# Color problems with Oculus Rift & Unreal engine demos **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2015, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742 "2015-07-10T07:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742/1 "2015-07-10T07:57:45Z")
Hi does anyone know why it is having this color problem? [http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img538/3725/hS3lgR.jpg](http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img538/3725/hS3lgR.jpg) It is visible in the headset and monitor with Oculus Rift and Unreal engine demos on an Alienware laptop. ---
**Author:** ![Obtenebrate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9f8e36/32.png) [@Obtenebrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obtenebrate)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742/2 "2015-07-10T09:58:00Z")
Looks like an optical prism effect, does it happen with other videos/demos with straight dark lines on white backgrounds at the edges of the screen? If so the primary suspect would be the lenses, and might even be a known but usually unnoticeable issue with the dev kit you’re using. If you can’t replicate the effect with other programs displaying the same type of image, one with sharply defined dark lines with white backgrounds right at the edges, it might be a weird deliberate effects choice, but that seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742/3 "2015-07-10T10:47:57Z")
I think I’ve started to figure it out - it is related to movement… the rollercoaster tracks change in color is related to its change in position over time… Besides being in startup splash screens it is also in another Unreal engine demo: [http://imageshack.com/a/img537/8761/M4ZgxS.jpg](http://imageshack.com/a/img537/8761/M4ZgxS.jpg) It involves the user constantly flying forward and it has a fairly large yellow border around the view… It seems to involve the different color channels being combined where they are from different moments in time. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742/4 "2015-07-10T10:53:48Z")
> [@Obtenebrate](#): > > Looks like an optical prism effect, It is on the monitor and headset. I thought in a prism it fades between colors in the spectrum - this one seems to involve distinct color channels. Look at the plant/tree in this image: [http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img911/1954/8gCAEB.jpg](http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img911/1954/8gCAEB.jpg) > [@](#): > > does it happen with other videos/demos with straight dark lines on white backgrounds at the edges of the screen? If so the primary suspect would be the lenses, Like I said it is on the laptop monitor too - which is what the photos were taken of. > [@](#): > > and might even be a known but usually unnoticeable issue with the dev kit you’re using. I found it very noticeable. > [@](#): > > If you can’t replicate the effect with other programs displaying the same type of image, one with sharply defined dark lines with white backgrounds right at the edges, it might be a weird deliberate effects choice, but that seems unlikely. It is in both of the Unreal engine demos. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742/5 "2015-07-10T18:51:43Z")
What you might be seeing is correction for the chromatic aberration caused by the Oculus optics. Basically, the lenses in the headmount affect the red/green/blue channels slightly differently. To correct for this in the headmount, you’d need to introduce an inverse aberration in the rendered image. See this thread on the Oculus forums: [https://forums.oculus.com/viewtopic.php?t=32](https://forums.oculus.com/viewtopic.php?t=32) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-problems-with-oculus-rift-unreal-engine-demos/724742/6 "2015-07-11T01:13:50Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > What you might be seeing is correction for the chromatic aberration caused by the Oculus optics. Basically, the lenses in the headmount affect the red/green/blue channels slightly differently. To correct for this in the headmount, you’d need to introduce an inverse aberration in the rendered image. See this thread on the Oculus forums: > > [Home - Meta Community Forums](https://forums.oculus.com/viewtopic.php?t=32) Thanks for that - they didn’t adjust the headset for me and the problem was very noticeable both with the headset on and on the monitor.