What is the field of view (FOV) defined as?

• A. The size of the sensor
• B. The number of pixels
• C. The totality of what you can see through the camera measured in degrees
• D. The field of view is measured in radians (not degrees)

Answer: (C)

Field of view is the angular extent of the scene you can capture with the camera—the total amount of world visible through the lens. It’s an angular measure, describing how wide the image frame is, and it’s usually expressed in degrees. The FOV is determined by the lens and sensor: a shorter focal length or a larger sensor yields a wider view, while a longer focal length or smaller sensor narrows it. Pixel count or sensor size alone doesn’t define how wide the scene is; those affect resolution and how finely you sample what’s inside the view. While you could express FOV in radians, in practice it’s commonly given in degrees, making the description in degrees the best match.