I have been struggling with eye strain myself for six months severely and am just finding this sight. I think I am ordering an AMD graphic card to see if that completely elevated it. When i say eye strain i mean the ocular muscles around the eye, edge, and the temple. particularly for me its lighter everywhere and heavies on my left eye on the outer upper left edge if that makes sense. If i am on the screen for a while i can feel it when not using my screen by simply focusing Things that have helped me: Quantum Dot monitor from Samsung Getting rid of Intel NUC Dithering set enabled not auto or disabled, I use temporal dithering not static or dynamic,6 bit color not 8 bit, and Color range that is full. Powermizer set to prefer maximum performance (Nvidia 1050 SC graphics) Digital vibrance set to zero can help but i prefer color most of the time. I used to have an INTEL NUC and that is when it got really bad. I thought it was the lighting. Since then I have built a machine. I am going to read through the forums to see what I find on AMD graphics cards. I may also try switching to some version of Windows. Have to see. But if my eye strain was not here. my productivity as a programmer would literally be 10x. but thats just not the case when focus is interrupted by biological function. its hell but there must be a way through this. I mean other people look at screens without the type of eyestrain, there must be something that can solve out problems as well. I am getting led strips delivered tomorrow as well. I had bulbs but the flicker was detectable through my smart watch camera. I ordered a power supply to drive them with DC current. I even called the Mean Well power supply manufacture and asked them about ripple (AC current seeping in to DC current outputs). They said it should not be an issue. The kelvin temperature is cold white. somewhere above 5500k i think. Have to see but i wanted to post here before i went to bed. Be well.

Awesome Community, So Thankful Someone got the convo going

Wrightpt1

I meant smart phone camera*. The kelvin temperature of the LED's is cold white. Will report back of course

Gurm

You're not going to be super happy with an AMD card, they dither pretty badly. But there might be a way to turn it off in the Linux drivers.

GeForce is pretty much the way to go if you want to avoid eyestrain.

Wrightpt1

I updated my Nvidia driver today from the 378 to 381.09 and that made a world of difference for me. I am using incandescent until the LED strips arrive later today.

I am buying a mac i think later in the week with the monitor all in one. I think I may trying installing Windows on my current machine. I cant help but feel like a second class citizen as a Linux user at this point. Noticing this difference in display quality through the drivers has just caused me anxiety. how can one perform consistently if the tools ones uses are not consistent.

Thank you for the advice on the AMD graphics card. I shall avoid. I considered getting a mac mini and sticking with the quantum dot but i think my safest best is go with a monitor that has been tested with the system. would you agree?

Also, does mac or windows allow the dithering to be cut off? I have read that Nvidia control panel is similiar in Windows as it is on Ubuntu/Linux. Do you recommend one over the other? I am installing a second hard drive to install Windows on this system. I cant find a way to do it with my current harddrive without running into errors.

Anyway, thanks again for responding. Be well.

KM

Wrightpt1 If you don't need a fast graphics card, try an NVIDIA Quadro NVS 295 from HP. It's like 10 years old, but still good for office use and can even play accelerated H.264 videos. It's cheap to get on ebay, there are lots of them, and they sell for like $10. In fact I'd recommend them to anyone as a very cheap standard setup to test for reduced eye strain. I still use it, with a passive HDMI adapter, and it's very usable with Windows 10 pre-anniversary. It's much better than the newer-gen NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (from 2016) I recently tried. Even on Arch LInux I recently saw some improvements, maybe they changed someting in the Kernel's modesetting driver (nouveau) for the better.

Gurm

There is absolutely no way to disable dithering on the Mac, although many people were working on this the only people to find a solution were some external monitor replicator people and they only made it available to their customers.

On Windows, nVidia hasn't got dithering - at least so far. AMD has it and there's a registry key to turn it off but it's unclear if that works well. Intel has an app to turn it off, but it's been hit or miss for users here.

diop

Gurm Does this also apply to the nVidia 10x0 series (Pascal)? I've heard on this forum that those cards have some sort of extra dithering/processing baked-in which causes problems?

I'll still be using Windows 7/Linux so hopefully avoid the W10 headaches for now.

Wrightpt1

solid input. I say the mac because my roommate has one and it never gives me any problems when i get on. although it has been brief stints. nothing heavy like combing over text like on my monitor/system. I cant say for sure.

I will def give the Quadro NVS 295 graphics card a look . I use a display port right now for 144hz on my monitor but can prob still get 120 hz thought that card.

Maybe I am not as far off as i feel I am. I mean if Macs wont help, windows here i come. See how the graphics card will fit into my setup.

Wrightpt1

I am also considering getting a 27 inch monitor.

I mean that should not add to the strain in reality should it. the extra real estate would really allow me to feel more at home behind the monitor.

Wrightpt1

it was def the driver for me. the Ubuntu 378.13 is trash to me. i can notice it right after booting and doing a bit of web browsing. I hope they only get better from here. i was reading through some of there documentation. It seems Windows is def a huge focus of their's. They allow one to override the windows settings through the Invidia Control panel.

