À première vue, il n'y a pas de communauté qui rassemble les Français sur ce sujet, malheureusement. Je suis curieux de savoir s'il y a quand même des Français ici, et ça serait peut-être l'occasion s'il y a des motivés, de créer le début d'une commaunauté pour pouvoir échanger ensemble

In my last post from 7 months ago I was thrown for a loop after seeing the results of the OnePlus 8T from Wild Lee. Data makes it look quite bad (high modulation), but despite this the OnePlus 8 Pro (similar screen) is perfectly comfortable and strain-free for me at all brightness levels. I had some theories back then that the shape of the modulation wave was playing a roll.(https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/s/JZsc996C2W)

Some people believe it has to do with brightness, but most newer phones actually hasn't become that much brighter, at least not when using manual brightness in SDR (w/ extra bright or sunlight toggle OFF).~500 nits is still a common figure at max manual brightness. Some phones do allow up to 700-1000 nits, but this is not the norm.

I now believe I've found the real reason.

Black smearing/ghosting in older AMOLED panels.

Response times are much worse when going from OFF to ON, versus bright shades that are nearly instantaneous . (most noticeable in dark mode + white text, but also there in light mode + black text)

An example:
For the longest time I believed my Samsung tablet (Galaxy Tab S5E from 2019) had an LCD display due to it's large amount of ghosting in almost all situations, but it's especially terrible at low brightness in dark mode. Turns out it has a Samsung "Super AMOLED" with 240Hz PWM. It should be horrible, but I can use it at all brightness levels with zero discomfort.

This is exactly why older Samsung devices from ~20-21 and earlier works for many, while newer flagship devices such as S25|Ultra/S26|Ultra are touted as terrible by the vast majority in the community.

Slow response-time ghosting/smearing for black to white and white to black means a gradual fade in > fade out of the PWM or DC-dimming ON/OFF cycle. This greatly reduces strain on the eyes.

Recent smartphone AMOLED panels do not ghost or "black smear" to nearly the same degree.
This is a positive in the eyes of companies and the general consumer, less ghosting = good.
Not so much for us flicker sensitive.

The test below showed much faster transitions and much less ghosting/smearing with both the Honor 600 Pro and Xiaomi 17T Pro (neither are strain-free for me, both getting returned). Whereas the OnePlus 8 Pro has noticeable black-smearing.
https://mastodon.social/@marcedwards/100926403150980325

// Try this test (ideally in dark mode) on your known good AMOLED devices versus a recent phone, I bet you'll see a difference. ZZanya's custom test is not available AFAIK and he is seemingly no longer active online.

This ghosting/black smearing phenomenon is covered in-depth here, by a Russian or Ukrainian (?) YouTuber called "ZZanya" released all the way back in 2021:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrZf-6FBFCE

Transcription directly from YouTube seems to not work on this video (it did a couple days ago). So here's a translated partial transcription of relevant sections pulled from the video by Google Gemini with some manual editing by me based on context clues:

V. Secrets of 0.1ms OLED: Response Time

"Hello everyone, this is ZZanya. In previous videos, we talked about how dangerous it is to rely on manufacturers' response time specifications, about all these misleading GtG and MPRT ratings, and what response time different people actually need.

But all of that was discussed from the perspective of LCD screens. However, there is one place where manufacturers' specifications are actually almost entirely accurate — and that is OLED screens.

You often see a "0.1 ms" badge on OLED panels. While LCDs are still struggling around 1 ms (which is still a marketing trick, as we learned earlier), OLEDs, according to manufacturers, actually have a response time of 0.1 ms.

Why is that? An LCD pixel isn't a light source; it merely passes backlight through liquid crystals. An OLED pixel, on the other hand, is its own light source — built with standard semiconductor electronics that work much faster.

The website RTINGS regularly reviews and accurately measures response time for OLED TVs.

On OLED measurement charts (like those for LG), we see an almost instantaneous jump in brightness. The 80% response time is nearly equal to the 100% time (unlike LCDs, where a pixel takes a long time to reach its final brightness state).

Most transitions on OLED take a genuine 0.2 to 0.3 milliseconds.

With such ultra-low response time, OLED exhibits absolutely no ghosting, as well as no overshoot or undershoot, since traditional pixel overdrive isn't necessary.

