How can one distinguish if a floater resulted from pvd or from retinal tear/detachment?

Ocular tia: Ocular tia/ transient ischemic attack, or loss of vision in one eye, meaning gray or black in your visual field that resolves is considered a type of mini stroke. Ocular TIA is stroke until proven otherwise. An ultrasound of the necks carotid arteries and an exam of retina by opthalmology will determine cause. See your doc right away. Stroke prevention is possible. So is sight preservation.

See your eye doctor: Floaters from pvds are usually single, central small dark spots. Floaters experienced with retinal detachments are usually multiple small floaters or a large veil/shadow over a part of the vision. Sudden development of floaters or any flashes always require prompt attention from an eye doctor.

You can't: You absolutely need to have your eyes dilated and examined by an eye doctor (a retina specialist if you can).