Temporal Dithering Sensitivity - My Solution

ravipra Thanks. I am newer to KDE than linux in general and for some reason I cannot open Dolphin file manager as root to edit the grub file...working on that. So basically changing those 2 or 3 grub command line entries to exactly what you wrote should work? Or I need to modify the "-16" to a number specific to my panel? Should the resolution you use be the panel's native resolution or what you have it set to?

Do you have any other changes like compositing off or font antialiasing etc set to anything specific? I tried those things to no effect before. Also have you tried with just the video=edp1:1920x1080-16" and is it just as good or are the other things needed. What do those other additions do?

So by making these changes you are noticing an obvious relief? Like not a maybe or placebo sort of effect but a clear difference which makes you think dithering is off? If so that would be an amazing find.

ravipra Yeah all panels I tried in Thinkpads are listed as 6+2 on panelook.com

I am not understanding why the bpp (what is that exactly? Bits per pixel?) needs to be -16 for a 6+2bit panel but 24 for an 8bit panel...is there some formula you are using?

It's late here and I am already feeling bad so will need to see if the changes help after some rest. Do you notice dramatic and obvious effects? Were you getting strain/headaches etc before and this relieves it or the testing image is the only obvious difference for you? Those dithering test images never worked for me as they always looked the same regardless of what I tried but will revisit them tomorrow.

ravipra Thanks I made the simple change and not the additional ones but won't be able to tell how it feels until I get rest and spend a few days testing. Can you explain what those other changes are? I also have some other specific questions to make sure my variables are the same as yours:

1. Are you using redshift or f.lux or any color temp application?
2. Have you made any manual adjustments to gamma or anything else on the display?
3. You said you are not using subpixel AA but what about the hinting setting on the none-strong scale?
4. Are you using any icc color profiles?
5. How do you arrive at what bpp setting to use for a given native panel's bits?
6. What are the other xorg changes you mentioned that might be cumulative so we can test with and without those as well. Just one little setting somewhere might be the key.

ravipra Sorry I am excited and editing after you replied and screwing up the flow. I made the changes and will test further. If you could look at my last response to make sure we are using the same settings otherwise I would appreciate it. What time zone are you in? I am in central US time. I will test tomorrow and the next days and am crossing fingers this works. I wish there was an objective test I could do as well to see if this DOES turn off dithering and be sure. It would be incredible if dithering was the problem and it was this simple to shut off in linux.

A related thought...some people have noticed new Gmail and Firefox etc to be more straining on an otherwise good device. IF that is due to those apps specifically dithering, I wonder if this setting will override that, or if we need to find a way to shut off the apps dithering instructions individually.

ravipra . If this itself does not work, I can compile and post all my settings.

Thanks for all your help. Yes please do post all your settings as soon as you can. I'd like to make the exact same changes you did, and if it works then remove things one at a time and see if that narrows down key elements.

I have a bad habit of getting excited when there is some new possibility of hope so am trying to restrain myself, but if this works for others as well as it did you this will be a major breakthrough and one that is very simple to implement. We'd then just need to figure out how to translate it to those with Windows and MacOS as well since most people use those.

KM The only time I have "seen" it is in the Dasung videos but who knows if that display is translating how it actually looks on an LCD that is more capable? On the Dasung's it looks like wiggly maggots and not very fast. But I also don't know that it really matters since looking at any image that you think is static, but its constantly wiggling, can't be comfortable for the visual system to parse I'd think. I have said before if dithering is the issue I think its more the movement of what is displayed, even a white background, than flickering that's an issue. That may sound like a pedantic difference but I mean that flickering is just "on/off" of a point in a regular frequency and happens all around us even in incandescent lighting....apparent movement of the elements/background is a different thing and adds complication to what the brain/eyes have to process.

@ravipra I am not seeing any super obvious relief with just the one GRUB setting change on my painful laptop. I haven't used it for a long time but it's still a harder to look at than my 12yo CCFL laptop just at first glance, but it's also hard to trust subjective opinions in the short term as I am afraid of this bad laptop anyway and don't know if symptoms are real or imagined. I'd really like to see how it is with an identical setup to yours. I have a 16.04 iso of Manjaro KDE but have never used it...though I don't see how that should be different than KDE Neon for this issue. Was the difference obvious to you immediately? Or it took some time to adjust?

Alyosha2001 The problem is we don't yet know for sure what the issue is, and there is no universally safe panel because it's likely not the panel hardware that is the root problem. I tried a dozen different panels of different specs in a Thinkpad, and tried every new model of every brand I could find in a shop. I have seen a handful of people say the older Dell CCFL dekstop panels of various models are good for them, but I have also seen one or two people specifically mention those same panels causing problems.

The one exception in my opinion would be if you have a severe problem with PWM and have confirmed this in testing by getting relief when using a display without it regardless of what computer/gpu/os is driving that display. In that case LG and AUO internal laptop panels usually are PWM free (didn't help me at all and strained as much as brands with PWM) and for desktop monitors you'd just have to find the specific panel inside it and research it.

Alyosha2001 My laptop screen has issues, and I cannot find a good alternative, I've tried 2 newer models, they all give headaches.

I've been looking for the same thing too - there seems to be no winner across newer devices, maybe some PWM-free TN screen with very cheap graphic card, but it means sticking with Celeron / mobile CPUs. If that's enough for your needs, I'd try to find something in this range. Otherwise it's hit or miss where hit usually means medium strain and miss means headache or severe pain in the eyes.