Temporal Dithering Sensitivity - My Solution

si_edgey Thanks for the update!

I have recently been given a laptop which was no longer needed (Acer Aspire V3-771) and have since upgraded it with an SSD and 16GB memory. I'm running the latest W8.1 which I know is good for a few years. I also have made sure to note down VBIOS/BIOS versions, drivers in use, what Windows updates etc etc to ensure I can rollback in the future if needbe. For a home setup, I'm pretty much covered for the next 5 years. My suggestion to others out there is, if you don't absolutely need discrete graphics, try to pick up a used Ivy Bridge laptop or similar gen, downgrade the BIOS if possible to the earliest version, and upgrade SSD and RAM, it will hopefully be comfortable to use and you should get a few more years from 8.1.

This doesn't solve the initial problems, though. I still find it troublesome that a driver update or simply using a particular device causes symptoms. I do believe it simply is a toggle ON>OFF somewhere in the BIOS/Drivers to sort this out. We still need to pressurise Intel et al to offer a solution (either via CLI or some hidden easter egg, it doesn't have to be in the main software suite).

si_edgey Like you're finding out - it's a lot more complex than simply finding the right monitor. The source, the drivers, the leads, the room lighting and the monitor can all be a factor in this, so it's about finding the right combination that works for you, which may not work for anyone else. That's the difficulty with whatever condition it is that we all have.

But once you have a working setup....STOP!

This is the difficult thing. For some people who perhaps threw out/recycled/sold their old tech, all devices in their possession could be problematic. So first make sure you have a system you know has a comfortable output and then maybe play around with older OS/Drivers. You also need to know you have a good monitor, and it's difficult to separate the monitor/source as the antagonist. I haven't had much luck with any tech >2014, even refurbs from the late 2000's have caused problems for me.

si_edgey And yes, I've been working on this for 8 years and I can confirm that a monitor I can use all day long via HDMI on a 'good laptop', can trigger a migraine after 30 minutes of use on a 'bad laptop'. Very strange, but true.

Which in my opinion is a good thing because it rules out the monitor as a point of failure. It is either the output of the device itself or the drivers/software. Also if you read into how temporal dithering works, it's no surprise it's causing issues (to my knowledge, these techniques weren't used until the last decade). I don't even think it was possible to use temporal dithering on a CRT/VGA setup back in the day. You could count the pixels back then and banding was everywhere anyway .

si_edgey Well in the space of a week of me investigating causes of eye irritation mainly being classed as 'dry eye syndrome' I've unravelled quite a few things already and although I might be noob to this forum and finding a solution I've 20+ years of pain experienced with visual stress! Sadly I need to work behind a PC as I run my own business stuff but currently thats all on the backburner completely until I get sorted.

For sure, technology play a massive role, but thats only one half of the battle I feel, if your to look at a pathological approach then you have to go way back to the start which actually is your eyes. With this in mind I've found out that in each eye lid is around 30 Meibomian glands that secrete oils which mix with our tears to form a lubricant other the eye; if these ducts fail then guess what, your eyes fail to lubricate the eye so regardless of technology if people suffering eye strain have failed ducts then even the right tech is going to provide the respite were all needing.

I booked into an optician but requested the optometrist who even know what MG are and the disorder (MGD) is. Its normally a consequence of Blepharitus, as it happens I have a mild case of this and also some of my ducts are indeed blocked. There are various ways to treat this but over 70% of people over 50 suffer dry eye in any case yet with a few steps taken the impacts can be reduced, such as good eye lid hygine and the use of a warm compress (i've just bought the blephasteam, but also an electric warm compress).

The next step is to treat my eyes like teeth, which is to get each gland graded, to do this I need to get what is known as lipiview or an alternative where they can photo scan the glands, from there they can treat the blepharitus with blephex treatment (just a cleanup) and then you can consider the more aggresive options of lipoflow or IPS (intense pulse light) treatment.

Photophobia is highly linked to dry eye conditions, it normally happens after the dry eye which can explain why not things are getting worse for me, I'm not ruling out tech being a cause of distress but its just one of a whole host of ingredients I feel.......EMF? , lighting conditions, air quality, humidity, eye disorders (already mentioned, allergic conjuctivitus, anterio Uvietis xyz, hydration, diet, lighting conditions, tech) all these if boxed off I'm sure can improve the situation

In the 20 mins Its taken me to write this I can already feel the impacts its having on me, sudden heavy feeling in the eyes causing pain to radiate to my chest (no pun intended)

I saw an eye teaching hospital last Friday and they packed me away with some Vista Mesh glasses which prevent light scatter and block EMF apparently but there doing nothing for me right now I don't think. My last screen had FRM/TD and this new one does also but the only idea I have now is to try an AMVA panel, seems that has helped fix things for some people.