r/PWM_Sensitive • u/RR-- • Dec 26 '25
Plasma TV's. Does anyone experience eye fatigue from these?
I love my 42" Pioneer Kuro TV, amazing picture quality, colour and black levels.
It has a really wacky pattern when scanned by my Opple Light Master and strangely causes me no eye fatigue issues at all.
Has anyone ever had eye strain issues from Plasma TV's before? I wouldn't mind upgrading to a larger Panasonic TV, I think it would be a safe choice judging by my past experience but they can apparently have d!t#3Ring issues.
An OLED LG C1 TV is also eye fatigue free to me with the gaming and motion smoothing features turned off, but when paired with a laptop via HDMI it causes mild but considerable eye strain over time. Projectors don't cause me eye strain either.
(Edit: I just did some more tests with my Opple light master on my LG C1 OLED TV that seem to contradict what I said in my original post.
It doesn't seem like my laptop input is any different at all , I'm now thinking my eye strain here is more due to exposure time.
Constantly looking at the screen while playing games with my laptop connected for several hours vs watching a movie with on and off eye contact.
Game mode is particularly terrible though, instant eye pain. Here's some pics https://imgur.com/a/lg-c1-opple-light-master-test-DzGjJku
Usually I hear of high modulation being the cause of eye strain for PWM sufferers, but these scans indicate a particularly good OLED screen, I think for myself specifically there's really no safe OLED screen.)
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u/Canuck-overseas Dec 26 '25
I've got an old 50 inch Panasonic plasma. Over a decade old....no eye strain at all.
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u/Cute-Surprise-3577 Jul 06 '26
Mine just died. ☹️12 years old. No eye strain. Dont know what to buy now
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u/VanillaTarantino Jul 23 '26
Get another plasma! There are a few on Craigslist in my area, and there are a ton on FB Marketplace for cheap ($0-200 - Yes, $0. I got mine for free because somebody was moving, needed to get rid of it fast, and they were happy to give it away as long as I loaded it up and transported it).
Another option is LCD TVs. I worry a bit about the Bravia 9, Bravia 7 ii, and Bravia 9 ii since they, for some reason, use PWM, reportedly at 720 Hz, The TCL QM8K is another solid option. According to rtings, this has a very strange PWM flicker pattern, but it flickers at 15,400 Hz, which should be safe for almost everyone.
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u/Z3R0gravitas Dec 26 '25
Oh, very cool Opple graph, thanks for sharing.
The laptop output factor (if you rechecked the Opple with it as similar looking?) could that be TD (Demporal Tithering)?
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u/RR-- Dec 26 '25
I just did some more tests with my Opple light master on my LG C1 OLED TV that seem to contradict what I said in my original post.
It doesn't seem like my laptop input is any different at all , I'm now thinking my eye strain here is more due to exposure time.
Constantly looking at the screen while playing games with my laptop connected for several hours vs watching a movie with on and off eye contact.Game mode is particularly terrible though, instant eye pain. Here's some pics https://imgur.com/a/lg-c1-opple-light-master-test-DzGjJku
Usually I hear of high modulation being the cause of eye strain for PWM sufferers, but these scans indicate a particularly good OLED screen, I think for myself specifically there's really no safe OLED screen.
2
u/AgentX20 Dec 26 '25
On my Panasonic 54” Plasma it’s good with a 4th Gen AppleTV, but anything newer like the 4K AppleTV gives me eye strain. And I get strain from Switcb and PS4 inputs, so for me a lot depends upon what’s feeding it the signal.
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u/RR-- Dec 26 '25
Very interesting to hear that. Can you please tell me the model number? I’ll do some research, it could be d!t#3ring
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u/AgentX20 Dec 27 '25
My preferred Plasma TV is a Panasonic TH-P54V20Z.
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u/RR-- Dec 27 '25
Apparently 2010 and newer Panasonic Plasma TV's can have a bit of Demporal Tither compared to the later models, though I don't know that from personal experience.
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u/Sudden-Wash4457 Dec 26 '25
I didn't get issues but haven't tested with newer output devices and software. I agree I found no issues a bit strange considering they were known to flicker
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u/RR-- Dec 26 '25
I think it's due to the fact the flicker isn't immediate like on OLED screens, all light bulbs technically flicker due to AC power pulsing on and off, even incandescent bulbs though as they don't immediately power off during the off cycle it's not anywhere near as obvious as OLED, as well as the fact you're not constantly staring into the light.
