Inexplicable difference between phones

Vip

Hi all - I'm a long-time sufferer of eye strain/migraines from phones, laptops, monitors and car screens; I've been keeping my 2015 iPhone 6s and 2016 Macbook Pro going as they are the last good devices I've been able to tolerate, and I've tried a lot (Android/Apple/Windows/LCD/AMOLED/etc.)!

I've discounted PWM as I am triggered by IPS LCD screens so was working on the assumption that it might be caused by temporal dithering or FRC - but I have no direct evidence of this. I just bought a replacement iPhone 6s as my old one is knackered but - unbelievably - this new 6s is giving me eye strain! This is the 3rd 6s I've had and the first to cause any problems.

I understand that screens are made by different component manufacturers but I think this means that dithering is not the issue, as I assume that it would not vary between screen makers for the same model (and iOS) of iPhone. So it therefore must be something to do with the physical screen itself? It just keeps getting more mysterious!

Anyone had a similar experience with screens or got any theories what might be behind the problem??

Abeabe

Vip If you want to add something to the conspiracy theory, when I see some screens with pwm or they are flickering in some way like the OLED ones, sometimes I start to feel a weird anxity sympthom and looking at them for some time leads me to have a feeling like a depression that stops when I stop looking at them, depression sells a lot, it promotes consumerism.

Seagull

Vip

You might ultimately discover you have a few triggers. I can't use IPS, dithering in some instances but not others, or any software that adds a blur.

I would strongly suspect its the screen though, it might even have an aftermarket replacement screen.

bpo19

Vip Is the new phone on IOS 16.5 or higher? From reading a lot about this, apparently they introduced some type of temporal dithering, making once useable phones unusable. I bought a new SE 2022 last week and as soon as I turned it on I got instant nausea. I had to return it. So there's the problem of different screen manufacturers and not knowing which one you're going to get, and now with this insane dithering on current IOS versions. I am stuck on iphone 8 on IOS 14 and have no idea what to do. Most apps don't work anymore. I also have a 2015 macbook pro and tried the M2 mbp and had to return it due to the dithering.

Sunspark

Doesn't have to be the screen. It can be the backlight controller, which can be made by a different manufacturer. For example, on one of my (old!) tablets, the battery swelled so I had to disassemble it and I will not rebuild it because it's so old, but I saved the LCD panel because it was comfortable. The controller to run the backlight is separate from the panel. I might rebuild it into a small standalone display (1024x768).. who knows how it will act with a new controller? I can't use the one that was built into the original tablet.

Vip

Sunspark Possibly, there is clearly something different about it, whether it's OS, screen, backlight or something else - what's most mystifying is why one should give me migraines and the other not - but I guess that's the question we're all wrestling with on this forum…

ensete

Identical phones can have different hardware inside, this is especially common on phones

Vip

bpo19 No, it's on 15.8 (because it's a 6S and so can't go any higher) - my old phone is on 15.7.8 I think. The release notes between the two versions don't mention anything about displays but in theory there could be something there making a difference.

I'm in a similar position in that I'm nursing old hardware but that is pretty soon going to run out of road. I have been holding out hope that some new screen tech would come along to change things but there's no sign of that, so I guess now it's a case of reconciling myself to the fact that I soon won't be able to use a laptop or smartphone for more than a few minutes a day. Thankfully I can still use computers through older monitors for now but they too will stop working eventually. On the bright side, at least I can get back to reading books again!

Liberator005

Vip 15.7.8 compared to 15.8 could be sufficient to make the screen completely different, unfortunately.

ocean10

Vip

Have a look at what I just posted here:

https://ledstrain.org/d/2683-severe-symptoms-updating-old-iphone-started-a-summary-of-goodbad-versions

This seems similar to an issue I had when I thought I was safe to update an old iPhone 7 (and also other previously good iPhone LCD's)

Were you able to find something that worked? I'm in a tough spot right now because I can't use my work phone.

caboy

It is possible it is FRC Dithering. I had the same issue between some iPhone 5s's. Some were bad, one was good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate_control

I don't know if FRC happens in the hardware or software. I had a Dell monitor with TN (FRC). It was bad even on a computer that was known to be good.

Vip

I'm afraid not - it seems that the 15.8 update made my only usable phone unusable. I don't have any phones now (and I've tried a lot of Android LCDs too) that I can use for more than a couple of minutes without giving me persistent headaches and nausea. I'm trying to adapt by not using a phone whenever I can and using my Macbook as a desktop (which is fine through an old monitor) - but this is very limiting, as you can imagine. Working on the go, banking, communicating, etc. is all reliant on smartphones.

My Macbook (2016) screen has given up and so I'm reliant on a really old (ex-Win 7) laptop on which I've installed ChromeOS as a portable option - no headaches but also no battery life and heavy.

I will definitely share here if I find anything that helps!

ocean10

Did you message Apple about it? Being that it seems like it was a software change (and potentially a minor one at that since it seemed to start in a random iOS update without it even being mentioned in release notes) I keep hoping maybe they can switch it back or at least introduce an option to turn in off in Accessibility settings.

ocean10

I think this wouldn't be the case here as I'm pretty sure the refresh rates didn't change with these minor iOS updates. At least for me when I make these updates on a previously "good" phone (good meaning very comfortable display that I could look at all day) something changes where they IMMEDIATELY start giving me bad symptoms. I can't figure it out. The "look" exactly the same. But something is happening to set off the symptoms.