I have the same headache and symptom pattern. I call it an eyegraine.
OLED TV - Same Issues...
All LG OLED TV's have PWM. Some reveiw sites report that they would not have, but it is easily confirmed by a smartphone camera or DSLR. Set the shutter speed to 1/4000 and take a picture, you will see multiple black bands in the picture, revealing that PWM is used.
I had one of the LG OLED TV's at home for a couple of weeks, but due to the PWM, I had to return it. It did not cause severe eye strain, but still caused enough that I couldn't use it.
I replaced it with a Sony Android TV, which does not have PWM above 35 % brightness. I also need to disable Motionflow, as that causes similar flicker as PWM. (I did try the LG OLED without truemotion too, but it still caused eyestrain, as there is the PWM)
I think all OLED displays have the PWM, some at the lower frequency and amplitude, like the One Plus 3. The reason I think is that the pixels will start to burn in, if they are not flickered. Other reason of course is the dimming.
degen Rtings is pretty good at measuring stuff, you might want to check their site out. None of the Sony 2015 and 2016 models they tested except for 2 had PWM.
Maxx Motionflow doesn't cause PWM, it's the soap opera effect caused by synthetically interpolating frames. What you're probably picking up on is BFI, black frame insertion. This is something you can switch off by changing the "Clearness" slider.
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I went to BestBuy to check out the Sony 2016 TVs. According to Rtings, the X850D is the highest end model that doesn't use PWM. The PQ was very average, mostly because the blacks were poor. That would undoubtedly improve with proper calibration, but probably not enough to my liking (I was a fan of plasma for black levels before my eye problems, as I like to watch at low brightness in a dark room, something plasma's absolutely excel at). There was a X700D next to the X850D and my mom pointed out the dithering on the X700D to me! I didn't even mention it to her! After inspecting both it was clear that there was heavy dithering on the X700D, but not on the X850D, which was very stable. The X700D uses an IPS panel and the X850D uses a VA panel. Perhaps that is the explanation? The programming was the same on both TVs.
The X930D, which Rtings says has a PWM frequency of 730 Hz, was miles better in PQ. It's what I would consider to be a good TV. I don't care about 4K or HDR so at this price point I would rather score myself a good plasma second-hand if it were for personal use (something I'm thinking about doing in case my TV fails). Anyway, at this point my eyes were hurting from the overhead lighting so I can't tell if that level of PWM was acceptable to me. Also the demo mode calibration is of course very bright on all the TVs and that will cause me problems regardless.
8 days later
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@MagnuM Wow, we must be two alter-egos. I happen to have a Dell U2410 as well (it's a great monitor!), and I have almost the exact same setup as you do with f.lux and the brightness and contrast levels. I've used this monitor for many years now and have not experienced any problems.
I have a Sony LCD-LED TV ( KDL-55W950B ) and while it's great for movie-watching, the "eyegraines" are a big problem when gaming. Just like you, these "max headaches" can last for days and can seriously hamper my productivity at work. I recently purchased a PS4 and this is very noticeable, while PC gaming has never been much of a problem on my old U2410, although I do still get fatigued faster than most people.
I've since connected my PS4 directly to the U2410 and I'm playing the games there, which is much more comfortable. I think my gaming experience (with the fast movements) can be comparable to what you would experience when watching a hockey game.
After doing some research, I thought the problem had everything to do with the PWM of my LCD-LED TV. So it's disappointing to hear that such "LED symptoms" happen with PWM-free OLED TVs as well, as I had been intending to purchase one of the new LG OLEDs by the end of 2017. If PWM isn't the problem, then what is?
I also used a retina MBP at work for about a year. Despite it having a LED screen, I thought it was an amazing display and had absolutely no problems, so I don't know what's happening there. I can also have my face buried in my OnePlus One phone for an entire day and have very little problems. Perhaps it is because these displays have a high-frequency PWM unlike my Sony TV which probably has a low-frequency PWM — so perhaps my particular problem is related to PWM while your problem is related to some other characteristic of LED screens.
Have you experienced the LED symptoms with smartphone LCD-LED screens as well, or with LED-backlit laptop screen like the rMBP?
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degen Where did you read that? I just looked up rting.com's review of the LG B6, and they didn't find PWM. Well, there is some kind of flicker, but it looks more like the smaller 60 Hz flicker from the OnePlus 3, or Samsung Galaxy Edge with the custom PWM-disabling kernel.
http://i.rtings.com/images/reviews/b6/b6-backlight-large.jpg
Sadly they didn't measure the flicker index. The spikes look a little greater than I'd expect.
I can confirm that an LG OLED PWM caused eye strain to me. I had to return it.
can't remember anymore, the first cheaper full hd curved one. but I checked the new 4k models with a DSLR and they have the exact same pwm.
Maxx Thanks for the reply.
One question: Are you sure that the new 4K models that you saw were OLED models, or were they LED?
I'm asking because the difference could be critical. The Rtings reviews indicate that the OLED TVs don't come with PWM. However, the LED models probably do, which might have been what you saw.
Monie Absolutely sure. If you have seen one, you cannot make the mistake of believing that a normal LED would be an OLED or vice versa.
The Rtings guys don't know what they are talking about - even in their pictures they show the 60 Hz PWM exactly as with One Plus 3, but they claim there is no PWM. I think they are just making the assumption that when it does not flicker very agressively, it does not cause problems. Well, I had the LG OLED at HOME for 2 weeks, and I simply could not use it. I of course had disable all the TrueMotion related things that cause flickering too.
i have the same thing with oled screens- they seem like the beautiful answer for the first half hour and then the effect hits you like a brick...
Sorry to hear you are getting symptoms. I had hopes for OLED myself.
I have tried FL-41 tints, in my case it actually made my symptoms much worse. I was also tested extensively by an Irlen practitioner, the first pair of lenses we came up with actually 100% cured me for 3 months, then gradually lost effectiveness. I tried 3 other re-tests and re-tints and was never able to get any relief from any of them, so I abandoned it. Theraspecs, Gunnar glasses, and Blublockers all failed to offer any relief. Migralenses help a little bit, they are what I use now.