139: Profiling TrackIR Effectively

Updated: 3-Jan-2012
It is for sure that TrackIR enhances flightsim reality.    However,  it also easily causes eye fatigue and dizziness when it is not proper set.

Following is how I configure the TrackIR profile for FSX on my 30-inch monitor:

When in FSX, the focus of my eyes mostly falls within the range roughly spreading across the mid-points between the center and the edges of the monitor on both sides.    It is about 20 degrees (A) on each side from the center or 40 degrees (A+A) in total around the center  (See the image on the right).

Within this 40-degree area, my head moves very little while my eye focus changes.   Beyond that, my head starts to turn more significantly.

Based on this observation, I limit the value of rotation speed of Yaw within this range (-20 degree to +20 degree) in Motion Adjustment of my TrackIR profile as low as possible,  so as to minimize screen fluctuation and keep the display as steady as possible most of the time.

Beyond these 20-degrees, the rotation speeds start to increase faster, allowing me to easily reach both wings by turning my head to about 40 something degrees from the center to the left or to the right.    Further turning my head will let me see the rear of the plane more.

I was using the One:One Template to set up my FSX profile, and keeping Motion Control Speed and Smoothness at 1 and 50 respectively.  Also, I have the Roll function disabled.

Updated: 3-Jan-2012  —  Nearly forgot to mention, same approach to minimizing the Head Speed of the Y-Axis is also important to keep the steadiness of display.

Note that above mentioned viewing angles could vary from monitor to monitor due to differences in screen sizes.   The notion of adjustment, however, still universally applies.

All existing blog subscribers are welcome to notify me for a copy of my TrackIR profile for testing.    Further adjustment is of course needed to make it fit for a different setup.

Any other visitors who are interested to try my profile, please subscribe to this blog first and then notify me.

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Updated: 3-Jan-2012
Following is a comment from Seth of NaturalPoint and his note is valuable, too.

To me, I have tried many different settings and I found the one I am using now is the most comfortable to my eyes.   System configurations and personal preferences, and in particular the game itself, are important factors to the final profile of one’s own.    But still, worth a visit to Seth’s threads if you haven’t done so.

Thanks for the guide, Tom. Your readers are welcome to visit our profile sharing thread here:

http://forum.naturalpoint.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=38618#Post38618

My own flight profile is posted in that thread as well, for reference:

http://forum.naturalpoint.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=38620#Post38620

(For the most precise control, I like to run with my smoothing around 8-10 and speed at 1.)

– Seth