Pupillary Distance: PD Measurement with Your Camera

Look for “PD” or “IPD”: it’s the distance between your pupil centers in millimeters. It may be one number (63), a distance/near pair (63/60) or one value per eye (31.5/32). Many prescriptions don’t list it at all — then you can measure it here or ask the optician who examined you.

If both numbers are around 60 mm, they are distance PD and near PD. If each is around 30 mm, they are monocular (dual) PD — the distance from the center of your nose bridge to your right and left pupil (OD/OS); added together they give your total PD.

Adult women average about 62 mm and men about 64 mm; 90% of adults fall between 55 and 70 mm. Children’s PD is smaller: about 53 mm at age 6, 56 mm at 10 and 60 mm by 14.

When you read, your eyes converge on the text and your lines of sight cross the lenses closer to your nose. So reading glasses put the lens centers closer together: about 4 mm less than distance PD at 40 cm, and 3 mm less at 50 cm.

Go by your near PD, not your distance PD. If it falls between two sizes, choose the smaller one: with plus lenses, centers that are too wide create prism your eyes have to work against. For example, a distance PD of 64 mm means a reading PD of about 60 mm.

Without a card the scale comes from your iris, which averages 11.7 mm across but ranges from about 10.7 to 12.6 mm between people — hence ±3–4 mm. Every card is 85.6 mm wide, so with one you get ±1–1.5 mm. After one card measurement the tool remembers your iris size, and quick measurements without a card become more accurate.

It depends on your lens power. ANSI Z80.1 allows a centering error that induces up to 0.67 prism diopters: at ±1 D that’s almost 7 mm of PD error, at ±2.75 D about 2.5 mm, and for stronger lenses the tolerance is ±2.5 mm. Progressive lenses need each center within ±1 mm, so they are best fitted by an optician.

Yes, if your child can look into the lens and keep their head level for 2–3 seconds; it’s easier if an adult holds the card. A child’s PD grows by roughly a millimeter a year, so measure again before ordering new glasses.

On Quest 3 the lens wheel adjusts smoothly from 58 to 70 mm; Quest 2 and Quest 3S have three positions: 1 below 61 mm, 2 from 61 to 66 mm and 3 above 66 mm. After measuring, the tool shows the setting for Quest, Pico, PS VR2, Valve Index and HTC Vive.