Possible way to detect what Windows file is triggering our condition...

degen Don't mean to rain on your parade but that update was released back in 2013, which I believe predates certain rendering "issues".

ensete I am going to email my Microsoft Engineer contacts and get their input on this.

I see two possible paths of bisection here.

a) Discuss and possibly investigate the rendering differences between "good" and "bad" builds of Windows 10 (1511/1611)

b) I don't know how much source access the average MS engineer has these days to legacy products, but the fact a Windows update that can probably be determined turned Windows 7 into a bad OS is much closer to a smoking gun in my opinion.

I've said this before, but without a probable cause and effect relationship you really cant expect people at "big tech companies" to take us seriously and investigate these issues when there's 9000 (joke) different possible causes with no direction. Hence why I'm curious about b)

ensete Don't worry. I've seen some of the logistics that's involved with similar investigations. I wasn't doubting you and was merely stating what I believe to be the most fruitful lines of inquiry and the most prudent aspects to investigate (also to attempt to conserve valuable engineer time) and not have people "run around in circles".

@ensete So is your situation like this: you do have a win 7 machine that you can use without any eye strain, but any more recent windows or linux or apple operating system will give you instant eye strain?

You have probably told this in different posts, but even with my Boox Mira display, I dont want to spent too much time searching.

I'm asking because as you probably read, my situation changed radially 2 months ago. Now any display (except maybe this Mira e-ink) will strain my eyes. TV's, smartphones and Windows PC's and laptops. I have several devices, differnt versions and nothing has changed in the hardware, and I really doubt that all my TV's and PC's and Smartphones that previously were OK, suddenly all got some software update that rendered them unusable.

I am still able to read a book and kindle without backlight. The Kindle new paperwhite backlight seems to have started to bother me now.

So I might try to install a win 7 machine, but I don't have high hopes that it would make a difference. since Linux Mint Mate 19.1 does not seem to make either.

My conclusion starts to poin towards some strange neurological "burn-out" that does not seem to recover. My eyes felt great after pupil dilating eye drops, and the constant redness disappeared for the 1st time in 2 months.

even 4 day no screen time during easter did not make a difference. And I cant have much longer periods. Maybe during summer holiday I might be able to avoid screens for 4 weeks, but I doubt that if 4 days does not do anything, except temporarily remove the red eyes and eye strain and drynes, then why would 4 weeks make a difference.

Why I'm interested in win7 is that if it really, truly is something you can use without eye strain, then I might go trough the trouble of installing win7 myself. But since your situation seems similar to mine, but with the difference that my situation suddenly worsened to be similar to yours 2 months ago and I do not have any display device, except Kindle and Mira that do not cause eye strain, I am really doubtful that an os type or version could make a difference.

I have now confirmed that eye patching helps, if not completely mitigates the problem. E.g., Yesterday I was warching TV with the kids for 1 hour. My eyes became red, dry and irritated. The sam TV that has been problem free for 7 years.

When the kids went to sleep, I put tape on my right eye glass and we watched Netflix for some 3 hours without any eye strain.

Now I'm writing this with also only left eye.

I tested the same during last week at work.

Now this cannot be the solution, as I cannot meet customers with tape on my right eye.

If there could be a doctor who could think outside the box and could really investigate, why my stereo vision got messed up 2 moths ago and does not seem to heal. Maybe I could get a diagnosis to this and get prescribed glasses with the other eye blocked, so I could get by those days at work where I need to be onsite at the customer.

I can deal with the occasional teams video calls where I need to have my video on, without patching. And for those occasions where I really have a long teams video session and my eyes get bloodshot, maybe I could have those pupil dilating eye drops to rest my eyes for the evening. The effect of those drops was really amazing. For the first time in weeks my eyes were not stinging and bloodshot, instead clear like the eyes of children.

But sorry @ensete for saying this, but anfter struggling with this for 30 years and now having the situation that not even PWM free screens are tolerable anymore, I have my doubts, can you REALLY use your win7 machine for, say 10h workday for a week, without any problems. I say this because I really doubt that there could be so many individual differences to this condition. I had 7 display devices that had been ok for 1-12 years, which basically turned not OK over night and there is zero hope I can use them ever again.