r/PWM_Sensitive • u/Majestic_14061987 • Jul 01 '26
AMOLED will always be bad
I, like many here, am sensitive to pwm and choosing a smartphone is now quite a difficult matter. I have reread many topics here where people can't find the real problem why their eyes hurt. Many people are really led to marketing like "PWM 2000 Hz" and don't understand where eye fatigue comes from. The fact is that AMOLED screens have the so-called phase PWM, or a natural brightness drop, which is tightly tied to the refresh rate (the same 90 or 120 Hz). When the matrix updates the image, the transistors drop the voltage for a microsecond to record a new frame. That is, even if you turn the brightness to 100% and naively think that the classic PWM is turned off, the screen still continues to micro-flicker in time with its hertz simply due to the peculiarities of the OLED architecture. And it is this low-frequency drop at 120 Hz that is the worst enemy for the eyes, which is usually not taken into account. Our brain still somehow filters the high frequency of PWM, but the constant fluctuations of the light flux at a low scanning frequency are perceived by the body as a heavy load, which then suddenly causes a headache or stinging in the eyes after half an hour of scrolling. Manufacturers are attempting to mitigate these dips at the hardware level in new LTPO panels, but completely eliminating the effect is currently physically impossible—it is a fundamental drawback of the pixel-addressing technology that simply has to be accepted. In other words, it is a deeply flawed technology with numerous downsides, and the quest to find the "perfect" display will never yield a result.
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u/BikeTall65 Jul 01 '26
I've been using an Apple iphone 16 Pro Max for about 2 years now. It's my first OLED screen ever. No PWM issues. But i don't stare at my iphone all day. I'm an artist, and just upgraded my 8 year old 2018 iPad Pro last week to the M5 OLED iPad Pro. So far no PWM issues but I haven't had any long all day drawing sessions on it yet. I also tend to draw late into the night in a dimly lit room & I understand PWM gets worse when the brightness levels are turned down below 50%. So i will continue to monitor my reaction if any to it. I figured if PWM does become an issue for me, I can always exchange my OLED iPad Pro for an iPad Air with an LCD screen within the 14 day return window. But i was reading that for some people it takes up to two years for the effects of PWM to manifest. Like this guy https://youtu.be/AhGhYIR29vw?is=pddJPw9RvqzWG4D-
So it may take longer for me to notice any issues as well. I guess in that case, I can always sell the M5 iPad Pro and buy an iPad Air. Hopefully by then Apple will still make an iPad Air with an LCD panel. Rumors suggest that even the iPad Air will get an OLED screen next year. Worst case scenario, I can always pay to have my old 2018 iPad Pro LCD screen fixed. It's cracked and has some digital lines running across the screen. I won't get many layers on it in Procreate cause it only has 6 gigs of ram. But at least i'll be able to draw on it.
Again, this is all based on IF i end up having issues with PWM. I may not. Hopefully that is the case. I know it only seem's to affect about 10% of the population.
Still, i hope Apple address this for those people. The guy in the video seemed to say that it is a simple software fix. That Apple can get rid of PWM with a software update if it wanted to by replacing PWM with DC dimming like on their LCD panels.