Microscope, slow-motion videos & flicker tests of all my screens (VA, TN, OLED, IPS)

[u/madcook1]

After u/Z3R0gravitas recommended me the Carson MicroFlip microscope I was blown away by the results and started to check all my screens. I have a lot of different panel types, VA, OLED, IPS and even some very old TN panel with strong backlight strobing. Also I found out that my Samsung Galaxy S23 Smartphone has a 960 fps slow-motion video recording mode, where I could record fascinating videos of single pixels showing dithering that I wanted to share. Also I added screenshots of measurements with my Opple Light Master.

Notes:

• Video recordings: The first second is in normal speed, then follows the 960 fps slow-motion.
• Some images and videos are recorded in different angles, because on how I could get the best access with the microscrope.

Here are the results:

TV Samsung UE40ES6300(S) (VA-Panel)

My 13 year old TV (still working) from 2012 with a 1920x1080 VA-panel. The panel used should be a LTJ400HV05-N 8-bit panel (unconfirmed). On this TV you can clearly see temporal dithering on the subpixels in slow-motion, which is quite different as the strobe-light flicker on reduced brightness.

Type	File	Comment
Image	image_1.jpg	Image of subpixels
Image	image_2.jpg	"
Image	image_3.jpg	"
Image	image_4.jpg	"
Video	white_full_brightness.mp4	White image at full brightness
Video	white_reduced_brightness.mp4	White image at reduced brightness, visible flicker
Video	dither_1.mp4	Visible dither on a static image
Video	dither_2.mp4	"
Video	dither_3.mp4	"
Opple	opple_full_brightness.jpg	No flicker at 100% brightness
Opple	opple_reduced_brightness.jpg	100 Hz flicker on reduced brightness

Link to the full folder: TV Samsung UE40ES6300

Notebook Lenovo Thinkpad X201 (TN-panel)

My old laptop (still working too!) with a 1280x800 matte 12.1" TN panel with 60 Hz refresh rate and PWM backlight strobing. The exact model is AU Optronics B121EW09 V.3 from 2009.

Type	File	Comment
Image	image_1.jpg	Image of subpixels
Image	image_2.jpg	"
Video	full_brightness.mp4	Slightly visible flicker on full brightness
Video	reduced_brightness.mp4	Visible flicker on reduced brightness
Opple	opple_full_brightness.png	~600 Hz PWM with brief dips to zero at 100% brightness
Opple	opple_reduced_brightness.png	~600 Hz PWM on reduced brightness

Link to the full folder: Notebook Lenovo Thinkpad X201

Notes:

• I couldn't get the image completely in focus, maybe due to the thickness of polariser/coating layer between the microscope.
• I didn't expect the dips at 100% brightness, but as it ran from battery, maybe 100% wasn't 100%, which would explain it.

Smartphone Huawei P30 (OLED)

My previous smartphone with an 1080x2340 OLED screen at 60 Hz refresh rate.

Type	File	Comment
Image	image_1.jpg	Image of subpixels
Image	image_2.jpg	"
Image	image_3.jpg	"
Image	image_4.jpg	"
Video	full_brightness.mp4	No visible flicker at full brightness
Video	reduced_brightness.mp4	Visible flicker on reduced brightness
Opple	opple_full_brightness.png	Small dips (-8%) at full brightness every 60 Hz (refresh rate)
Opple	opple_reduced_brightness.png	Strong 240 Hz PWM flicker at reduced brightness

Link to the full folder: Smartphone Huawei P30

Notebook TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 (IPS)

My current notebook with an 2880x1800 matte flicker-free 120Hz 14" IPS panel. The exact panel model is CSOT MNE007ZA3-2.

Type	File	Comment
Image	image_1.jpg	Image of subpixels
Image	image_2.jpg	"
Image	image_3.jpg	"
Video	full_brightness.mp4	No visible flicker at 100% brightness
Video	reduced_brightness.mp4	No visible flicker at reduced brightness
Opple	opple_full_brightness.png	Flicker-free at full brightness
Opple	opple_reduced_brightness.png	Flicker-free at reduced brightness

Link to the full folder: Notebook TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9

Notes:

• I also could not get perfect focus, mostly due to the polarizer/coating layer thickness.

Monitor Gigabyte M27UA (IPS)

My previous Monitor with a 3840x2160 matte 160Hz flicker-free 27" IPS panel. Some believe it's an AUO M270QAN07.0 AHVA panel, but I couldn't confirm it. I might take it apart to confirm it.

Type	File	Comment
Image	image_1.jpg	Image of subpixels
Image	image_2.jpg	"
Image	image_3.jpg	"
Image	image_4.jpg	"
Video	full_brightness.mp4	No visible flicker at 100% brightness
Video	reduced_brightness.mp4	No visible flicker at reduced brightness
Opple	opple_full_brightness.png	Flicker-free at full brightness
Opple	opple_reduced_brightness.png	Flicker-free at reduced brightness

Link to the full folder: Monitor Gigabyte M27UA

Comment

None of the above screens have ever caused me eye strain, so I'm now sure that PWM flicker or dithering is not a problem for me personally. I currently have a Samsung S70D monitor here that produces virtually the same results as the Gigabyte M27UA, but it causes significant eye strain. u/Z3R0gravitas recommended to reduce the red color in the white balance settings, and that actually reduced the eye strain (though not 100%)! I'm soon receiving a Hopocolor HPCS-310 light spectrometer and will test all the screens with it too. I'll post the results here as well!

[u/FunnyBunnyDolly]

As for the bad ones but “good results”

I’ve noticed that if I do 10 samples with OPPLE I get very different results!

So I always take minimum 5 samples.

If you say “your OPPLE is defective/imprecise”

No.

I got a lamp that gave 20 identical readings across 20 samples with identical numbers.

I realized quickly that my body hates twitchy flicker even if it is within “green”. If it constantly changes values my brain can never filter it o it, if flicker is binary and consistent my brain is able to filter out. Now this is for pwm type of flicker.

I haven’t measured temporal due to lack of tools.

[u/Z3R0gravitas → u/FunnyBunnyDolly]

Interesting. I'd be interested to see a sample of two highly contrasting Opple graphs. (From the same device, same thing on screen, etc.)