hansennnnn It is quite common that new version of OS brings new animations, new text-sharpening effects etc. And these features can cause problems. The newest version of Android I can stand is 11.
Usable Smartphones?
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pavelbures i already downgrade my phone to 13 but still got eyestrain and headache,before that i use same phone with android 13 no eyestrain at all,i think there is dithering setting from android 14 that still there in android 13 even after downgrade,do you have downgrade os and still got eyestrain ?
i think the only way is to buy new phone with excactly same type and make sure not to update to 14 btw all batch of the same type phone will be have the same hardware and same software right ? while i save money for buy a new one,i searching for solution to disable dithering in here but nobody in here know a way to disabel dithering
My Trust TCL A30 broke, so now I am stuck using a phone that give me eyestrain. It has absolutely zero to do with flicker or PWM or blue light or any of the other nonsense people throw around.
I tried 4 other identical model phones, none of them worked for my eyes. I did a shell swap and still no help so it;s not the screen, it is either the video hardware or some difference in the OS
Just going to use my phone as little as humanely possible while I keep trying to find one that doesn't trigger my BVD. Every phone so far, within a fraction of a second of even glancing at the screen, my right eye tries to focus on something different than my left eye and causes muscle spasms in my face. I can feel my eye moving in and out.
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ensete do you already check android version and firmware version tcl a30 that you can use without eyestrain is exactly the same android version and firmware version with new 4 unit tcl a30 that you have been bought ?if you have swap the screen but still got eyestrain is definitly software problem
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hansennnnn Same Android version (11) but that OS was upgraded, I bought mine when it first came out and never installed the system update, whereas the the one I bought was upgraded
What I am going to do is use the new phone to take diode readings off of so I can try and repair the old phone It stopped charging and was missing texts, so if I can repair it that solves my issue
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ensete i think you must try a new phone with excatly same os and same firmware with your old phone,because even it is a same hardware but if it have a different software it will make difference like eyestrain migraine etc because if some day your old phone got lost,you wont have another solution
hansennnnn Well, duh 
That's easier said than done
I did do a shell swap and swapped the new motherboard into the old phone body (including screen) and it didn't help. So that proves it is not the screen, it's either a hardware difference with the motherboard, or a software issue (driver or patch level of OS)
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ensete motherboard has storage so it is using the same storage and os,try find new one one market place
edit today i got my new phone with excatly same type dan same os but i still got eyestrain and headache,meanwhile i can use my old phone zenfone no eyestrain at all but so slow and have only 32 gb storage so it is not my eye problem
maybe i think after update the screen a little bit blurry is it from dithering ?i depressss stress,i dont know how to solve this issue,just join telegram grup about ledstrain maybe find something about disablw dithering
hansennnnn motherboard has storage so it is using the same storage and os,try find new one one market place
The two phones have different update levels. And the GPU and GPU drivers could be different. They are the same "Model" but have different manufacturing numbers.
I have proved it is not the screen hardware, so that leaves the GPU hardware, GPU driver, or O as the culprit
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ensete i am sure in my case it is because of software because before update i can use same the phone with no eyestrain no headache at all,do you know how to disable dithering on android ?
do you have succes with one eye patch training ? is there a tutorial video how to do it ?
my lazy eyes in left my dominance eye is right than i cover my right eyes right ? how long a day ?if i close my right eyes is it the same with patch right eyes ? because is kinda embarasing using patch eyes in public room if closing right eye is the same with patch right eyes ?
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KM sorry i want to ask where is force gpu rendering setting ?and how to input persist.sys.use_dithering=0 ?
hansennnnn I think the former is in Developer Settings and the latter has to be manually written into some Android config file. But I'm not sure which file anymore now after 8 years.
Right now I don't think those settings changed anything in terms of eye strain back then. What helped was probably adjusting the brightness to stay out of the PWM range.