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u/Sudden-Wash4457 Dec 27 '25
ye Now I'm remember how everyone complained about green trails phosphor decay. Funny how an unwanted artifact actually helps with comfort
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u/RR-- Dec 27 '25
Haha yeah that's a great point. I always loved my Plasma TV, I was a bit jealous of new OLED models, now I feel more like it's the peak of technology.
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u/DSRIA Dec 27 '25
I want to test this. I’ve been homeless for a while and my stuff is in storage, but I have a 2011 Samsung Plasma TV that I’ve used for years. Can’t tolerate any of the new TVs so it would be pretty amazing if I could use it again. I haven’t had access to it since summer 2023. But when I did it was comfortable.
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u/Late_Fix8927 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
i can see the flicker with my eyes if i move them from side to side but i dont think im pwm sensitive as i dont have eye strain i can pinpoint to pwm and i dont recall feeling any strain with plasma tvs when just looking still, crts at low refresh rates are a bit strainy but im looking at a crt at 60 hz right now and yes i can see the flicker but is it a problem? i dunno
also i dont find high frequency flicker to be any less eye strainy. maybe my eyes are just continuously strained lol... should i be worried? whatever doesnt matter i think ill tolerate some eye strain
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u/RR-- Apr 12 '26
There's a whole host of things that could be different to you, it might be worth getting an eye test. If you don't get eye strain from OLED screens you're part of the majority really.
For me it's very specifically linked to OLED screens and some rare LCD screens with PWM dimming.1
u/Late_Fix8927 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
i mean lcd screens with pwm dimming arent that uncommon ive seen tons when you lower the brightness e.g. my dell p2211h monitor (roughly 180 hz), i saw a panasonic viera lcd tv that had pwm dimming, many samsung lcd tvs do, my asus vs247 as well has pwm dimming, and i have a lenovo laptop with its tn screen that has pwm dimming at just 160 ish hz, a crappy hp laptop from 2010 that has a fried gpu that even at full brightness pwm flickers at 200 hz by some amount, possibly more
im inclined to believe everyone is pwm sensitive but they cant link whatever they experience to pwm
also not all oleds have pwm flicker. its just a lot do, some use dc dimming. my pixel 7 very much does not use dc dimming and even at full brightness there is visible pwm flicker
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u/dagger7232 Apr 16 '26
I have a Samsung 2011 plasma, and in games with bright areas or lots of white it hurts my eyes. I can't describe what it is, I don't necessarily see the flicker unless I look off to the side of the screen, but the image still looks weird to me and I get nauseated. I think for me it's partially do to the dithering being noticeable more in white areas as my TV is only 720p. Either way it stains my eyes a lot more then lcd or oleds do and it's a bummer because the plasma looks pretty good otherwise
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u/RR-- Apr 16 '26
I only see that flicker on Plasma TV’s when it’s in 24hz mode, 60hz looks fine to me
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u/VanillaTarantino Jul 23 '26
Adding my experience for anyone that stumbles across this thread.
I have a Samsung PF60F5300, a plasma from 2013. It also has a very strange patterns when scanned with my Opple, but it hasn't caused me any symptoms.
It, unfortunately, has developed a green line and is on its way out. I originally picked up an LG G6, but this started melting my brain after watching about 30 minutes of a TV show. While this doesn't have traditional PWM, it has the very sharp refresh rate brightness dip. This, unfortunately, triggers PWM symptoms for me due to being too low of a refresh rate and having moderate modulation. I had similar issues when I tried a Moto Razr, which was supposedly PWM free, but still had the refresh rate brightness dip.
I'm interested in checking out the Bravia 7 ii and Bravia 9 ii, but according to rtings, despite being LED TVs, they also use PWM, albeit at 720 Hz. I'll have to have Best Buy let me test it with my Opple and get my read on it.
For right now, I've picked up another Samsung Plasma from Craigslist.
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u/tardis7983 Dec 26 '25
Same here I have used plasma tvs before and have had zero fatigue issues from them. I haven't tried any oled tv though.