Hi all, new here and just discovered this forum in the last few days after I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S21 and just…ow. The eyes, the headache, the nausea. It's like Clokwork just said above, it's like a feeling that my eyes aren't able to or can't focus on one point. The screen just feels I dunno, loud shouty and almost chaotic? It's difficult to describe.

I've used the same Oneplus 3 (wih an amoled panel) for the last 5 years and never ever had any of these issues at all, so I guess the amoled screen tech has changed in those 5 years? Using the Oneplus I'm able to focus, to concentrate on things and using it in comparison to the Samsung is almost like looking at a book. It's just a calm experience where the Samsung feels like being attacked.

Anyway, the point here is I am now in need of a new phone, the Oneplus is very old and creaky now and can't really cope too well. I did months of research and landed on the Samsung, which will have to be returned, but now it seems I have a new factor to consider which I have never had to think of before, having never experienced this issue in the past.

I am looking into a lot of the phones mentioned in this thread, but many have various drawbacks including just being far too big. Has anyone had any experience with the Asus Zenfone 8 at all? It has an amoled panel but Notebookcheck seems to suggest its PWM might be acceptable, and it also uses DC dimming which I understand can help. Any opinions helpful!

6 days later

We are all in the same boat. I started looking for a new phone in june and I still use my old Google Pixel from 2016…

I checked a Zenfone 8 a while ago and it was like every other new phone, just as you described: it feels like being attacked. But feel free to try one, you might have a different experience.

I noticed that older phones are somewhat better, so a week ago a got a 2018 Pixel 3 (with an almost perfect battery), which is somewhat okay, but still bad in the long run.

I'm now contemplating buying one of those huge asian LCD phones (oppo, realme…), those might work.

I'm also thinking about paying a developer on XDA to try to write a kernel for one of the newer Pixels that gets rid of any color processing (eg. temporal dithering), but I'm not sure that's even possible.

Apart from these, I'm completely hopeless.

There's a lot of options out there, unfortunately most of them involve having to see the device in person to be sure.. this is how I landed on the A70 I and Peter have (and never updated). I examined everything at the store and went back to check again. I'm still going to have this awhile because I don't use it for games.

I saw Unihertz has a 3" Android 10 device. 854x480 resolution. I have never seen one in person, but I was tempted today to consider it because it has a dual-sim slot.

Anyway, options definitely exist.. e-ink devices, etc. You will find something that works for you, people here can and do find solutions even if it takes awhile.

Does anyone else find it strange that I have several times stated that Motorola G5 Plus and Moto G100 phones are completely eye strain free when used at >65 % brightness, but this information does not seem to catch up at all?

There is always the complaint "oh it's to big for me" or "maybe it's OK for you" or whatever. I have not found any other phone since several years that would work, even those with LCD and NO PWM. Only ones are the old Sozy Xperia ZX Premium and these two Motorolas, when used at brightness levels that have no PWM.

I also have not found a single recent laptop except the Lenovo x280 that would work for my eyes, though I have tried about 20 laptops.

So I also do have a problem with temporal dithering, or whatever it is when an LCD gives severe eye strain even if there is no PWM.

But these 2 Motorola phones I can use 12h a day without even a hint of eye strain. Just like reading a book in natural light.

But nobody is willing to try those?

Motorola just released G200 and it seems to be with LCD like G100 and seems that it could be similarly set up, that it would work as well. A Flagship quality phone with a display that we could use.

Also, the G100 is pretty good phone and now starts to be quite cheap and realidly available still.

Please - try it, return it if it gives you eye strain with brightness above 65%.

If we could get more people who confirm this, maybe we could send a petition to Motorola to keep manufacturing the Moto G series with the LCD?

Any experiences with screens on…

Samsung Galaxy A32 5G

Nokia 5.4

Nokia 3.4

Xiaomi Redmi 9A/9AT

Motorola Moto E7/Power

Motorola Moto E40

Notebookcheck informs 0 on PWM…but….

I can only use phones with 720x…. pixels

Thanks

What makes you think you can only use 720p phones?

Even 720p annoys in longer use. But that is the smallest amount of pixels that you can get on phones these days. Can't watch TV if picture(any screen) is Hd ready or better. Cable Box is set to progressive 50 hz SD (720x576, p50, no problem) Even with that, if I adjust more sharpness to my Sony TV (set to 0) It starts to irritate and activate my migraine…

  • Maxx replied to this.

    QlaGzr OK. Interesting. Having had the PWM issue for close to 30 years, and researched the topic, I've yet to hear that anyone would have an issue with a higher resolution.

