Update from Win11 21H2 to Win11 22H2 leads to eye strain

Moe3224 Drivers also autoupdate separately and are difficult to disable in newer versions of Windows. Maybe this .reg key will help:

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "SearchOrderConfig" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "DontSearchWindowsUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "DriverUpdateWizardWuSearchEnabled" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Update" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\device\Update" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

Sunspark you might attract attention from your I.T. staff (they can receive logs saying which device has what updates)

You were rite. I got "caught" and had to hand over my laptop, which was updated to

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
OS build 19045.2965
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0

Useless to say that I am not going to uninstall updates anymore, so I'd better adjust.

So far it has been hell. I never had migraines before, only twitching, eyestrain and neck pain. I had to take ibuprofen the last two nights to calm my headache down. The headache affected two distinct areas, between the bottom of my head and my neck, and above the left eye, which is my weak eye. The pain around the eye was of the throbbing type. I also had nausea. But the worst problem is that I instantly feel extremely fatigued and slow, minutes after staring at the screen.
It is hard to put in words what the screen feels like. I perceive the image as unsteady, as if it was generated by the superposition of multiple layers. My eyes are like overloaded. Less than a year ago I could use this laptop without problems, it is hard to believe it is the same hardware.

A couple of questions. I noticed that the IT staff did not bother updating the BIOS version and that there is a firmware update pending. Any chance updating everything may make the screen smoother?
Is PWM directly/indirectly affected by OS updates or is solely an hardware parameter? Thanks.

AGI A couple of questions. I noticed that the IT staff did not bother updating the BIOS version and that there is a firmware update pending. Any chance updating everything may make the screen smoother?
Is PWM directly/indirectly affected by OS updates or is solely an hardware parameter? Thanks.

Sucks that you got called in, though it was pretty inevitable. At least it took awhile.

Yes, it is entirely possible that a firmware update may make the screen smoother, I have observed this with an old video card. My opinion, given that you're suffering already and going back isn't an option anymore you might as well try it and see how it goes. It's not going to be worse at this point and might be better. You won't be able to roll-back though.

However, before doing that, there is something you can try.. try f-lux or night light and make the screen orangey-reddish, also at the same time, turn on greyscale-mode in the windows settings colour filters.. that should give you a warm white point without any other colours. See if doing that first helps make it more comfortable. Night light is built into Windows, I think f-lux's tonal balance is better. In lieu of using either, you can also go into the video driver settings and just simply lower the G and B sliders and it will do the same thing (but still also turn on greyscale). The theory here is that maybe you're being oversaturated.

PWM is both. It can be off in hardware but turned on by software. Sometimes it's other stuff, for example In linux kernel 6.6 for Intel, they're going to turn on panel self-refresh. It was off for many years because it was so buggy it couldn't be used, only in Windows. Will be interesting to see how that goes.

That reminds me, if your screen is PWM, if at 100% it is too bright but lowering it causes PWM, one way you can work around that is leave it at 100% but again, go into the video driver properties and lower the R G B sliders, say to 50%.. this will 'dim' the screen, but the backlight will still be at 100%, presumably not as much PWM but not so glaring.

Hey - perhaps not very pertinent to this thread and perhaps the nth red herring, I removed my Ocushield screen protector and it seems that my eyestrain has significantly diminished. I wonder if the problem is that the protector, which I bought solely to block the blue light and stop the glare, is also a privacy filter. This last feature appears to give more problems than benefits, as I cannot even see the edge of the screen neatly without shifting my head! Has anyone experienced the same?

I have had some success with ghost spectre potato edition 1703. Its an old version.
Some other versions may work and most phone home services are removed. There's a toolbox on the desktop to block updates
https://ghostspectre.the-ninja.jp/1703.PATATO.X64.html

Perhaps newer versions might work for you - https://ghostspectre.the-ninja.jp/20H2.X64.html

Moe3224 Yes. You need MS Store updates for uwp apps and defender updates for security but may want to disable driver updates and experiment with different versions of graphics drivers.