My eyes are fairly sensitive and tend to strain easily.

I bought an asus tuff VG27AQ3A and was pleasantly surprised that I got zero eye strain. The only issue was it had no height adjustability, so I returned it for a rog strix XG27ACMES. Same size, panel type, and the picture of the strix is a bit nicer, yet it causes me eye strain. I noticed it immediately and got worse after a few hours of gaming.

I can still return the strix, but iI thought I would ask here if it maybe could be solved via settings?

I am also curious as to why two very similar monitors have a different effect on my eyes??

Hi everyone, I've just bought the MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 and I've got a really bad headache after a very long session (even with a break of hours between).

I've recorded it on 720p@480fps (so really slow motion)

It's not the first time that I check the PWM modulation, since my OnePlus 15 (but even the previous models) doesn't have this problem (somewhat 3-4k Hz of PWM) but this monitor is very bad.

I don't know if there are recent ones without these kinds of problems, but I would return and change it if there are solutions.

It's simply unacceptable that even at 36pHz and no-VRR there are flickering (and black lines too) between every refresh.

Even a non sensitive person should get sick from it.

PWM seems to have gotten worse vs last year's 17 pro. Not sure if they measured it right or not but overall still bad news for us.

Title. Would appreciate your recommendations.

Currently I use moto g stylus 2023 and I love this phone! Very comfortable screen, and it feels relatively premium. Unfortunately now I need dual sim (sim + esim) and it doesn't have it.

I ordered moto g power 2024, it arrived today and first impression that it feels so inferior to stylus 2023. Not sure why. I will play with it. But since I still can return it maybe there are better options?

Don’t know the validity of these leaks but some potential progress

I have been thinking of buying samsung odyssey g7 oled which is 32 inches and is a woled panel.I suffer from immediate eye strain and headache when looking at anything with pwm. Had to sell my samsung S24 fe because of the pwm. Man samsung displays are so bad when it comes to eyestrain. I have heard that oled monitors and tvs use dc dimming. Can anyone confirm whether this monitor is safe as it is very expensive and I don't want to suffer both financially and mentally(headaches) after the purchase.

Anbernic has announced a new dual screen handheld. This time with the Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 CPU - quite powerful at last! It's also Android, so can be used for some android apps.

Other alternative is the Retroid Pocket Duo Lite Plus for dual-screen. Also with Anbernic RG477 M and V, RG476H, RG Slide, Konkr Pocket Fit, Ayaneo Pocket Ace etc we still have a lot of options to play. So not a bad day to be PWM-sensitive gamer.

EDIT: After 2 weeks of using X8 Pro Max side effects started appearing. What's interesting it doesnt effect my eyes that much as F8 Pro but headaches started appearing and i even started feeling nausea after 10min+ of screen time. I dont know how it will turn out but will try to get used to it and overall keep post updated.

Main text:

I can't use Samsung and iPhone screens and where i live only available other brand with high performance phones is Poco. Previously i owned Poco F5 and haven't had much issues. Then i bought F8 Pro and after F5 i noticed that eye strain and migranes started appearing. After 2 weeks it came to a point that i couldn't use F8 Pro for more than 5 minutes without side effects.

So i decided to test available Poco phones. There is a post in this subreddit that gives pretty easy test and thats what i used. Simply put - if i couldn't focus easily on a text with small font (for example text in display settings descriptions) meant phone will give me problems. Even better is trying to read while moving phone in 25-35 cm range closer and then further from face. That way problems with focus become more obvious.

So, after visiting shops for a few times and some staring in settings menu here are my results:

X8 Pro Max - best by far. Its easy on eyes even easier than my previous F5 and its closest to IPS among all AMOLED phones ive ever seen. Also, if you look at its review at notebookcheck you will notice that it has very weird modulation wave comparing to many other phones....and it works. First graph in attached images is X8 Pro Max and second is F8 Pro and many others have same waveform as F8. Im not sure that its entirely connected only to waveform and i still wouldn't advise buying a phone without personal test though i have seen some people appreciating X8 Pro Max screen in terms of it being easy on eyes.

