hpst I tried many ROMs including LineageOS (most popular one). Paranoid Android 7.3.1 is the only one that is still usable for me apart from early OxygenOS releases (manufacturer's own ROM). It is not a personal choice. OnePlus some day, on the transition from Android 7.0 to Android 7.1. changed something, and other ROMs seem to have copied it. Except the Paranoid guys. They are currently developing an Android 9 ROM, and I hope it will still be fine.
Burning eyes within some minutes on other ROMs. As opposed to multiple hours a day, every day, eyes still good. The PWM has not changed at all. I suspect it is color profile related, because the Paranoid ROM doesn't offer those profiles. But it could be anything. And it is not clear to me if this ROM would help on other devices.

hpst About color temp stuff can you use the built in Android one?

No, I can't use this not even on the Paranoid ROM. Burning eyes over time. It is called Night Light. There is also sRGB mode but that mode wasn't even usable on the known-good original ROMs. That, and brightness apps which change colors are also not usable. Which tells me this problem must be color related.

  • hpst replied to this.

        KM The only time I have seen color profiles talked about in regard to strain was one or two instances of a good profile HELPING but never why. At the same time I have seen others say messing with gamma caused strain and since all profiles will adust gamma I just don't know what to take from that. I tried hardware calibration on dsktop linux using an expensive device and no profile I could create changed my strain...only aesthetic appearance.

        My primary need is desktop linux so I would love to find a way to be sure NO profile adjustment is happening to see if that matters, since on all the distros I have used even if you don't add one, the system uses a default profile. I am not adept enough to know how to shut that off and see. I use Redshift and it doesn't make the strain any worse and it is supposed to mess with Gamma too according to the config file...yet when I use the xgamma command to see what the gamma is set at it doesn't match the Redshift config...so I have no idea whats what.

        • KM replied to this.

            hpst I think the first thing you should make sure is if your Linux distro is usable with your known-good old monitor. Because if it is, there are most probably no software issues to worry about. Which, if present, seem to manifest on all displays - even AMOLED.

            • hpst replied to this.

                KM Well my problem there is my only known good computer is a 2006 32bit laptop using Xubuntu 16.04 32bit. You can't use most distros on that as they have moved on to 64 bit only. But using 32 or 64bit Xubuntu 16.04 causes strain on newer devices like everything else does...so it's clearly not as simple as a distro/DE/compositor etc being ok.

                • KM replied to this.

                    hpst Both for Arch and Manjaro there are 32 bit projects: archlinux32.org and manjaro32.org.

                    hpst But using 32 or 64bit Xubuntu 16.04 causes strain on newer devices

                    Then it's most probably either the new display itself or the driver of the new graphics card.

                    • hpst replied to this.

                          KM I will make a live USB and try Manjaro on my old laptop...but again even the 32bit Xubuntu that is ok on the old laptop isn't ok on new stuff so even if Arch based stuff works on the old it doesn't really help since hardware is the problem for me right now...I can't use anything new.

                            reaganry With the screen protector is still significantly better than without. I really hope I didn’t waste your money but if you’re anything like me I think you’ll notice and improvement.

                              Sunspark Thanks, but it is not a sim card size issue. My Samsung does not work where I relocated because of carrier / band incompatibilities :-(
                              Minutes ago I re-sold my third smartphone of 2018 at half price. I am on that old Samsung off Wi-Fi only now.

                              degen I can't recommend the iPhone 7 Plus or 8 Plus anymore.

                              I had to spend quite some time to rule out the IPhone 7 when it came out. It initially looked like I could use it. The Plus hurt from time zero instead. Not sure now with the current OS version.
                              Have you tried the XS? I would really like to know what it differs by, since I can tolerate it. But, as said, it is a 1000 buck risk which I am not convinced of taking...

                                  I just want to share this, I got dizziness from Garmin watch Fenix 5X.

                                  It has a 30mm display!!! I was in a shock when i first realized it because i did not expect an issue from such a small display.

                                  Has anyone else experienced symptoms with smart watches?

                                    Peter I don't spend a ton of time looking at my smart watch. My old Microsoft Band v2 was fine, no problems there. The Samsung Gear Fit 2 is probably not perfect, but ok for the 10 seconds I look at it to swipe away an alert or check my heart rate. Haven't really tried any others.

