# The new 5.3 dispersion settings experimenting **URL:** \ **Category:** Blender Tests\ **Tags:** lighting\ **Created:** [September 3, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059 "2026-09-03T23:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/dnorman/32/24845_2.png) [@DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/u/DNorman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/1 "2026-09-03T23:46:16Z")
I have been playing with 5.3’s new dispersion and was disappointed that the dispersion scale is clamped to 1 and abbe number 9 – 91 (would be nice to go lower than 9). It is also clamped if you enter a value node. I enjoy going over the top like this. ![1](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/2/d/1/2d1fd61b42351f6e5aedd623631c0906c4d15a4a.jpeg) ![2](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/4/b/3/4b349821221d3154ba30c5109018b16f946afe70.jpeg) 5.3’s implementation is faster, less noisy and probably more physically accurate than my experimental node group + I did not implement the an abbe number. But it’s maximum dispersion is…….. Meh This: ![3](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/f/2/d/f2ddf698fd164c767163afc98080419d75f37448.jpeg) Which is similar to my nodegroup set to 0.12 dispersion; ![4](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/a/3/2/a32796c6e67014596e5891c760a6e7f5efd6c70b.jpeg) The white bits in my version are reflections from the glass. I realize these are not “realistic” values but … I think clamping values is mean. 🤨 End of rant. EDIT I was wrong Thanks to [baoyu](https://blenderartists.org/u/baoyu) and [NiklasWerth](https://blenderartists.org/u/niklaswerth) for answering. ---
**Author:** ![baoyu](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/baoyu/32/955797_2.png) [@baoyu](https://blenderartists.org/u/baoyu)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/2 "2026-09-04T00:08:11Z")
Just crank up the ior and you’ll get crazy like dispersion ---
**Author:** ![NiklasWerth](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/niklaswerth/32/1503139_2.png) [@NiklasWerth](https://blenderartists.org/u/NiklasWerth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/3 "2026-09-04T00:35:22Z")
Im cool with a soft-clamp, where the slider stays in a realistic range, but you can crank it up or down way past by typing in values. Sometimes you can discover really cool interesting effects with that sorta free meddling. ---
**Author:** ![DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/dnorman/32/24845_2.png) [@DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/u/DNorman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/4 "2026-09-04T00:49:08Z")
> [@NiklasWerth](#): > > soft-clamp Ahhh …You can lower the abbe with a value, I swear I thought I had tried that. > [@baoyu](#): > > Just crank up the ior Yea that works too 😀 ![8](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/2/d/4/2d40316f64c32b4bb4e156e817dfc269f3529679.jpeg) I guess my whole rant was wrong, thanks for the answers. I can now throw my node-group in the bin (although on second thoughts it does can give very different results so I wont yet). I have edited the thread title to not confuse others. ---
**Author:** ![DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/dnorman/32/24845_2.png) [@DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/u/DNorman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/5 "2026-09-04T01:36:20Z")
Now I have changed the thread title I can carry on posting experiments. 🤣 ![9](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/f/f/e/ffee200b240f1b21f3eb87a5b044b6f48b612eaf.jpeg) I am loving it! 🤪 Anyone playing with this new feature feel free to post results. ---
**Author:** ![Volkashin3D](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/volkashin3d/32/1467632_2.png) [@Volkashin3D](https://blenderartists.org/u/Volkashin3D)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 12:24pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/6 "2026-09-04T12:24:19Z")
I like the images you posted, they look very nice. Also nice answers in the comments 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Joel\_RVC](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/joel_rvc/32/1249059_2.png) [@Joel\_RVC](https://blenderartists.org/u/Joel_RVC)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/7 "2026-09-08T05:00:24Z")
Waiiiiiiiit. Does your nodegroup work in EEVEE? also: ![image](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/7/1/e/71e97b3c1b8211d2b4f7e97cc9acd6c5ee38f025.png) ---
**Author:** ![DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/dnorman/32/24845_2.png) [@DNorman](https://blenderartists.org/u/DNorman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/the-new-5-3-dispersion-settings-experimenting/1652059/8 "2026-09-08T15:56:54Z")
> [@Joel\_RVC](#): > > Does your nodegroup work in EEVEE? It does something but not very well (the same goes for the new principled version) ![a](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/b/a/c/bac6836739d564f694332a3ecc1c31c10fb50a77.jpeg) ![b](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/a/0/e/a0e8e1b934ea01640998d13f38027e1cd0b69931.jpeg) Monkey on the left principled, right my node group. Not a good example I did this very quickly but you can see that Eevee just gives a hint of dispersion with a lot less sharpness and quality. I do not really use Eevee much and I think for anything glassy, reflections, dispersion etc Eevee is not the right engine. > [@Joel\_RVC](#): > > also: Yea no need for a value node you can type in an Un-clamped Abbe number (my rant was unwarranted)