Optical position measurement device for determining the position of a first object that is movable in relation to a second object (O2) along a measurement direction (x), having - a material measure , which is connected to the first object , with a reflective measurement graduation (11; 111; 211; 311; 411; 511; 611) which extends along the measurement direction (x) and has graduation regions (11.1, 11.2; 111.1, 111.2; 211.1, 211.2; 311.1, 311.2; 411.1, 411.2; 511.1, 511.2; 611.1, 611.2) with different reflectivities, and - a sampling unit , which is connected to the second object (O2) and is arranged at a sampling distance (Z A ) from the material measure , having - at least one light source , and - a detector arrangement (22; 122; 222; 322; 422) comprising a multiplicity of optoelectronic detector elements (122.i; 222.i; 322.i; 422.i) which are arranged periodically along the measurement direction (x), and also - a signal processing unit , which is assigned to the sampling unit and is designed and configured - to generate from the photocurrents (I i ) generated via the detector elements (122.i; 222.i; 322.i; 422.i) position signals (S P ) with respect to the position of the first object in relation to the second object (O2) and - to ascertain a total photocurrent (I ges,MB , I ges,RB ) in a detector central region (MB) and in at least one detector peripheral region (RB) and to determine the sampling distance (Z A ) from the formed photocurrent ratio (V I ) of the total photocurrents (I ges,MB , I ges,RB ) in the detector central region (MB) and in the detector peripheral region (RB). - a material measure , which is connected to the first object , with a reflective measurement graduation (11; 111; 211; 311; 411; 511; 611) which extends along the measurement direction (x) and has graduation regions (11.1, 11.2; 111.1, 111.2; 211.1, 211.2; 311.1, 311.2; 411.1, 411.2; 511.1, 511.2; 611.1, 611.2) with different reflectivities, and - a sampling unit , which is connected to the second object (O2) and is arranged at a sampling distance (Z A ) from the material measure , having - at least one light source , and - a detector arrangement (22; 122; 222; 322; 422) comprising a multiplicity of optoelectronic detector elements (122.i; 222.i; 322.i; 422.i) which are arranged periodically along the measurement direction (x), and also - a signal processing unit , which is assigned to the sampling unit and is designed and configured - to generate from the photocurrents (I i ) generated via the detector elements (122.i; 222.i; 322.i; 422.i) position signals (S P ) with respect to the position of the first object in relation to the second object (O2) and - to ascertain a total photocurrent (I ges,MB , I ges,RB ) in a detector central region (MB) and in at least one detector peripheral region (RB) and to determine the sampling distance (Z A ) from the formed photocurrent ratio (V I ) of the total photocurrents (I ges,MB , I ges,RB ) in the detector central region (MB) and in the detector peripheral region (RB). - to generate from the photocurrents (I i ) generated via the detector elements (122.i; 222.i; 322.i; 422.i) position signals (S P ) with respect to the position of the first object in relation to the second object (O2) and - to ascertain a total photocurrent (I ges,MB , I ges,RB ) in a detector central region (MB) and in at least one detector peripheral region (RB) and to determine the sampling distance (Z A ) from the formed photocurrent ratio (V I ) of the total photocurrents (I ges,MB , I ges,RB ) in the detector central region (MB) and in the detector peripheral region (RB). <EOS>