    I had the Sony Xperia XZ Premium that had a small screen but still 4k resolution. I would think it would be simply impossible for anyone to sense the difference, especially if watching the screen from a yard/meter if it is a 4k resolution or 720p, thus I would think that this would be a way to verify that it is not the resolution, it is something else.

    Before I knew about PWM, I also kept playing with display resolutions and scalings, thinking that it could be the source of the problem, but after I learned about PWM and got a PWM free display, I realized that resolution does not have anything to do with the problem.

    But yeah, sorry to say this, there is a large group that has a problem with flicker (PWM, temproral dithering, other sources of flicker) and there is no doubt about it that the problem is the flicker, even very high frequency flicker, like 2500 Hz, which absolutely is not perceivable to the eye. Then there seems be a large group with issues that seem to affect a very small group, like those who have issues with certain driver versions or amount of blue light or like you now, resolution.

    For the blue light, I'm pretty sure it is rather the flicker. For the driver versions, I think it is also flicker. For the resolution - could it also be flicker?

    Problem is that if we have a 1000 sources of problems with the displays, we will never be able to fix the issue because no manufacturer will manufacture a device that does not flicker, conforms to a certain old driver version, has a resolution of only 720p, has no blue light etc. etc.

    I tried the Asus Zenfone 8. It was definitely a significnt improvement over the Samsung Galaxy S21 that I'd tried before. I set it to 60hz refresh rate which enabled the DC dimming. My experience with it on that setting was quite comfortable, and not like that almost aggresive type of feeling I felt from the Samsung. However, there were other issues such as significant colour shifting which caused pink/purple discolouration and banding when the display was moved only slightly. This in itself became really annoying and was enough to give me some eye strain and headaches. Alas, it had to go back.

    I am thinking of trying the Zenfone 6 with its LCD display, though can't really find it for a reasonable price even 2nd hand. This is a phone from 2019 but it seems it was quite rare here so second hand examples and any new old stock are like gold dust. The only other options after that are the giant phones with LCD displays from Xiaomi etc…or the Motorola as mentioned above.

    But what I still can't move on from is that my Oneplus 3 from 2016 wiith its OLED display has been extremely comfortable for 5 years of use. There must be something different in these new OLED panels aside from/as well as PWM that is causing some of us these issues? The comparison Maxx made above is a good one, I find it almost just like reading a book in terms of how non-aggressive it is to my senses.

      9thfloorprod There must be something different in these new OLED panels aside from

      I've just found out I have eyestrain from looking at reflected light from the screen. You can test it on paper. So it is the light in my case.
      You can test it by going to the dark room and looking at the screen reflection at the piece of paper, even on low brightness.
      Be careful, i found out that looking at bad screens in darkness may be way worse than doing it in full light. No matter what is the screen brightness. Avoid looking on screen, avoid any light directly from the screen, the screen should be turned away from you.
      To get the best results it makes sense to test it with your worst phone. Compare with the reflected light from normal tech at the same perceived brightness at the same room.
      I am also having problems with new oleds, no problems with old oldes, no matter what the pwm is.

      P.S. This result with reflected light is so weird, I will double check it myself a few extra times.

        If you look at this MacForums post here, you'll see an "Anti-Flicker" option -- but it looks like an Android device and not an Apple one.


        Does anyone know what phone this is? Is it a OnePlus device?

        I have been using Poco X3 Pro more than one month now. At beginning, I had some eyestrain and mild headaches, but now it is all normal and I can use phone without problems. Just to say, I could not use iPhone 11, Samsung 20. These are the phones that I have sent back.

        One problem with the Poco is it sheer size. I would like to try Xiaomi 11 Lite 11, as it is lighter and smaller phone.

        Does someone have experience with Xiaomi?

        To add, I have been also using new MacBook Air M1 few months without eye strain.

          neca980 Xiaomi 11 Lite

          Got the eyestrain at the store, similar to iPhone 11 and slightly better than Samsung 20

            ryans

            I've been using iPhone SE 1st gen for 3 years daily and have no strain from it. One of updates in the past caused some strain for a while (in connection with the movement and animations), but now it's good with iOS 15.

            For me is iPhone SE 2020 one of rare phones that I could use without a strain. Newer iPhones are unusable for me.

            If they only would be produced in format of 7+ and 8+ phones.

              My last usable smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy A5. It never gave me any problems. I tried after that a Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S and Samsung Galaxy A51. Both gave me eyestrain and headaches and it was worse with the A51.

              I don't understand. What has changed in this last 5-6 years in smartphone technology that we have to suffer these symptoms? Why does the Redmi have milder effects than the A51, when the A5 is also an AMOLED and it never gave me any problems?

                dev