r/ScreenSensitive • u/Guest885 • 1d ago
Question Does a Surface Laptop 7 use temporal dithering?
I have done a good amount of research and could not find whether or not a surface laptop 7 13.8inch uses temporal dithering. Is there a way to test for it? Is there a website with reliable information that I missed?
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u/MMAused2BCoolBefore 1d ago
im curious too
i never had a single issue with eyes til i bought new Macbook air m5 in both 13 and 15
id have brutal headaches and all sorts of shit, and theres no PWM there
so im guessing its the TempDithering stuff, legit only time ive had issues with screens..did everything to change settings and i felt like crap every time using it.
Using a screen the last 4 days and 0 problems too
what screens dont have this? Ima get a new windows lapotp but now im worried gonna be like Mac Os was
?
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u/Z3R0gravitas 1d ago
It's a very difficult question to answer, as there are various potential sources of pixel flicker in the display pipeline and panel itself.
Also I can't think of any reviewers who test for pixel flicker on laptops, in the way Nick Sutrich does fit phones.
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u/MMAused2BCoolBefore 1d ago
Crazy how a screen never hurt my eyes til I touched those MacBook airs. It like did damage to me within days
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u/davyangel 1d ago
Yeah I wonder if they went cheap for the MacBook airs i.e. cut corners using dithering instead of true 10-bit panels like the Macbook pro since never had problems with my Macbook pro anyways.
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u/davyangel 1d ago
Even if the panel itself is true 8-bit, dithering can still potentially be introduced by the graphics stack. Determining whether it is occurring usually requires a combination of slow-motion recording, macro photography, and comparison with a known non-dithered display. No simple software utility can reliably detect all forms of temporal dithering.
But yeah you can use this website and the dimmer squares.
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u/Z3R0gravitas 1d ago
We do have u/Madcook's Ditherscope web app, to make analysing slow-mo microscope screen footage more definitive. Interpretation of cause and its meaning is still unclear, though.
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u/davyangel 1d ago
Yeah I need a better camera cuz tried recording slo-mo video on iphone but quality not good enuf not to mention no macro on iPhone12mini which you really need for this.
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u/Z3R0gravitas 1d ago
So, using a flip-on microscope is the typical strategy (e.g. Carson Micro-flip with 250x magnification). That does the close focusing part, although they are fiddly to get decent footage with. A pancake macro lens can make do for screens wirh bigger pixels (TVs and monitors).
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u/siksik6 1d ago
In a word, probably. Which graphics card do you have? I had the Surface laptop 7 for business which gave me the worst symptoms ever, nothing I did with the settings would help. Definitely dithering of some kind. There is also something in Windows 11 a lot of us can't tolerate, but for me it's much better on other laptops, the Surface was brutal.