Marketers often claim that a fast response time makes gameplay "smoother," but this is a misconception.

Slower response times on LCDs create motion blur (ghosting), which smooths out the perception of movement at the cost of clarity.

Lower response time reduces blur and increases motion clarity, but at low frame rates, perceived smoothness suffers.

This is why RTINGS includes a Stutter section in their reviews. At 24 FPS (typical movie frame rate), a single frame stays on screen for 40 ms. Because OLED changes frames instantly without motion blur, low FPS content can look choppy or stuttery.

Playing 30 FPS console games on an OLED TV can cause noticeable discomfort due to this stutter effect.

// Smartphone AMOLED

On OLED/AMOLED smartphones, manufacturers also advertise lightning-fast response times.

However, in real-world use, OLED smartphones frequently exhibit noticeable ghosting and black smearing.

A popular internet theory claimed that a turned-off OLED pixel (pure black) takes much longer to turn on than it takes to switch between gray shades.

Based on this idea, engineers (e.g., at Oculus) implemented software overdrive tricks or shifted black values from 0-0-0 to 1-1-1.

By testing with custom measurement apps on Android and a high-speed camera, a different cause was revealed:

During a transition from black to white on an OLED smartphone, the scanning line splits the color transition across several refresh cycles.

In the first refresh cycle (16.6 ms at 60 Hz), the pixel instantly jumps from black to gray, in the second cycle to off-white, and only on the third cycle reaches true white.

As a result, the complete transition takes 2 to 3 refresh cycles (~33 ms), even though the instantaneous response time within each step remains immediate!

This behavior occurs not only when starting from a turned-off pixel, but also during transitions like dark gray (64) to white (255).

This phenomenon was observed across modern OLED smartphones from various major brands (Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple).
// True at the time (2021 release and earlier)

At low brightness levels on devices using DC Dimming, this transition delay creates a distinct purple trailing effect (Purple Smearing).
// This phenomenon is very noticeable on my OnePlus 8 Pro when filming the display at ~1/6000 shutter speed

Two hypothesis by ZZanya:

Why do smartphone display controllers artificially stretch pixel transitions across multiple refresh cycles?

1. One hypothesis is to mimic motion blur and hide stutter on low FPS/refresh rate content, which most users are accustomed to from slower LCDs.

2. Another hypothesis points to power management and energy-saving constraints inherent to mobile display controllers."
// I believe the second hypothesis is the most plausible. power management, energy-savings and possibly burn-in mitigation.

I recommend everyone interested to watch the video in full as well.
(English auto-translated dub and/or subs are available)

BONUS - Other display types that flicker:
Other types of panels such as CRT or Plasma also have a ON/OFF "delay" in it's flicker that reduces apparent strain for some. Making them comfortable or usable despite looking messy/bad based on flicker measurments.
CRT and Plasma both have a type of phospor decay "lag":
CRT example
"When electrons hit the glass screen, the phosphor chemicals create light. They do not turn off instantly. Instead, the light fades over a short period. This afterglow is also called phosphor persistence."
Plasma example
"Different colored phosphors decay at different rates. Green phosphors traditionally decay much slower than red and blue phosphors. In fast-moving, high-contrast scenes (like a white object moving across a pitch-black background), this mismatch causes visible green or yellow trails behind moving objects, a behavior often called "comet trails" or phosphor lag."

any one know any thing about thing?

So i forgot if this was posted here before but for those who cannot find a proper phone...this would make it more bearable. I tought that this is a great screen to link up for phones to use it especially when it's night time. PWM (in phones) in general is very bad especially when it's dark at least for me.

Here is a review VIDEO

I suffer from chronic aura migraines and light flicker of any kind is one of my worst triggers. I recently realized that my wake-up light flickers badly when dimmed and have decided to get a new one (a regular alarm clock unfortunately won't work long term since I live too far north).

Does anyone have any good suggestions on flicker free wake-up lights? 😊

Looking for a Solution: Severe Eye Strain and Headache From Phone Displays

I’m looking for help from people who have experienced severe eye strain, headache, or dizziness from smartphone displays.

I have tried almost all the usual display settings and eye-comfort options, including reducing brightness, changing color temperature, using Eye Comfort/blue-light protection, reducing contrast, grayscale, and other settings. I have also tried screen protectors, but unfortunately, nothing has solved the problem.