After countless phone purchases (always ending up in a refund), I finally found my first usable phone since 2016. I read this whole thread and discovered many people were using Realme 9 Pro 5G. I've been using it for the past 4 months daily, even playing with it, and I can say it's a solid 7 or 8/10 about comfort. I notice some strain but it's quite light and goes away quickly.
Thank you all
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hansennnnn am sure in my case it is because of software because before update i can use same the phone with no eyestrain no headache at all,do you know how to disable dithering on android ?
Dithering has nothing to do with my symptoms, never has.
do you have succes with one eye patch training ? is there a tutorial video how to do it ?
I put an eyepatch over my right eye. That's it.
my lazy eyes in left my dominance eye is right than i cover my right eyes right ?
You nly have two eyes, try them each and patch whichever one feels better
how long a day ?
I wear mine as long as needed
because is kinda embarasing using patch eyes in public room
Then your choices are getting painful eyestrain related headaches/migraines, or being embarrassed because you think people care about you wearing an eyepatch. Up to you. It was an easy choice for me
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KM do you use % brigthness to stay away from pwm ?
but before disable hw overlay and disable dithering have been work for you in the past right ?
hansennnnn PWM never impacted me. I have had symptoms from PWN free displays
I did not disable dithering, on the phone, I don;t know how to do that no do I care to try
BEfore disabling HW overlays the phone was not comfortable to use, with it turned off it is more comfortable. It's not perfect, but on a scale of 1-10, previously it as a 5, Disabling HW overlays makes it an 8.
I'm more interested in what this means for a root cause. It seems the (as I always suspected) that it is primarily a software issue, not a screen issue or graphics hardware issue (for me at least I can't speak for everyone).
I've been doing some research into what Disabling HW overlays actually does, and to make a Windows analogy it seems to make the phone revert to a "GDI" display interface from a "Direct Draw" display interface, and for me Direct Draw is a distinct cause of eye strain on Windows PC.
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ensete i dont know if its coincidence or not but each time i playing a game with same phone almost no eyestrain or maybe 9/10 mean while if i use it for reading like chating or browsing or watching video,few minutes later headache migraine in one spot often my left side of my head
hansennnnn I have been using a Motorola Edge 30 Neo since March 2024.
Like you when I game, sometimes for 1 or even 2 hours my eyes are barely affected by the screen.
However when streaming video content my eyes become a little tired and dry. Browsing the web less so.
I am surprised that gaming affects them so little as I assumed it would be the opposite.
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jayd i think we have the same issue,what setting do you use on your phone ?example like what setting brightness,saturation,color mode,disable hw overlay,settind disable dithering etc
before update android 14 i can use my phone with no eyestrain at all so i am sure my issue is 100% software issue
hansennnnn When using my Motorola Edge 30 Neo I have the brightness anywhere between 5% and 40% depending on the time of day, natural light, how my eyes are and whether I am gaming or streaming.
All of my adult life I have preferred darker screens when using any type of screen….tv, pc monitor etc and this was before my eye issues started back in 2010.
I have the colour setting as Saturated with the colour temperature in the middle. I do not disable HW Overlays and there are no dc dimming options. I use an app called Twilight that I have been using with mobiles for many years and this kicks in at sunset.
The Motorola is my secondary phone that I use for gaming and occasional streaming, browsing as my Primary handset is a Google Pixel 3a that I have owned since 2019.
The battery life is not great and there is the occasional software issue hence the owning of a backup handset.
When I purchased the Pixel I had mild tiredness for the first few months but my eyes got used to the screen and although I have to be careful with some wallpapers. icons it has been excellent for my eyes. I can have the brightness on this set very high without issue.
The Motorola is a much brighter device. Since March when I started using it my eyes have got used to it and so my symptoms like the Pixel have reduced or though not to the same level yet.
I have never had issues with software updates such as Windows on my pc or Android on mobile. I have also updated ios on Apple devices that do not cause an issue.
I do not believe PWM is a major issue for me as I have tried LCD screens and they have caused issues and I have also tried an Apple iphone 12 and Google Pixel 4a that only caused mild issues in comparison.