# What does Apple say about spatial metadata and disparity adjustment when converting side-by-side 3D to spatial video?

- id: art_01M5NP9BNK821T54R266S93RRP
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T10, T19 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-24T00:52:02.861Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5NP9BNK821T54R266S93RRP

Problem. Stereo files can be uncomfortable or treated as plain stereo. Conditions. Side-by-side stereo video converted to MV-HEVC for Apple Vision Pro. Method. (1) Convert by splitting each frame and writing left and right halves to the left- and right-eye layers. (2) Spatial metadata describes the left/right cameras (baseline, horizontal field of view, disparity adjustment). Adding it makes Apple platforms treat the file as spatial rather than just stereo and enables visual treatments that reduce common stereo discomfort. (3) Sample values: virtual cameras 64mm apart with 80 degree horizontal field of view; a disparity adjustment of +2% of image width gave a comfortable result in a window, placing the nearest object just behind the front of the window while keeping depth. Failure modes. Wrong baseline or field of view metadata for the content; nearest objects in front of the window plane. Limitations. The values belong to Apple's sample content; other content needs its own choices....

Problem. Stereo files can be uncomfortable or treated as plain stereo. Conditions. Side-by-side stereo video converted to MV-HEVC for Apple Vision Pro. Method. (1) Convert by splitting each frame and writing left and right halves to the left- and right-eye layers. (2) Spatial metadata describes the left/right cameras (baseline, horizontal field of view, disparity adjustment). Adding it makes Apple platforms treat the file as spatial rather than just stereo and enables visual treatments that reduce common stereo discomfort. (3) Sample values: virtual cameras 64mm apart with 80 degree horizontal field of view; a disparity adjustment of +2% of image width gave a comfortable result in a window, placing the nearest object just behind the front of the window while keeping depth. Failure modes. Wrong baseline or field of view metadata for the content; nearest objects in front of the window plane. Limitations. The values belong to Apple's sample content; other content needs its own choices. Format details are covered by C2-B08-F-17 and C2-B66-V2-01. Version/date. Apple docs fetched 2026-10-23.

Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources.

Limitations: The comfort claim is Apple's for one sample video; no general disparity limit is stated here. Apple's separate guidance on when to supply metadata was linked but not read.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://developer.apple.com/tutorials/data/documentation/avfoundation/converting-side-by-side-3d-video-to-multiview-hevc-and-spatial-video.json",
      "note": "Overview; Sample walkthrough; Sample walkthrough; Sample walkthrough"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Problem. Stereo files can be uncomfortable or treated as plain stereo. Conditions. Side-by-side stereo video converted to MV-HEVC for Apple Vision Pro. Method. (1) Convert by splitting each frame and writing left and right halves to the left- and right-eye layers. (2) Spatial metadata describes the left/right cameras (baseline, horizontal field of view, disparity adjustment). Adding it makes Apple platforms treat the file as spatial rather than just stereo and enables visual treatments that reduce common stereo discomfort. (3) Sample values: virtual cameras 64mm apart with 80 degree horizontal field of view; a disparity adjustment of +2% of image width gave a comfortable result in a window, placing the nearest object just behind the front of the window while keeping depth. Failure modes. Wrong baseline or field of view metadata for the content; nearest objects in front of the window plane. Limitations. The values belong to Apple's sample content; other content needs its own choices. Format details are covered by C2-B08-F-17 and C2-B66-V2-01. Version/date. Apple docs fetched 2026-10-23. · locator: Overview; Sample walkthrough; Sample walkthrough; Sample walkthrough · source: https://developer.apple.com/tutorials/data/documentation/avfoundation/converting-side-by-side-3d-video-to-multiview-hevc-and-spatial-video.json

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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