Usable Smartphones?

KM

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

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

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

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.

degen

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.

AGI

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...

Peter

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?

Gurm

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.

deepflame

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.

daniel_mate

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

Markus

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)

deepflame

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

jasonpicard

Markus Samsung S2 and Yotaphone 2 both OLED give me no eye strain. I eventually want to buy another OLED phone as that's the only time I have any luck. I'm using Yotaphone 2 right now.

Gurm

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!

Gurm

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!

Markus

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?

Gurm

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.

Gurm

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.

tfouto

Markus How much brightness do you tolerate on the HTC 10? On my old HTC one (m7), i could use it only on low brightness.

Markus

@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.

Gurm

Markus Windows 10 itself causes strain unless you use the original release - every build from mid-2016 on has strain.

ryans

Markus Since 2 weeks I am forcing me using a Pixel 2 XL, because that is the phone I like to use.

Are your eyes getting used to it?

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

Other than what we do on here, does anyone else do research that you've seen? I've tried looking and have not found any.

ThaCMaster

Is there a certain setting you guys are using on the HTC 10 that makes it eye friendly? I had eye strain and headaches with that device. Ever since I got rid of my Galaxy S4 it's been nothing but headaches for me.

andc

ThaCMaster
Panels may come from different manufacturers, so one may be good while other not.

I'm using mine with RGB color profile (vivid one is straining) with screen temparature set to warmer at around 1/2 of left side of scale. Also brightness is set to adaptive with level around 1/4-1/3 of the whole scale. When used with high brightness this screen may be hard to use.

I hope these panels don't vary as I plan to buy another HTC 10 when battery dies on this one. I remember there was an issue with pink tint during first few weeks due to glue used for the screen, so it could have some effect too. Now I don't notice it, so it's probably dried off.

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