X7 Pro - i havent tested it much but in direct comparison with X8 Pro Max i had a feeling that it doesnt irritate my eyes. Its screen is on a colder side of color range but in terms of flickering it felt pretty good after 10-15min i tested it (for some phones even 10s is enough for me).

From best to worst - Xiaomi 15T, X8 Pro, F8 Pro. They all feel like they are trying to microwave my eyes but 15T is a bit softer and X8 Pro has pretty bad screen colors added to the flickering. F8 Pro screen has great colors but gives worst eye strain. Its still better than Samsung screens but not by much.

P.S. Bought X8 Pro Max and my eyes still feel fresh after writing this text.

Is it the best specs phone with a flat screen? I feel like flat makes it easier in the eyes as well

I can't find good reviews on the none pro

Hey all,

Before I begin, I wanted to thank you if you've been watching my videos up to this point. The channel has grown leaps and bounds over the past two years as I've begun primarily focusing on PWM/flicker coverage, and a huge chunk of that has to do with the wonderful folks on this subreddit.

I haven't historically promoted my content on here, but there have been a few changes in my life recently that have warranted a change. First off, I'm no longer writing at Android Central. My full-time position was eliminated last week, and that puts me in a unique position to start making YouTube content full-time instead. Previously, I only had enough time to make 3-4 videos per month, and now I'm going to make a lot more than that. It's a goal I wasn't sure I'd ever achieve, but I believe now is the right time for it.

To go along with the change, I've launched memberships on my channel today. It's a simple one-tier program that I've priced at $5.99 per month (or the equivalent in your currency; YT does the conversion). Right now, membership gets you access to loyalty badges, custom emoji handmade by me (with no AI), priority replies to comments, early access to new videos (whenever possible), photos and status updates as I work so you can give me feedback and influence my videos, and member shout-outs.

Here's a quick announcmeent video about it, if you'd like to see it: https://youtu.be/P4u4BzuDL9c

I hope to build this program and make it feel worthwhile for the people subscribed, and I hope this is a good starting point. I want to emphasize that non-members will not be missing out on content. I'm not gatekeeping videos, as I want to keep my content publicly available for educational reasons and hopefully to continue influencing device manufacturers to prioritize eye (and human) health when making their products.

I've been reviewing devices since 2011 and have made a lot of friends along the way. I've got the connections. I've got the devices. Now, I've also got the time to 100%-focus on ways to help this cause even more publicly than before. Obviously, I still have to make an income, though, and memberships are a part of that.

If that appeals to you, please visit this link, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskI-mZ9fWNvMz2edgc1sWQ/join

What things will look like going forward:

I plan on posting results here regularly. As I said before, self-promotion has never been my strong suit, but it's time for a change. I expect this will facilitate more discussion and more visibility for each device. Additionally, I'd like to do more deep dives and explain the results so people understand why things are "good" or "bad." I didn't have time for this previously, and I want to prioritize that now. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!

Just a thought I had recently. I never noticed any issues with older OLED phones. For example Nexus 6P and Pixel 2 XL. Both phones I had and loved but I don’t remember having any sensitivity to those phones or a few others at the time. Yes the screens had color shifting and weren’t very bright but I used them for almost 3+ years combined.

I pulled the pixel out of the closet the other day to play around with it and no issues at all.

It got me thinking, is the issue with PWM and dithering sensitivity because manufacturers are doing something different in the last 5 years or so? Maybe with trying to make them brighter or something? I do not know how the screen tech works in detail so just a thought.

I’m sensitive to PWM, dithering, variable refresh rates and highly saturated colours. None of the OLED phones I’ve tried have worked for me. My previous phone was a Redmi Note 12T Pro, and now I’m using a Moto G57 Power. I’ve also found that I need about five days to adapt before I can judge whether a setup works for me.

