pjw_ Your description neatly matches Problem X... but on the other hand, I still have no clue if something else can cause these same symptoms 🙁

@degen pjw_
Well well well. Checked what can I find in Russian about Lenovo Legion 5.
Very first search result forums.lenovo.com. Google translated:

  1. "Lenovo Legion 5 laptop, I can’t sit behind it, my eyes hurt very much, although there is an IPS matrix ... I bought a lenovo ideapad gaming 3 laptop in February of this year, and my eyes also hurt from it, only many times stronger, just unbearable (it’s much easier with this legion, albeit unpleasant). I sold it, thinking that it was some kind of individual reaction to the matrix. ... I have never had such a reaction to the screen before - I have an old monitor with a TN matrix, a phone with an IPS matrix and an iPad with an IPS matrix, and there was no such reaction to them."
  2. "Same problem.
    Notebook legion 7 16ACHg6, 82N6000JRK
    After a short time behind the screen of the laptop, pain in the eyes begins, strong tension.
    In the evening, my head starts to hurt. People around noticed that an unhealthy gleam appears in the eyes.
    I work in the IT field, there are dozens of monitors in front of my eyes, there has never been such a reaction.
    The problem is exacerbated when you work with a large amount of text on a white background. It seems that it is difficult for the eyes to focus on the text".
  3. The same crap. Eyes hurt (cut) after holding a laptop for more than half an hour. Notebook Lenovo ideapad 5 14are. All possible manipulations were carried out, nothing helps (there is no PWM. Full HD screen (1920x1080), IPS.

Search result number two, 4pda forum

  1. "The other day I ordered a laptop Legion 5 15IMH05H - Type 81Y6 on the official Lenovo website. It has an IPS screen at 500 nits and 240 Hz (model B156HAN10.2).
    I have been using it for a couple of days now, and my eyes are very tired from the screen. Even at low brightness, it presses on the eyes and temples, very uncomfortable sensations.
    The display seems to pass the pencil test, and support claims that this model does not have PWM"
  2. "What is your matrix?
    I have BOEhydis NV156FHM-NX1 120Hz
    Nevertheless, there is also a slight discomfort, I used macbooks before there were no problems"
  3. interesting contradictory statement: "There was a similar problem only on Acer Nitro 5, my eyes hurt, there was pain in my eyes and my eyes could not focus on the text. I also tried different settings, reinstalled the drivers, but nothing helped. I suffered for a week, eventually changed it to Lenovo Legion 5 and the problem went away."

Search result number three, Ukrainian marketplace comments, Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05. It seems this one has small sRGB match, 45%
"I highly do not recommend buying because of the screen, it's terrible. Firstly, this is not an IPS, but a WVA matrix, that is, TN with improved viewing angles, and secondly, the screen is dull, the colors are not natural, no calibration helps. On both laptops on the 2nd day black dead dead pixels appeared. Plus, it really hurts my eyes."

        Mrak0020 Some of the new symptoms, especially with the Lenovo's, included one eye turning red, drooping, and spasming in short order -- a visible display that others noticed. I wonder if others affected by Problem X experience similar symptoms.

            OK, now I got curious - where are those same complaints on Lenovo but in English?

            degen red eyes, very often. Muscle spasm, not sure, but it seems I had them. I am not sure how to translate 'drooping'.

                Dell Precision 7760 seems to be absent on the market, almost no search results.
                The same with HP Omen 15-ek1018ca. Googled random HP Omen, goth this about HP OMEN 17-w226ur 3RM81EA
                "After 2 weeks, my eyes began to get terribly tired and hurt when there was not even a hint of discomfort on a stationary computer ... I don’t know what to do anymore."
                This is about HP OMEN 15-dc0019ur:
                "Terrible screen, eyes hurt after an hour of work, poor color reproduction (which is why I use it in deuteranopia mode).
                I bought a laptop in order to constantly carry it with me and so that I could play Overwatch, BF4, etc.
                I use it with a monitor, because the display is terrible. I tried to set it up through the Intel application, but the red constantly resembles acid red - it is either orange or acid raspberry. You can use color blind modes in games, then you can finally distinguish colors."
                I am not familiar with different laptop models, if there's some more specific model similar to 15-ek1018ca that is present on the Ukrainian or Russian market, I can check.
                There are very few reviews about lenovo ideapad 3i.

                Lenovo Legion 5 is an absolute winner (as there is no info on other contestants).
                One more complaint:
                "Hello everyone, I bought a Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH6H, the first month everything was ok, I worked / played quietly for many hours in a row, recently (I noticed this after installing cyberpunk, by the way) my eyes started to hurt from the screen, both in different games and at work , while I already tried a bunch of settings in the Nvidia control panel, it didn’t help"
                And the final one:
                "The screen is weird, sometimes it feels like it hurts the eyes"

                • pjw_ replied to this.

                  degen May I ask if this post on the Reddit thread was yours?
                  "I have tried a HP omen 144hz, legion 5 144hz and latest legion 5 165hz, all been returned due to intense pain. I also tried a dell g5 144hz which didn't hurt my eye but returned as it had a fault it was a terrible laptop all round. ... If i cover my right eye i dont get the pain. I need ibuprofen otherwise. I double checked the 165hz panel its BOE."
                  You mentioned Lenovo Legion 5, but with a BOE panel.

                      degen Then there is a very interesting similarity.

                      degen Drooping -> Ptosis

                      Got it. I do not remember such complaints. Subjectively I felt at some point like one of my eyes is trying to jump out of its orbit, but I am not sure what it looked like, never checked in the mirror.
                      I am now translating my story (finally my intro), will post it soon.