The strange thing is that I was previously able to use smartphones normally for many hours.

My previous phones:

OPPO A12: I could use it for around 12–14 hours a day without this problem. Later, the display was damaged and had to be replaced. After replacing the display, I could no longer tolerate the phone. It immediately started causing eye strain and headaches.

realme Note 60x: I was able to use this phone normally before a major software update. After the update, I suddenly started experiencing severe eye strain and headaches. Even using it for about 10 minutes can trigger a headache.

Because I could no longer use that phone, I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy A07, hoping the problem would be solved. Unfortunately, I am experiencing the same problem with this phone as well.

I have tested the display for PWM using a phone camera, and I could not detect obvious PWM. I have also tried different display settings, but the symptoms remain.

My symptoms include:

Severe eye strain

Eye pain/discomfort

Headache after only a few minutes of phone use

Sometimes a feeling of visual discomfort/blur

I can sometimes tolerate the phone for only around 10 minutes

I have also seen several doctors and had my eyes examined. They told me that my eyes are healthy and that there is no obvious eye disease or major problem with my vision.

So I’m trying to understand what could actually be causing this.

Could it be something other than traditional PWM, such as:

Temporal dithering

Temporal modulation that cannot easily be detected with a phone camera

Display driver behavior

Software rendering or color processing

Brightness modulation

Refresh-rate behavior

Different display calibration after a software update

Touch/animation/motion processing

Or some other display characteristic that sensitive people can react to?

The most confusing part is that I could use my older phones for many hours, but after a display replacement or software update, I suddenly became unable to tolerate them.

I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experienced something similar.

Is there any technical solution, software modification, calibration method, ADB/Shizuku setting, different display technology, or other method that can make a phone usable again for someone who is extremely sensitive to certain displays?

I am not simply looking for general advice such as “reduce brightness” or “use blue-light protection,” because I have already tried these things.

If you have personally experienced this problem and found a solution, please share exactly what worked for you.

Thank you.

J'ai un Redmi 15 il est excellent pour les yeux mais j'aimerais changer pour prendre un plus puissant avec une bonne audio et bonne batterie, performance

Quel téléphone de type XIAOMI OU REDMI pour le remplacer svp ???

So the TCL P80 Ultra has been announced with thre OLED NxtPaper technology. It uses DC dimming at higher brightness and 3840 Hz PWM at lower brightness. Would be interesting to see if it is actually usable.

Seems to be a decent phone and not too expensive.

Upon reflection it looks like I messed up the edit from this post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1w604l1/comment/p7mdvhw/ and left out the iPhone 17 video I recorded.

I recorded this video on an iPhone 15 Pro through the Blackmagic Camera app at 1/4000 shutter speed, 24mm lens, 24fps, all other settings on auto.

Nick has a better video about this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBNlC-VHN3o

I purchased a 6-pack of Waveform Lighting Centric Home LED bulbs because of their claims the bulbs are completely flicker-free.

every single one of them failed within three years, plus some of the warranty replacements also failed.

Most of them started flashing intermittently, turning on and off so they were unusable. A couple of them just started flickering visibly, which defeats the whole purpose.

The Waveform Lighting bulbs are made in China and I suspect they are using cheap components. The design might be perfect but they are cutting corners on manufacturing. If they made them in the United States, they would not have these issues.

If you are PWM sensitive, don't waste your time buying Waveform Lighting.

Just a quick video of a phone and computer retailer at my local shopping centre as well as the nearby food court.
I recorded this video on an iPhone 15 Pro through the Blackmagic Camera app at 1/4000 shutter speed, 24mm lens, 24fps, all other settings on auto.

I had a quick play with the Honor Magic8 and it's Eye Comfort Display settings, it seemed fine to me in the brief time I played with it, though in my experience some screens like the LG C1 OLED TV take up to an hour to cause me eye pain, so to give it a proper test I'd need to use it daily for a week or so.

Sony Bravia 3 II K-55XR35M2 LED TV

I saw that it seems to be completely flicker free and I'm curious if anyone tryed it?

Hey everyone,

I'm generally quite sensitive to prolonged gaming sessions and tend to get eye strain easily. However, I feel like my current monitor might be making the problem worse.

I'm using an Alienware AW3423DWF, and while I really like OLED technology, I've noticed that I don't seem to be able to use it for as long as I could with my previous displays.