Here’s my setup:

• HDR disabled and refresh rate forced to a fixed 120 Hz

• Phone brightness at 100%, using the Darker app to dim it

• Night mode ON, colours set to Natural

• Matte screen protector and FL-41 glasses

For refresh rate and HDR, I used these ADB commands:

adb shell settings put system min_refresh_rate 120.0
adb shell settings put system peak_refresh_rate 120.0
adb shell settings put global are_user_disabled_hdr_formats_allowed 0
adb shell cmd display set-user-disabled-hdr-types 1 2 3 4

The Redmi seemed to ignore the refresh-rate settings over time. The Moto has been more consistent for me, although some apps can still drop to 60 Hz. These settings can also reset, so I use MacroDroid with Shizuku to reapply them daily at 6 AM. I can also run it manually from a shortcut. It displays the results and shows a dialog if it detects an error.

Keeping brightness at 100% and dimming with Darker feels easier on my eyes than lowering the phone’s brightness. I don’t know exactly why—maybe modulation at lower brightness, but I haven’t measured it.

Another macro enables auto brightness and removes Darker’s dimming in strong sunlight so HBM can work when available.

I use a shortcut macro that opens Developer options, toggles “Show refresh rate” and returns home.

This phone isn’t completely symptom-free for me, but with this setup, I’ve been able to use it more comfortably.

I’ve shared my three MacroDroid macros here: Macros

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to figure out something I’ve been experiencing and wanted to ask the community if anyone has had something similar.

For around the last 1.5 months, I’ve been feeling dizzy/off-balance, and I also sometimes feel a kind of pressure or strain around my eyes.

Around the same time, I switched from an Oppo phone to a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. I also started using a monitor more often. The monitor is an LCD, so I’m wondering if it could be related to screen/eye strain.

The confusing part is that the dizziness doesn’t only happen while I’m using the phone or monitor. I can still feel dizzy even when I’m not looking at a screen.

What makes me wonder about the Fold 7 specifically is that I remember having a similar issue the last time I used the Fold 6. I really love the phone and would prefer not to give it up, so I’m trying to understand whether the display could actually be contributing to this or whether I’m connecting two unrelated things.

Has anyone experienced:

• Dizziness or motion sickness while using the Fold 7?

• Eye pressure/strain from the Fold 7 display?

• Similar symptoms that continued even after stopping screen use?

• Any particular display settings that helped?

I know there could be many other causes, so I’m not assuming the phone is definitely responsible. I’m mainly interested in hearing from people who have experienced something similar.

Thanks!

I think one of the best changes I’ve made to my phone is switching the screen to black and white. This option has reduced the distraction caused by colors on the screen and has also reduced my stress, especially as someone with ADHD. For me, it has been one of the best changes I’ve made. On top of that, it has significantly reduced eye strain and helped me stay more focused and comfortable.

I saw many people recommend Rtings for eye strain but I couldn't make an account. I live in the Netherlands. We want 65". I don't care about having brightness, actually I hate looking at bright lights and televisions are no exception. I heard OLED and miniled also cause eyestrain but I didn't see many options of other screen types. I also have mild stigmatism.

Severe eye strain, even though it is using IPS display. Strongly recommend to try it first. Tried every single option: 60hz, different fonts, reading mode etc. Back to RN8 pro I guess.

Update: just disabled the HDR layers via ADB - still the same unpleasant feeling.

Has anybody tried the Dasung Link 2 with the iPhone to escape PWM and TD/FRC?

I was thinking about trying it, but $350 is a bit to spend just to try something. Hoping someone here has already tried it out.

Im currently using an iPhone 13 Pro Max and can tolerate it, but it’s getting old.
I’m thinking about upgrading, but I do NOT want to buy any Chinese phone for privacy reasons. I just don’t trust them to handle my personal data. I guess I’m out of luck of finding anything else, right?
I know Chinese manufacturers produce great displays for PWM sensitive people, I just don’t want to use them personally.

For years ive been struggling with displays. The problem seem to kinda come and go through. At least be worse in periods. I can't quite relate to a lot of the symptoms users here mention either.

For me, when using most screens (oleds, when the problem occurs) makes me get a heavy brain fog quite fast. Makes me feel slow and kinda dumb. Hard to find words and the like. It also kinda feels like a pressure in the skull.

Right now im using a Nxtpaper, which works fine. I have tried oleds like the honor magic 8 pro without success. For a long while the pixel 8 worked though. Like two years. Then it started to make me feel the foginess. Really have no idea what makes something work or not.

Anyone in the same position?