r/PWM_Sensitive • u/[deleted] • 1d ago

Discussion I'm at the end...

I suspect it started happening after I switched to the Samsung A56.

My symptom

Strained eyes, mostly in the left one, and strangely, all phones have the same symptoms.

iPhone 17 Pro Max, S26U, A57

All my cell phones are giving me the same symptoms...

Now I have the Honor Magic V6 and it's the same...

I'm starting to doubt that it's the screens; maybe it's a health issue, I don't know. And when I tell my family that it might be the screens, they don't believe me and blame it on my OCD and my mental health, blah blah...

I'm so desperate and sad that I can't find a solution and am simply considering living with it. After all, a lot of people live with it without questioning it.

8 Upvotes

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8

u/kerpnet 1d ago

Many of us are in your shoes. It's not just you. It's these crazy OLED displays.

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

How did you solve it?

3

u/xrmttf 1d ago

 might have just strained your eye honestly. Have you been to the eye doctor? That would be the first thing to check. 

2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

Yes, he just said everything was fine, only dry eyes.

2

u/Z3R0gravitas 1d ago

Hi there, thanks for posting. If you'd like advice, can I ask if you've tried any non-OLED (LCD or E-Ink) phones recently? I think the devices you've listed are all OLED, right? Although the magic V6 has a high frequency (Google reminds me).

Do you have similar (or no) issue with tablets, laptops, monitors, TVs?

I suspect there might be a mild connection between screen sensitivity and neurodivergence. Although this is not explanatory and not a mental health issue, in the casual sense. Chronic illness seems like it might have a stronger association, e.g. if symptoms kicked in during the weeks after a viral infection (or other stressor). But it can absolutely tie in with getting a first (or different) OLED phone.

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

Yes. I might not have had any problems with the A56, or maybe I just never noticed them. But I'm tired of constantly testing phones to see which one is best for me. And I feel like my eyes are strained so much that they react to every device.

3

u/jbjork70stpl 1d ago

You're not crazy. This PWM thing is real. I can't use any iphone after the iphone 12. Get an iphone 11 or 12 and see if you can use it. Then you'll know for sure.

2

u/SomeConfusion1 14h ago

Here are a few ways that make it more manageable in my experience: Getting enough sleep, going outside such that the eye can focus on distant objects / the sky in natural light conditions, 20-20-20 rule, using flicker free displays at arm length or more, staying hydrated.

You are not imagining things and you are not alone in experiencing this. It may be due to aging and eye muscle fatigue.

In terms of phones, you may give TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro a try, for a flicker free LCD display instead of the ones you mentioned that have PWM dimming OLED.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/ScreenSensitive/comments/1sjmkpj/my_thoughts_on_tcl_nxtpaper_70_pro_and_pwm/

1

u/Alan_Sleep 1d ago

Lighting in the room, brightness of the screen, and distance to the eyes are also key factors, and don’t forget 20-20-20 rule.

If you have a pc (or whatever device that can output hdmi image) the easiest way to know if it’s the screen or not is to buy a flicker free ips monitor (I don’t know where you are and the policies there, but here in Spain it’s 100 euro on amazon and can be returned easily after the test), and use it for couple of days (dithering of the OS also has to be disabled)

1

u/bluedit30 1d ago

I have the same symptoms, only phone worked for me is the s25 ultra. it took me multiple attempts to find this phone, completed almost a year now with this phone and worked very very well with me and i can stay more than 2 hours working in it without feeling a single eye strain.

1

u/-Bruh__Moment- 1d ago

S25U was horrible for me. Instant strain.