Wrightpt1

Writing this from Windows 10 Pro. I am in a not so well lit room. this would have killed me on Linux. But here I am grabbing another gear i feel like. So far this is much more relaxing to my eyes than the Linux environment. especially with this monitor i have.

I am still considering the mac. will have to see.

Wrightpt1

Windows ten has issues as well? I saw a few posts on the forum that mentioned Windows ten was not good. I still have the eye strain. Not half as bad since getting the LEDs from DC current installed But still something that interrupts focus. I really don't want to go back to Win 7. but will do what ever it takes. I think I will switch out he graphics card and give windows 7 a spin to see how my eyes react.

today the Direct Current(DC) Led lights were installed. its like being on a different planet. I have 15,000 lumens and it helps. I think I am increasing it to 30,000 with cloth diffusion.

I do have a 1050 graphics card with Pascal architecture. Wow, my trust for NVidia just got jarred:

I did a quick amazon search and came up with two alternatives for graphics cards display ports. KM mentioned one earlier but I prefer to go with something with more capacity if possible:

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Display-Graphics-02G-P4-3757-KR/dp/B00J0ISHMQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1492123621&sr=8-4&keywords=graphics+card+display+port https://www.amazon.com/PNY-DisplayPort-Multi-Display-Professional-VCNVS310DP-PB/dp/B008B6ONWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492124760&sr=8-1&keywords=graphics+card+display+port

I think I am going with the former, GTX 750. There are three models. I can research which has the least or dithering. Hopefully neither of the options have it. It does not seem to have pascal architecture at a glance.

Thanks again for all the input.

What Linux version are you using? May I ask? and What monitor IPS or TN with what type of settings? anything specific

much obliged either way

hansennnnn

Wrightpt1

deepflame after you downgrade ios,is eyestrain dissapear ?

Gurm

Sadly yes the Pascal architecture does seem to have something baked in. Even the late-model 9x0 cards (the new smaller die-size 970's for example) seem to have a little extra ... something.

As for Windows 10, it does have issues - in Anniversary edition (LTSB 2016, build 1607) and up. This is mitigated somewhat on certain cards, it's a very complex compositing issue. My son's friend has an MSI GeForce 970 which is actually quite good even with Anniversary edition, but even my venerable Quadro card at work hurts to look at if I allow the machine it is in to update itself.

AgentX20

Gurm Sadly yes the Pascal architecture does seem to have something baked in. Even the late-model 9x0 cards (the new smaller die-size 970's for example) seem to have a little extra ... something.

Just today I reinstalled my 1070 in place of my trusty 970. I was instantly struck by the "this doesn't feel right" sensation with the newer card, with the sensation getting worse the longer I looked at it. Put the 970 back in and everything's fine. So no improvements for me with Win 10 Creator's Edition nor the latest Nvidia drivers.

This really annoys me. Now to sell off the 1070 card, and the 980Ti I bought second hand in the hope it might fare better (it didn't).

Gurm

Yeah, I was really hopeful about the 980Ti. Best I can tell, early-gen 970's are the last "good" cards from nVidia. This is troubling.

Wrightpt1

Gurm I think the Nvidia 970 sounds like a good idea for me. Is it a bad idea replace my intel I7 processor with an equivalent amd processor? If so, do you recommend a model i should go with? or just pick the one for my needs.

It seems My screen is not the issue. The only things left are video card and processor after operating systems. I am still working on getting the win 7 iso but dont see myself being thoroughly productive with it but will have to see. The Nvidia 970 excites me though but i have learned to never count my chickens, esp with eye strain

Which Linux operating system is one that is most preferred. KM mentioned it could be something in the Kernel. Thats a scary thought. Is going with Debian a safer bet over Ubuntu?

Wrightpt1

Just downloaded the ICC profile installer for Ubuntu. That helped a lot as well. Used the profile that came with the monitor. My ocular muscles are still giving me some irritation but it is much much improved. I am very greatful. Thus far lights and ICC profile have been key for me. still may change graphics and possibly my cpu.

Wrightpt1

Took out my Nvidia Graphics Card Geforce 1050 SC. Am running through the integrated graphics on intel i7 6700k. Much better on my eyes but still there. I think the next step is to get an AMD processor. just thinking out loud. have to see.

It the same strain just to much less extend. thank goodness.

Plsnostrain

I had a desktop with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460. And that was from 2011. A hp with integrated disabled. Some of the worst eyestrain I ever had. Best been for me its amd laptop

Wrightpt1

Plsnostrain okay, yes i was wondering. is it better to go with Xeon from Intel or Amd with no integrated graphics and then stick with the Nvida GPU i have or maybe go to the Nvidia 970 (others, AgentX20 said he felt better with the 970 over Pascal/10X0 series)

Does your labtop have a AMD graphics card. I assume so?

If i go with AMD I am going to have to switch my motherboard.

Gurm

The processor is irrelevant except that it usually has integrated graphics. If you're using a discrete card the processor has absolutely no bearing. Switching to AMD involves swapping the motherboard, usually. Which means a new chipset and a whole mess of drivers. I'd recommend against it, and keep your i7 which is fine. Just use a good nVidia card from a known good generation. Any 7x0 will be fine or an old 9x0.