Day 3 with the A9 ….

Straight to the point - I have no eye strain , no sore eye no red eye ….This surprised me….but… i am having another problem ….some kind of migraines / slight diziness migraines when i stop watching tv.

I suspect of two things:

1 - the motion of this TV (tried motion flow on off custom etc)

2- is a strange theory lol ….. could it be the acustic sound? This tv have no speakers the sound comes from the glass that vibrates in a certain frequency. I even connect it to my surround system and had the tv sound this way a couple of hours but not sure if anything changes so probably a crazy theory.

If this migraines / diziness are temporary ill keep the tv and very happy if not i have to return it 🙁

Could this be only temporary sign of adaptation? To my surprise my eyes are good with this oled but my head no lol this is new to me. With a sony 49XG9005 (Full array system) i got some migraines also but they were very strong this is different….

I am happy with the tv except for this point i am lost…… Help! Any suggestions?

I get slight headaches when there's certain kinds of flicker. I think if there was no flicker but instead the light itself was too aggressive, it'd cause other symptoms like burning eyes, etc. If it's the same for you there may be some flicker left.
Again, turn any feature off that alters the original image. Explore the settings and make sure you have checked and understood them all. You need to start with a neutral picture. You need to have patience for this. Some websites like rtings explain some of the advanced settings. Take your time to study them.

If you really think it could be the sound, you could try using headphones or just watch without sound for a while.

Without flicker detection equipment, I don't think I would have found the settings that make my current TV usable. I would never have known which exact brightness values have the least amount of flicker, for example. Never have found out that switching inputs or resolutions cause a short burst of 20 kHz flicker, ultimately cause those weird small headaches. I doubt you would see 20 kHz on an OLED though. But you get the point. There's settings and behavior one would not expect to introduce flicker.
You could try to further experiment with the brightness setting.

    KM in the evening i put an uhd bluray to test…. Tenet from christopher nolan.

    I saw 60% of the movie +- and the i decided to reset all settings and continue in standart and cinema. Wow brightness popped and the movie became visually awesome. I saw the movie better with the default settings than with mine own….and that also makes me understand your post….

    Where can i bought a good pwm detector? Can you advice me in this? Thanks

    • KM replied to this.

      raven83 the information we have gathered is in this thread, from top to bottom: https://ledstrain.org/d/312-homemade-oscilloscope-to-detect-pwm-diy-guide
      There are not many ready-made devices available on the market. The Fauser LiFli proved to be very useful to me due to its portability and immediate acoustic feedback, but it is very expensive for what it does so I can't recommend it unless money is not a big issue.

        KM i saw the Fauser LiFli its about 300 euros but it is not conectable to a pc? The info only comes in the green red bar andby sound right? So you bought one and pointed it to the tv,start changing configs until the flicker is low? Your tv is an oled?

        Do you think this particular device is the best price relation ? Thank you for your help

        Ps- i think construct my device it is not a option for me

          raven83 Try to buy something in amazon and send it back after testing it. These things are not magical devices, you can get cheap ones under 100 Euro. Try opple lightmaster G3.

            hayder1983 its about 50 euros…. but does this work on a TV? This gadgets uses is to see if light bulbs have flicker or not….

            Also i want to share that my previois TV is a 43" inch sony and this is a 49" inch oled. So bigger tv different tecnhology and same space. My couch is about 4-4.5 metters from the tv and i have a puff in the middle of the room about 2-2,5 metters.

            Searched today on the web and lots of people with headaches from oleds lol. For me right now it is not a case of eye strain lol but migraines. I have a constant low level migraine since 3 days lol.

            One guy in a forum writed that he had it for 2 weeks and disappeared …..

            Other guy keep the tv lol and after 3 months he sold the tv on a loss.

            I have until the end of jannuary to make a decision! Will continue to try but probably with huge regret and sorrow 🙁 i will have to return it if things dont change.

            Also i dont know what tv model to try next since sony LED 50" i tried last year and is a no go, Sony FALD tried a couple years same result. Oled this is the second! The only thing i can try next year is a 50" QD OLED (has to be 48-50 max) if indeed a 50" qd oled will be produced for 2023.

            I appreciated all your help 🙂

            Have a new topic with all the tvs i bought and returned:

            https://ledstrain.org/d/1955-finding-a-usable-4k-tv-my-case-history

              raven83 it worked on my tv and my screens. You have to use it on static white(e.g. hold it at the settings menu window while the movie is playing). It seems to be accurate when the light is 50+ nits. Below that it delivers questionable results.

              I had nausea with the sony oled but no eyestrain at all. It was too bright, but there was no eye pain. Didnt try again. If i try again, i will try LG C2 or LG B2.

              raven83

              i saw the Fauser LiFli its about 300 euros but it is not conectable to a pc? The info only comes in the green red bar andby sound right?

              It has a mono 3.5 inch audio connector. With a special cable you can connect it to an oscilloscope and use it like a regular sensor. Its sensor is fast and, as depicted in the oscilloscope thread, displays the shape of high frequencies more accurately than the DIY solutions, but can't detect flicker that's about 1% or lower. On the other hand, the DIY sensor is slower but can detect flicker percentages of at least 2 digits after the comma when paired with an 8-bit oscilloscope that has AC mode.

