A Possible Solution for Some

MagnuM

http://andreas.boehrnsen.de/blog/2014/03/eye-strain-and-headache/

Everyone's LED sensitivities seem to differ in different ways. So many were convinced that PWM was the issue. After buying a PWM-free monitor, and having even more symptoms, I knew the issue was likely something else (such as blue light). I found this article someone wrote in my research today. Just wanted to share it just in the hopes it helps somebody!

I called this a "Solution", but I guess it is more of a workaround. Call me a stubborn ass, but I'd rather fix the issue to be like everybody else, rather than having to look through a bunch of colors to see comfortable.

Is it too much to ask to have my cake AND eat it too? =)

KM

Maybe the information we already gathered here is too much spread. We know PWM can be an issue, but we also know it's not the only issue. Drivers, cables, different OS and OS versions, type of display parts and probably other stuff I forgot to list all matters. Because of the "display parts" issue it's not even safe to say, for example, "device xy is good". We saw that for iPhones and HTC One M8 phones.

In the end it seems we have two big factors of eye strain (correct me if I miss something):

flicker (PWM, temporal dithering, FRC...)
"blue light"

The latter may explain why some of us are forced to extremely turn down the light on some devices that are otherwise usable.

Slacor

KM Maybe the information we already gathered here is too much spread.

That's been my impression recently. In my opinion we need better organization of information in the forum. Maybe one topic per thread? One thread per device?
Attempt to identify different classes of "eye-strain"(?)

it's not even safe to say, for example, "device xy is good". We saw that for iPhones and HTC One M8 phones.

Which nullifies the idea of "usable / not usable" tags.

So many were convinced that PWM was the issue. After buying a PWM-free monitor, and having even more symptoms, I knew the issue was likely something else (such as blue light).

Feel free to eliminate blue light (I do via software - redshift in linux), but PWM was the issue here for me. I haven't really specified my transitory period though. Some highlights

Took about 1.5 years to safely say "I don't feel affected anymore"
Exposure to any PWM devices in the first 10 months immediately triggered worse symptoms.
Extended exposure to PWM devices in that period caused a very painful transition back to the "constant headache".
Elimination of dithering (Nvidia and no FRC) also benefited, but not to the same degree of elimination of PWM.

My point is, the back and forth of removal of PWM devices and intermittent exposure was worse then constant exposure for a long time. I'd suggest sticking with it for a longer period of time before concluding it doesn't affect you. There's no problem stacking "solutions" though 😉
I convinced myself for a long time that dithering didn't affect me and ended up being wrong about that too, recovery just takes awhile and dedication.

However, and as noted by KM, maybe you're right and you're not affected by PWM at all. We need to in that case identify sub-classes of what affects who.

Kray

Intel graphics driver is another known cause of eye strain. There is a big thread on this at the Intel forum. Intel is looking into this, but it has been some time and still no solution yet.

The link is to the Intel forum is here:
https://ledstrain.org/d/147-causes-of-eye-strain-how-to-detect-and-solve-them/2

The problem is that a person could suffer from multiple causes of eye strain, and not just one. For example, they could suffer from eye strain due to PWM, and eye strain due to graphics driver. So when they buy a PWM-free monitor and still get eye strain, its not that the flicker-free monitor did not work, it may be that there are other factors that are also causing them eye strain.

degen

I can use f.lux, FL-41 tinted glasses, and then layer that with FL-41 tinted cover-over sunglasses, all together and none of it makes any difference at all if the screen and GPU are bad.

JTL

degen I can use f.lux, FL-41 tinted glasses, and then layer that with FL-41 tinted cover-over sunglasses, all together and none of it makes any difference at all if the screen and GPU are bad.

That's quite a test.

No difference at all, or maybe a delay of onset of symptoms?

degen

JTL A small delay. Pupils are very reactive to certain wavelengths of blue light. Blocking it leads to other problems like huge pupils and trouble accomodating. Perhaps there are some more specific wavelengths that could be blocked to reduce "the problem" rather than taking a hammer to it like these heavy tints do, but as long as research into what those actually are it seems very distant. There was an attempt with some rather transparent coatings from Essilor (I forget the name of the tint now) that I remember some people having success with.