorgeXie
    New Participant
    December 27, 2024

    You are right.  When a ruler is used to manually measure your IPD, look vaguely off into the distance and try to completely unfocus. Focusing on the camera lense will only give you your near IPD.

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