              So you bought one and pointed it to the tv,start changing configs until the flicker is low?

              Basically, yes. I had bought it to find low-flicker LED bulbs in lighting stores, and now that I already had it, I measured the new TV with it, too. I was surprised when there was a black scene on the TV and the device, which was still active, lying on the table, suddenly started humming. I would have overseen that the TV employed PWM during black scenes otherwise. Something which probably wouldn't happen with OLED TVs though (my TV is a regular backlit one).
              The immediate sound feedback really is a helpful feature for fine-tuning settings and brightness.

              Do you think this particular device is the best price relation ?

              Difficult to say. I think the outstanding feature here is the acoustic feedback, which AFAIK no other device has (only even more expensive ones).

              But I also use the DIY sensor (which is like $1 or so). You can assemble it without soldering, if that's your concern. Everything is described in the thread. I would order multiple sensors just in case. They are rather fragile.

              I don't know how the Opple compares. If it is accurate and displays the waveform in real-time, then maybe it's enough. The other device mentioned in the forum was the Radex Lupin, but it seems to be very inaccurate, as seen in YouTube videos and customer reviews.

                KM the Opple measures only 24ms and makes these two images. This is my benq ew3270u at 20% brightness for example. It is better than nothing but you are right to say real time is better.


                Since a couple of days i had a small high soft buzz in my head. Searched the web and youtube and i can say with certain that i got some sort of tinnitus. This started on the 3th or 4th day of watching TV with this OLED. I searched the web for oled tv tinnitus and i got severall hits including on this forum. So the TV must GO 🙁

                There are people that got this buzz with their oled tvs and i am convinced that this is another manifestation of flicker.

                My eyes are great no eye strain, but continued to have small low level migraines that evolved to this tinnitus thing. Since i have the return max date at end of jannuary will try to test more but for sure i am to return this TV.

                Also i found that the TV APP on android is better to watch tv (got me more relaxed with viewing less migraines) however when i connect hdmi sources such nvidia shield or even in the internal you tube app things become a bit more syntomatic. ( not sure why this happens all image presets are the same)

                I am also having ideas of buying the 48A90K to see if i get the same result …however this is a pricier tv around 1400-1500 euros :S

                Another hope is a new QD oled Tv that "could" appear in 2023 for 50" fingers crossed!

                What gives me hope regarding oled its that my eyes are fine! So another oled tv model… maybe…. can work for me….

                  raven83 I searched the web for oled tv tinnitus and i got severall hits including on this forum. So the TV must GO 🙁

                  There are people that got this buzz with their oled tvs and i am convinced that this is another manifestation of flicker.

                  Not sure whether tinnitus results from flicker (I won't rule it out though, since flicker messes with your iris muscles), but I do know that one thing that can cause tinnitus are tight muscles around your head, neck, and shoulder area, which might also be the cause for being sensitive to flicker. I got tinnitus roughly two years ago, almost a year after my flicker sensitivity issues came back after being somewhat dormant before that.

                  My tinnitus is still there, but I could improve it quite a bit by doing several things, for instance, by wearing prescribed night braces to keep me from grinding my teeth, which eventually can cause you to have tight neck muscles. Also particular sleeping positions can result in tinnitus getting worse (in my case it's laying on the back).

                    seeker_of_no_light you think this is not from the tv? Last week i got a cold,fever and gut issues something i eat or seasonal winter viruses according with a medic…but i am recovered. Coincidence or not this started the third tv day and continues…

                      raven83 It was not my intention to imply that. Just wanted to propose a theory that tinnitus might be tangently related to issues resulting from flicker, since the eye muscle strain and tightness resulting from flicker may spread to nearby muscles close to the ear and the tightness of these muscles could cause tinnitus.

                      Tons of nerves come out of your neck and travel to innervate parts of your face including your ears. The muscles around your neck can entrap these nerves causing all kinds of problems. Forward head posture causes lots of issues. I've had issues that will go away literally as i release a muscle that is all knotted up in my neck. It's pretty crazy. Can get intense tinnitus, tingling, pain, etc

                      13 days later

                      Update - returned the sony 48A9 master series oled - reason : headaches + migraines

                      Visited a diferent shop and saw a samsung 50QN90B …. Got my attention… have the possibility to get an open box for 900 euros.

                      Crazy feeling of trying this beast lol however has pwm from 120hz to 960hz according to the image mode chosen. It is a miniled backlight tv…. About 1500 nits max. Lol so its a light cannon ….. At the shop i stared a couple of minutes and was confortable but…. I dont know i got a crazy good feeling about this tv….the motion is absolutely top notch….got me thinking of plasma motion…

                      What do you think? Lol

                        raven83 my father has an older lg qled tv and i dont get nausea from it. Also thought about testing a light canon and using it only on SDR.

                        5 months later

                        Regarding my tinitus symptons on the Sony A9s i concluded this were not from the tv but some esomeprazol med i started to take on that time. That was a coincidence and it is not related!

                        10 months later

                        raven83

                        fyi, same PWM TV models can be eye-strain or not. On my xg9505 setting BFI cause eye-strain, also reducing backlight to lowest values results in more intense and not sine-wave PWM and eye-strain also. The problem is you need devices to measure screens and state logic of comfortable ones

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