                          Mrak0020 When you looked up laptops on these forums - were there any voices of people n o t having Nvidia?

                              pjw_
                              Hmmm, nice question. Checked all Lenovo models.
                              It seems all of them have Nvidia, except this one:

                              Mrak0020 The same crap. Eyes hurt (cut) after holding a laptop for more than half an hour. Notebook Lenovo ideapad 5 14are

                              I do not know what modifications of this model are available, but I see it with AMD in different marketplaces.

                                  What about Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 2021 (the pro variant)?
                                  Will that have the same issue too as Lenovo Legion 5?

                                    Deepak Can't find any negative reviews, and there is a fair number of reviews. Either this model is better or still not enough customer reviews.

                                    Still wondering where are all the reviews in English, which has around 1.35 billion speakers.
                                    I was able to find only 2 complaints about iPhone 11 (technically more but few of them were written by the same person). And a few more on MacRumors. And I easily can find 20 in Russian (about 260 mln speakers).

                                    Maybe there is some place that is not indexed by Google?
                                    I also wonder what happens in the Chinese internet, it may hide a lot of interesting information.

                                        Mrak0020
                                        Thanks for your response.
                                        Yea, I would really like to know if the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro has these issues or not.
                                        The 2022 model comes with a 240Hz QHD+ 1600p panel.
                                        The 2021 model uses this panel: CSOT T3 MNG007DA1-1 (QHD+ 1600p 165hz)
                                        The laptop costs a bomb in India (US price + 35%) and laptops are not even returnable on Amazon India.
                                        So I would have to sell it with 30% loss in case I have really bad issues.
                                        I am really looking forward to buy the 2022 model after 6-7 months.

                                          Mrak0020 Perhaps Eastern markets are treated differently than Western ones?

                                          Buying a laptop in Poland, where I'm from, has been a nightmare since many years. I tried doing that some 3-4 years ago, bought and returned more than 10 machines (including Thinkpads, Latitudes, Precisions); finally I gave up and built a custom PC (still with terrible GPU coil-whine; I tried several cards, but with no luck). Problems I encountered then were more related to quality though, no serious ones on the edge of threatening health like in this case.

                                          If you can see clear correlation of eyestrain issues with particular markets, I think it would be a good topic to investigate on its own.

                                              Managed to get a Precision in good shape from a version or 2 ago. However I have the same with the 7760. I was thinking it's because I can't get it to use old Nvidia drivers. The oldest that card model will accept is not that long ago.
                                              On the previous Precision I had to use fairly old drivers to make it usable.

                                              pjw_ Also how did you go about turning Dithering off?

                                              • pjw_ replied to this.

                                                  Quad43 Hi. Thanks for sharing that info - I presumed this was going to be a widespread problem with display technology and now I'm more convinced.

                                                  As for dithering - when you open the Nvidia panel in Ubuntu, there is a place in display options where you can switch it off, or choose its type: "Static" / "Dynamic" / "Temporal". Never done it in Windows.

                                                  Turning dithering off gave me only partial relief. Within days my eyes were exhausted again, by sth else. Dithering must be merely a factor which makes the primary one stronger. Fun fact: "Temporal" was as easy as "Off" for me, "Dynamic" (or "Static") was a nightmare.

                                                  Could you describe your Precision setups (all of them) in detail? I'm thinking of an upgrade to UHD to see if it helps.

                                                    5 days later

                                                    pjw_ This is an interesting theory and I keep thinking about it.
                                                    Generally, Eastern markets are definitely treated differently than Western ones. But the questions are, is it true for screens (are screens actually different) and does it makes screens worse. It seems that at least with my phone problem, expensive and nice ones are worse than cheap Chinese ones. That might indicate that it is some improvement or update in technology rather than a sign of a bad screen.
                                                    I checked Lenovo Legion 5 reviews in English on Amazon, on the Lenovo website, and bhphotovideo.com. No complaints look suspicious, but statistically, there could be not enough of them to draw any solid conclusions. What are other places to check?

                                                    • pjw_ replied to this.

                                                        Mrak0020 I was wondering - do you know what was the origin of Samsung Notes you had problems with? I presume mine was originally intended to be sold in the Netherlands (that's the system language when I reset the device, if it means anything), not in Poland. Maybe that's why the display is of acceptable quality?

                                                        I have no idea where to specifically look for other negative opinions on laptops. I only find what google / duck serves me.

                                                        As for the lack of reviews, maybe people mostly manage to return their machines on time and don't bother.

                                                            dev