There has been some debate about the difference between Wide-view Aspect Ratio on or off. Some say wide-view off will give you oval gauges, other say wide-view on will give a fish eye lense effect. So I decided to settle this once and for all.  ^_^ I paused my flight in mid-air, took a screenshot while wide-view was on, with a zoom off 0.7, and then I turned wide-view off and tried to get as close to the same view again as I had before by ONLY changing the zoom, which ended up at 0.39. Here is the result in an animated gif.

 

Now YOU tell me which one has wide-view on. Or off. A or B...?

 

 

Well, as you can clearly see there is a VERY SMALL difference due to the zoom being very slightly different but I guess we can conclude both views are exactly the same. No oval gauges. no fish eye lense effect, no nothing. The only difference between both options is you need a different zoom to get the same view.

... but "wide-view" sounds bigger!

(Isn't there something about 2-D panel being different between the two?).

Fisheye effect is of course there if you zoom out too much both in wideview turned on and off. I tried both and it's all about the zoom.... However I felt more comfortable with wideview off with a 0.40 zoom than on with a 0.70 zoom... It doesn't look much different, it's just about the feel.

 

However since switching it off I did notice some odd problems with the 2D panel despite I always only use VC flying.

The answer to your question and the reasons why are in this video below. It is 13 minutes long, but very comprehensive and detailed. It really should be compulsory viewing for any FSX or P3D user. By following this very logical and correct conclusion, you will get a better sense of not only the correct in-cockpit view as seen by a real pilot, in real life, but more importantly the sense and simulation of depth, speed and distance (again as experienced by a real pilot) when looking at the view from inside the cockpit to the outside world.

 

Having said that, I do understand how many users who have got used to a zoom factor of 30% to 50% over the years (in order to see more of the panel at any given time) could find this difficult to accept and adapt to. The reality is that in real life the pilot sees only a small part of the panel and requires substantial head movement (the pan switch) in order to scan the whole panel.

 

It really is worth watching the whole 13 minutes.

 

A light has just turned on...

 

 

It really is worth watching the whole 13 minutes.

 

Great Video thanks for sharing it!

 

 

Now YOU tell me which one has wide-view on. Or off. A or B...?

 

Very smart comparison, thanks.

Spirit

The answer to your question and the reasons why are in this video below. It is 13 minutes long, but very comprehensive and detailed. It really should be compulsory viewing for any FSX or P3D user. By following this very logical and correct conclusion, you will get a better sense of not only the correct in-cockpit view as seen by a real pilot, in real life, but more importantly the sense and simulation of depth, speed and distance (again as experienced by a real pilot) when looking at the view from inside the cockpit to the outside world.

 

I think you are missing the point of my post.  ^_^ That video is mainly showing how to get a view that mimics most what you see in real life. (Great video btw, I've watched both of them a long time ago already!) What I only meant to show is that it doesn't matter at all what option you use (on or off) because with the aid of zoom you will be able to get the exact same view anyway. There are no oval gauges, for instance. That YouTube video also tells the view is simply cropped when you enable wide-view and that's it! 

 

Both views initially look different because they both have a different default zoom so wide-view looks very fish-eye-like at first but when you change the zoom to your liking you will see you end up with the EXACT same view.

 

The only real difference is that with wide-view on you can zoom further out. 

 

 

 

It doesn't look much different, it's just about the feel.

 

You can leave that 'much' out ^_^ and I wonder what you are feeling because as I said: they are exactly 100% the same!

In the picture you posted I see no difference but if this is from the fsx post, the main point was you gain 7 fps.

Q did you?

I sim with Wideview ON, but with my zoom set to 0.90.

 

It seems that I am in the minority there, as most people seem to go for between 0.40 and 0.60, which does give crisper textures, faster loading, and more eye candy, but the experience is so unrealistic in my opinion.   Not just the field of view.    The perception of inertia and velocity is far too great when you are zoomed out to 0.40.       The white lines of the runway do not pass you by that quickly, in a real life aircraft!    .... I've flown jumpseat on 738s and A320s many times and even at 140kts it's as though the centre lines are moving in slow motion (after all they are huge).   You only really get the sense of speed and inertia when looking at the grass out of your side windows.

I agree entirely with the above video.    I would like crisper textures at 0.90 but I'm not prepared to sacrifice flight simulation realism and view / inertia realism for it.

 

Everything from the sense of 'height' at altitude to the inertia and views during take-off and landing is more realistic with a 0.90 zoom level.  (Wideview ON),

 

 

It really should be compulsory viewing for any FSX or P3D user.

 

What a great post!   Very interesting to watch the video.  Since I run with a zoom on my wide-view at .60, for both P3D and FSX,  I was very close to his recommendation for my aspect ratio, to be at 0.56

 

Thanks for posting...and fun to see that my 'sense' of what looks right in the real world, has also translated to what it should like to me, in the virtual.

 

Good read....and confirmation!

 

Mitch

In the picture you posted I see no difference but if this is from the fsx post, the main point was you gain 7 fps.

Q did you?

 

No, it looked the same and it performed the same.

I always thought there was no difference between WVA on or off, other than the starting point zoom level. With it I need to zoom in to reach my sweetspot, and without I zoom out.

 

I've never seen any distortion of the image, or any change in performance.

No, it looked the same and it performed the same.

So I see no point at all in what ever version you use.

 

Pointless!

Let's consider a few salient points while on this subject...

 

1. "Wide View Aspect" has nothing whatsoever to do with the 2d panel. Period.

 

2. "WVA" affects only the 3d "out the windscreen view" while in 2d panel mode. In other words, turn off the 2d panel entirely (Shift-1). What remains visible on the screen is what WVA affects.

 

3. "WVA" has no affect whatsoever in the Virtual Cockpit mode.