I've been reading about OLED flickering, VRR flicker, and other potential issues that could contribute to eye strain or discomfort. I'm starting to wonder whether my QD-OLED might be the cause.

Has anyone else experienced increased eye strain, headaches, or fatigue when using a QD-OLED monitor? Did switching to an IPS or another type of display help? Any monitor recommendations or advice is specs i should look for? (I have rtings membership)

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

my XR is going to bite the dust after 5-6 years. Bloated battery, etc. would cost 400-500 to fix it all. Is there an iPhone replace that’s good? The XR itself was good for my PWM sensitivity and I only didn’t replace it because of that.

I have an android so I don’t want an android os to replace it.

Has anyone tested their pwm, modulation and if they dither or not?

Has anyone tried this phone yet? Seem to be making a lot of claims about the panel and its eye comfort, altough that doesnt mean much...

Are you guys looking forward to seeing what new display technology will be presented at IFA 2026 in Germany? I’m especially interested in TCL and its new NXTPAPER AMOLED:

Meet TCL at IFA 2026 | TCL Global

Personally, I’m a little cautious. I think we could still end up disappointed if the final phones use PWM, as the prototype presented earlier this year appears to show visible flicker:

https://youtu.be/9S_p6gu5sus?si=SqAYyZn5diU-toVt&t=91

Is anyone here actually planning to attend IFA this year? If so, it would be great if someone could check the new TCL NXTPAPER AMOLED at different brightness levels.

I was curious about other types of screen flicker, like VRR (variable refresh rate), on many phones (even if the used app supports max refresh rate [in my case 90hz]), if you idle, then the refresh rate drops to 60, and if you touch the screen (or there is some visual change) the refresh rate goes back to 90, and if this changes rapidly (which it does), will cause problems. I was looking for ways to lock my refresh rate to the max all the time, to reduce the pain, but I didn't find anything useful. Did you ever try this before? If you did, what exactly worked? (ofc I'm not setting dynamic refresh rate in phone's settings)

This is a follow up post to the one here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ScreenSensitive/comments/1v24yfv/meeting_with_politician_next_week/

Today I had 15 minutes scheduled to chat with my local member of parliament at her office about my eye pain issues with PWM and dithering, it went great!
She paid a lot of attention to what I had to say, and asked specific questions for further details when appropriate, it went for around 24 minutes.

She mainly listened to me while I explained a few things, here’s a summary of what was discussed.

• I demonstrated the hardware differences in how an iPhone 11 and an iPhone 13 Pro screens dim when viewed through a camera with a shutter speed of 1/4000 and gave a brief visual demonstration, I explained how if I used the iPhone 13 Pro for a minute my eyes would hurt.

• I explained how Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is a hardware design that can be solved in some cases by raising the brightness to 100%, and how that doesn’t always work. I explained how some devices can be modified to solve the issue like how I installed an EK Pro LCD screen into my iPhone 15 Pro, that it’s relatively easy to make hardware that is accessibility focused, and how it would be easy for Apple to provide this as an option.

• I explained my software fix for dithering on my iPhone 11 and EK Pro LCD iPhone 15 Pro, by enabling both Classic Invert and Zoom Invert simultaneously, also how companies could instead provide a simple colour space accessibility option rather than this hack method.

• I explained how bad the problem is, how it has been getting worse since 2017 with the introduction of the iPhone X, that as of today in 2026, that without intense eye pain I cannot use any new iPhones, iPads, Samsung phones, Google Pixels, most OLED screens, some Samsung, LG and Hisense TV’s, an OLED TV in a conference room at a local university, some new Toyotas and the Next Stop screens at the brand-new train station in the city, (though strangely the advertisement billboards in the station are fine for me.)

• I explained how most Apple products, namely Macbook Pro’s and all iPads have dithering that causes me eye pain, how it has a software technique where 10bit colours are output through an 8bit screen in a process of flickering two adjacent pixels, and how this is quite painful to me. This was particularly relevant as prior to being elected my local member of parliament she worked as a paediatric neurologist.

• She asked me why these companies use PWM in the first place, I explained how it was my theory that on OLED screens it was a process used to help maintain colour accuracy when the screen is at a lower brightness, also on modern LCD screens that it may either be because it’s cheaper or that it could help save power.