                                      Peter Apple Watch'es Display has obvious PWM in its OLED display. The tech is really nice end I am tempted to buy one but with this kind of display it is a no go for me.

                                      • KM likes this.

                                        I got Skinomi for my iPhoneX and MBP to replace M3 anti-glare protector. It's definitely better!
                                        The Skinomi one is more like a rubber/silicon and grainier texture, not a hard plastic foil.
                                        Better protects from glare and it's much easier to install bobbles free!
                                        I'm very sensitive to glare and glow when it comes to monitors and prefer TN panels.
                                        Overall the screen filters do not help a lot but if need to buy again in future definitely would stick to Skinomi

                                        My read is that dithering causing my eye strain. I can recommend you to the HTC 10 (LCD). It is the latest device I can use without strain. The successor HTC U11 (LED) causing strain. The fact that using old AMOLED devices like the HTC One S not causing strain hints me that PWM should not be my problem. I tried different blue light filtering screen protectors and the Skinomi film on strain devices, none of them improve the situation.

                                        Device history (no strain): HTC Desire, HTC One S (AMOLED), HTC One X, HTC One, HTC M8, HTC 10
                                        Device testet (strain): Samsung S7 (AMOLED), HTC U11 (LCD), BQ X2 (LCD), Google Pixel XL (AMOLED), Google Pixel 2 (AMOLED), Google Pixel 2 XL (POLED), Huawei P10 (LCD), Google Pixel C (LCD), Samsung Tab 2 (AMOLED), iPhone X (AMOLED)

                                          Markus Thanks for the list @Markus. Did you notice any difference in the Android version used? Which version did the HTC10 use?

                                          • Gurm replied to this.
                                          • JTL likes this.

                                              deepflame I second this - what version of Android on the 10? I found that moving from Lollipop (5) to Marshmallow (6) on the M8 was an issue, I'd love to step up to a 10 though!

                                                As an example, there's a guy right near me selling his gently-used HTC 10 with Viper preinstalled (already rooted, S-OFF, etc.) for like $100. So I could jump on that if I thought it would be usable!

                                                My HTC 10 is running on the latest released version (Android 8) and I have no strain. The updates from Android 6, 7 to 8 bring no changes to my eyes. My device ist also rooted and running the Leedroid-ROM. The used ROM does not make any diffrence. I can recommend you to buy the HTC 10. Please give us a feedback if it works for you. :-)
                                                @Gurm Do you also suppose dithering as eye strain cause?

                                                  Markus Absolutely. It's either dithering or something else about pixel rendering. There is no other explanation for why software or firmware updates cause the strain to occur and can be immediately fixed by rolling that software update back. I don't know if it's temporal dithering per se, or some other rendering artifact, but I strongly suspect the dithering.

                                                    Markus What devices and operating systems/software do cause you to strain? I'm curious how alike our symptoms are, because your list of phones that worked is remarkably similar to mine - I used HTC One X, One, One m8 all with no issues. But some software on the m8 didn't work well - the m8 for Windows was no good. Also Marshmallow was no good but not because of the OS, rather because of the firmware update that came with it.

                                                      @Gurm I never had strain after updating a phone to a newer firmware/rom. My HTC one M8 was running on Marshmallow, but because using a custom ROM (Viper) I am not shure if I upgrade the Firmware with the Marshmallow ROM. It is possible to run the Marshmallow ROM on Android Lollipop firmware. The question in that case would be, what cause the dithering ROM or firmware?

                                                      Since 2 weeks I am forcing me using a Pixel 2 XL, because that is the phone I like to use. Independant of the straining phone I choose there is no big difference in strain strength. I see no solution for a solution in the next future. Every current device strain me. :-(

                                                      On desktop I use and Dell U2412 with Ubuntu 16.04 without any strain. But I recognized that current PWM free IPS-Panel like Eizo EV2455-BK also causing me strain. I am not shure if my Dell causing me a little strain running Windows 10 or if it is just because reading in the forum something about different os can cause strain or not? :-)

                                                      Of course you can count on me funding for more research so get a solution for the strain.

                                                        dev