Elever This is impossible to answer without a proper controlled setting study but we spend so much time on here blaming Intel or Graphics settings or whatever and what if it's just the monitor itself?

I greatly appreciate empirical research from even a scientific perspective. I'm sure you can agree with me that the "shotgun" approach of trying various things in isolation with the hope that they work gives delayed progress in the best case with a lot of wasted time and money in the worst case when we're trying to live and work as normal people do. Even this is a nonstarter for trying to engage with companies, however as I've discussed on this forum the expense to undertake such empirical research and cover all potential bases (i.e blue light, PWM or other backlight oscillations, color spectrum, LCD inversion, temporal dithering) is a nontrivial sum and we can't exactly expect companies to undertake such research with a high priority.

To respond your second point

what if it's just the monitor itself? In other words, do people get the same strain when using a streaming stick or a console including an older one like a PS3 vs a newer one vs a Windows laptop

Can't comment on that exact scenario, but here's an example of a certain GPU having aggressive color dithering on a static image visualized by my software. So certainly the source the device can have an impact on the quality of the signal that's largely independent from the monitor.

    8 days later

    ryans If you have Windows 11 Pro, you can use Group Policy Editor to set target Feature release for Windows Update to 21H2.

    Link: Specify Target Feature Update Version in Windows 11

    This way you will continue to get updates for Windows 11 21H2 until its end of life, but it will not update to 22H2.

    I also use this method on Windows 10 to prevent feature updates and update to Windows 11.

      5 days later

      @"ryans"#p26563 Pause feature+quality updates until 2050 (Drivers/MS Store/Defender Updates will work as normal):

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings]
"PauseFeatureUpdatesStartTime"="2019-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PauseQualityUpdatesStartTime"="2019-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PendingRebootStartTime"="2019-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PauseUpdatesExpiryTime"="2050-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PauseFeatureUpdatesEndTime"="2050-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PauseQualityUpdatesEndTime"="2050-01-01T12:00:00Z"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UpdatePolicy\Settings]
"PausedQualityStatus"=dword:00000001
"PausedFeatureStatus"=dword:00000001

      Pause only feature updates(ex: 22H2) until 2050 (Drivers/MS Store/Defender/Quality Updates will work as normal):

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings]
"PauseFeatureUpdatesStartTime"="2019-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PendingRebootStartTime"="2019-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PauseUpdatesExpiryTime"="2050-01-01T12:00:00Z"
"PauseFeatureUpdatesEndTime"="2050-01-01T12:00:00Z"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UpdatePolicy\Settings]
"PausedFeatureStatus"=dword:00000001

      Resume updates again:

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings]
"PauseFeatureUpdatesStartTime"=-
"PauseQualityUpdatesStartTime"=-
"PendingRebootStartTime"=-
"PauseUpdatesExpiryTime"=-
"PauseFeatureUpdatesEndTime"=-
"PauseQualityUpdatesEndTime"=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UpdatePolicy\Settings]
"PausedQualityStatus"=-
"PausedFeatureStatus"=-

      Save text as .reg file and run it.

      NOTE: On Windows 11 you first need to go to Windows Updates section, click Pause, and then apply the registry tweak.

        For me the last Windows 10 update also introduced some changes for display. I was playing Desperados III without issues and after the Windows updated I can't watch at this game anymore. Same graphical settings etc. No idea what's happend.

          tfouto Yes. Quality updates in windows 10/11 are the traditional system updates from windows 7/8.1. More details here.

            12 days later

            I'm not a Win user, but in theory you can block updates by blocking the DNS name for the Win update url.
            (Open wireshark, press check updates, then sniff for the URL. Blackhole it with 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts (this path is for linux tho))

            I've been trying a few Windows laptops after failing miserably with Mac OS since 2018. Same issues most people describe, difficulty focussing on text, off-centre movement detected, dry eyes , strain and headaches.

            I took delivery of a HP Spectre 14 last week running W11 21H2 and installed ditherig and all was good, even had banding on the default wallpaper which is nice to see ;-) . The Spectre also uses DC dimming and felt pretty good, way more tolerable than recent Macs. I then restarted and unwittingly picked up 22H2 and boom, eye strain within 10 minutes and the usual symptoms as above. First I down-revved the video driver from 30.1 to 27.x with no effect. Rolling back fixes this for now. Had similar things with the Mac. My trusty 2017 Kaby lake MacBook is nowhere near as pleasant to use on recent versions of the OS. Would love to know what's going on.

            Also as a footnote. The spectre demonstrated pretty well to me that different browsers render differently with Edge being way nicer than Firefox (and slightly better than Chrome) when it came to reading the BBC news using all 3 for comparison.

            And the struggle continues

              5 days later

              CRoebuck I then restarted and unwittingly picked up 22H2 and boom, eye strain within 10 minutes and the usual symptoms

              Same thing here. Last Friday a reboot of my business laptop was forced for the recurring monthly installation of security patches. At restart I immediately developed eyestrain and neck pain. Today I checked and verified that, once again, an upgrade to Windows 22H2 passed through, most likely together with the security patches. The third attempt of Microsoft to sneakily upgrade my Windows after I have deactivated automatic upgrades.