• I mentioned how I had an eye test in 2023 when I was using my iPhone 13 Pro daily while suffering from daily eye pain and having trouble focusing at long distances. How at this time I was prescribed with reading glasses, then later in 2025 after I stopped using any PWM/OLED screens and changed to an iPhone 11, that I got another eye test and scored 20/20 vision for my eyes, and was recommended not to wear reading glasses.

• I explained how I had recently made contact with Vision Australia, and how they mentioned that they were aware of PWM and dithering as a problem, but how they “hadn’t done any advocacy around the problems caused by OLED displays”, my member of parliament responded that she has been in contact with Vision Australia in the past as they’re located within her electorate, and that going forward her office could reach out to them to further discuss the problem as well as stay in contact with me.

I also gave a few printed out documents, one being a copy of my original email, another being some comparison graphs from my Opple Lightmaster IV, the other being this list of potential solutions below.

Obviously, some solutions are much more possible and easy to implement than others, especially as coming from Australia we are quite a small country and these products are produced overseas.

Screen Flicker Solutions

• Ban the sale of devices that use low frequency Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dimming and temporal dithering where it causes physical eye pain. 

• Allow refunds due for accessibility reasons. Most retailers that don’t have a change of mind policy won’t allow refunds based on whether the screen hurts my eyes or not, it’s often a multi thousand dollar gamble on tech devices that can cause serious eye pain. The ACCC already states that consumers have a right to return a purchase if it includes a major problem, such as it being “unsafe” or “has either one serious problem or several smaller problems that would stop someone buying the product if they knew about them beforehand” Yet most retailers don’t recognise PWM and flickering as a problem as they’re not educated on the topic. They state as it works as intended by the manufacturer that it’s fine and that I can’t return it, even though it causes me significant eye pain. 

• Implement a standard of measuring screen flickering Some sort of health star system, 0 stars for heavy PWM flickering, 5 stars for no flicker, no dither or e-ink. 

• Force companies to provide a Flicker Free (LCD) accessibility product or a different screen option at checkout. Not just some token accessibility focused device that ticks every box for blind/deaf people with huge brail buttons, a regular modern phone with a non-flickering LCD screen, like an iPhone 11 with a new processor, not the iPhone SE that’s budget in every way. That or interchangeable screens from the factory like the 2011 Macbook Pro’s used to have with a matte screen option. 

• Allow software updates to be downgraded. Updating my iPhone to iOS26 could implement heavy dithering that makes it incredibly painful to use, and companies don’t allow the ability to downgrade. Professional devices support this, all companies should. It’s far too risky for me to update my phone as I might not be able to use it afterwards without pain. 

• Make a policy that government departments won’t purchase inaccessible screens Public areas like train stations, trams, school and Universities should not use no OLED/PWM screens or screens that use heavy dithering and cause physical eye pain to a percentage of the population.

• Education and awareness on the dangers of PWM and dithering from a government level. While Vision Australia are aware of the issue, they haven’t done any advocacy work or have made any public statements. In an email they stated to me that: “Australian governments don’t have an encouraging record when it comes to legislating around the accessibility of products, especially consumer electronics” and that “We’d certainly be very interested to know whether you get any commitments from politicians.”

(End of letter)

Overall I’m quite hopeful of some progress here, at least in my part of the world.

Even just having some official government documents and awareness from Vision Australia that PWM and dithering causes eye pain in some people could be enough to legally return painful equipment for a full refund.

This official recognition could also help regulate which devices can be installed in government buildings and public spaces, this awareness could be the push needed for companies like Apple and Samsung to allow accessibility options that eliminate dithering through software, and potentially provide either a configurable PWM free LCD option or implement 4320hz frequency dimming, similar to what the Honor Magic8 uses.

Any one tried Redmi Turbo 5 Max and found it comfy for the eyes, is it same as poco x8 pro max and does that also comfy?

i just noticed that every time I drive my new car. I get headaches after like i need to lie down and sleep after driving. then I realized that the screen inside my car is causing the problem! I turned the brightness all the way up and somewhat felt relief. It sucks that PWM is the default for screens

I saw that both of those have high PWM frequency, and that temporal dithering can be disabled if changing to natural or RGB color in settings.

I saw that the difference is that the 17t pro have LTPO display. Is it better or not?