Just picked one of these up today, I'll definitely post again with impressions on eye strain.
Really interesting that there's no sign of dithering or PWM, I wonder if Apple is noticing more users complaining about these problems.
Just picked one of these up today, I'll definitely post again with impressions on eye strain.
Really interesting that there's no sign of dithering or PWM, I wonder if Apple is noticing more users complaining about these problems.
the123blackjack bookcheck confirms that there are no temporal dithering on M2 air
From this Notebookcheck link:
So, we examined the IPS panel of the Air M2 with a microscope and created a slow-motion recording with 240 images per second. While we were able to detect temporal dithering, for example, in the current MacBook Pro 16 with the Mini-LED panel in some particular gray color tones, this was neither the case in the old MacBook Air M1 nor in the new MacBook Air M2
Looks like they couldn't detect dithering in M1 either?
Found this thread on MacRumors.
ryans Yeah i am also the OP of that thread .. So the test done by notebookcheck conclusive or flawed?
with the looks of it M2 air is the best eye care macbook that we can buy
MAS-76 There is an option to disable dithering, at least, for the integrated card. I already did it for my laptop and it really disables dithering. The PWM effect still remains. But it is, of course, much better than having the PWM + dithering screen.
I will share how to disable dithering on the Intel card soon.
MAS-76 That's weird that you still feel eye strain. According to notebookcheck, MBA M2 doesn't have dithering but I tend to believe that human eye feels dithering better than their tests.
Probably, they used 240 FPS camera to detect dithering but it can only be caught by 3000 FPS camera.
How can it not have dithering? Is it a 10 bit panel? I kind of doubt it? But maybe?
the123blackjack So the test done by notebookcheck conclusive or flawed?
By this video, I am thinking flawed
Moe3224 I’m just wondering if there’s a fix for it.
I wish there was. It is worth getting your eyes properly checked.
ryans You won't believe what's happening with me, I use windows laptop for work that is connected to two external monitors and I use an iPad Pro 11" all day too with no issues. When I connect my MBA m1 to my monitors after 30mins my eyes get really red and itchy, I can't focus on the screen when looking at text.
@Moe3224 I have the same. I dont use Mac, but I have 2 windows computers that are OK, but have tried several which, when I connect to the same monitor, are not fine and my eyes go bloodshot in few hours. It is not the same as with PWM, a bit slower irritation, but if I use several days, my eyes are totally bloodshot and colleagues ask if I have been crying or have a hangover.
Yes, recently this has been the case. Previously I was only sensitive to PWM and most modern laptop screens, but now they have made some changes to the software, so that the irritation comes through even with a display that is fine with other computers
I've been using the M2 Air for about a week now, it's definitely easier on the eyes in my experience. I still get a little dizzy after prolonged use, but it doesn't cause the gritty eyes, migraine, lingering pain above the eyes, etc. I'm actually planning on selling my M1 and just keeping the M2.
My setup is:
I'd definitely recommend trying this one out if the M1 gave you trouble
@the123blackjack That's great news, and I hope the tests were not flawed. But we shouldn't have to wait and buy a second-hand device after someone with expensive equipment runs these tests. This information should be published in the specs for every device sold by every manufacturer. Blue light, PWM, temporal dithering, anything that might affect someone with a seizure disorder, migraines, or binocular vision disorder should be readily available for buyers to read. I've just received an M1 from my employer and will be stuck with the headaches and nausea. If I go to them and tell them I need a different device, they will say, "OK, what kind?" And what can I tell them? "Here are a handful of graphics cards which according to some people on a forum do not cause my symptoms"? Until this info is reported in specs that I can refer to when buying or requesting a device (or every manufacturer allows for these "features" to be turned off with simple UI settings) we haven't made enough progress.
I've created a petition to ask Apple to implement some of these things. Please sign if you agree. Also open to comments if there's something about the technology that I've understood, but my focus for the petition is on the consumer experience.
lougro Other companies such as Amulet Hotkey also acknowledge that dithering is used on MacOS. They have tools available to remove it but you need to be using their hardware (which is typically in the several thousands of dollars).
Temporal dithering is a technique graphics cards use to generate intermediate colors, by rapidly alternating a
pixel between two adjacent color values. The effect is not perceptible to the human eye. For any compression
algorithm, such as that used by PCoIP, this results in a significant overhead when dealing with the increased
pixel color activity.
Enabling temporal dithering on a machine using PCoIP can result in high bandwidth usage and poor
performance, even when the display is seemingly static. To resolve this, you must disable temporal dithering
on the computer where the PCoIP host card is used.
Temporal dithering is enabled by default on Apple Macs, with no user-visible option to disable it.
To disable temporal dithering, you must install an appropriate macOS Kernel Extension (‘kext’). The kext
disables temporal dithering on the local graphics card by changing internal driver settings