              I just reversed the install of the package but it will take a while before I can judge if my laptop is usable again. My eyes, neck and upper back are screwed and will be so for many hours, potentially a couple of days. I hope nothing else was upgraded (graphics drivers etc).

                5 days later

                My laptop rebooted again and reinstalled version 22H2. Really annoying but at least this time - for reasons I do not know as it is the same update as last week! - Windows Update Settings showed that my device was up to date, so I could pause updates until April. I uninstalled version 22H2 probably for the fifth time. Since then in the morning when I open the lid I find the screen in BIOS mode and I am asked if I want to continue to boot. No idea why. The keyboard is also illuminated and the fan is often on, which was not happening before (any suggestion?). Once the laptop has rebooted, the version is 21H2.

                Answering here @ryans 's question from another thread, my laptop's display adapters are Intel UHD Graphics and NVIDIA Quadro P520. The PC on W10 22H2 (OS Build 19045.2486) I can use without excessive "eye damage" mounts Intel UHD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 730. I shall say that I use this PC to run a piece of equipment, so I do not do any prolonged reading and I do no browsing at all. It also took me a while to adjust. There is another PC that bugs me but I can now handle without long-term damage. I thought it was on 22H2 but it is on 1909 and the display adapters are Intel UHD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GeForce GT710.

                I claimed win too early.

                Is this going to happen every second day now? In theory, updates were blocked until Apr 5 but my laptop shut down and installed version 22H2 anyhow.

                Does anyone know how to stop this?

                Also, looking at the list of the restore points, why is the description of the "event" different from time to time, although the "event" was always the install of the KB5015684 package? Any input is appreciated, thanks!

                  Staycalmsyndrome I have administrator rights on my business laptop but bypassing my IT Admin without his approval may lead to unpleasant scenarios. I am afraid this is not a solution for me but thanks for letting me know. It could apply if I decided to buy a private PC or laptop!

                  • Jack replied to this.

                      This is not pertinent to version 22H2, so I will keep it short. In the last 7-10 days I have used for many hours per day a PC with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC, Version 1809, OS Build 17763.2366. The display adapter is Intel UHD Graphics 630 and the monitor is an Asus VA24EHE. This setup is so bad that I not only have eye strain and the feeling my eyes and face are swollen, I even feel disoriented when I stand and walk away from the station. Sort of dizziness/vertigo and additional flashes in my eyes. I should note that I have pushed myself to work in quite dim conditions as there has been little sunlight coming thru these days and I have opted for keeping off the super-bright and flickering LED overhead lighting. Symptoms are different to the ones caused by 22H2 but I would not be able to tell what is worse.

                      6 days later

                      I was using Win11 21H2 as good as always with my Dell P2317H from 2016. I bought a S2721DGF, returned, after a S2421HN and returned again and after a P2423D and returned again. Three very different monitors from 2020 to 2022 and all of them caused eye strain, fatigue, difficult to focus and all the stuffs that everything here knows well. This is the topic https://ledstrain.org/d/2134-i-dont-know-what-to-do-and-feeling-that-im-running-out-of-options

                      So, I bought a LG 29UM69G from 2017 and it worked very well like my P2317H. Yesterday I update the Windows to 22H2 and boom my eyes got tired quickly with some eye pain. I've tried to update my RX 6600 videocard, adjust ClearType but it still weird. It's not pleasant and easy to focus just staring at the screen like was with the monitors that I returned.

                      That is bizarre. I thought it was red phosphor from NanoIPS, after flickering, after antiglare screen and other stuffs and was a relief find a monitor that I could use and after a Windows update, not changing graphic card, driver, monitor and nothing more this bizarre thing happens.

                        7 days later

                        Patoli H. Yesterday I update the Windows to 22H2 and boom my eyes got tired quickly with some eye pain. I

                        Did you try Windows 10 22H2? Or just Windows 11?

                            ryans Only 11. 21H2 was fine until change monitors. With the last monitor that was fine I tried to update to 22H2 and everything that was good became bad. I tried to change AMD driver update (Microsoft recommendation) and no changes. I rolled back and everything came back to normal. Bizarre.

                            After that I changed the RX 6600 for a RTX 3070 and no problem. The change of Windows version caused more trouble than changing graphic card (hardware) and driver (software) and that's crazy. They did something really bad that is hard to explain.

                            I had problem with current monitors with 21H2 but old monitor with 22H2 was unexpected. Trying to find reasons about monitors causing strain is more pausable than trying to understand what they did in the system that also causas strain, even with a perfect fine monitor for our eyes.

                              I was testing Win11 today on the Steam Deck. 21H2 not 22H2 since you all hated the current release so much.

                              It was so-so. Useable, but not better or the same as my current Intel setup with 10. Maybe sub-optimal drivers (very possible), or sub-optimal video-out on the dock for it (also possible).

                              The user interface however is awful, if there is a choice and it not imposed on you, I don't know why anyone would want to use 11 over 10.

                              dev