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  • On Arch-Linux xfce, eye strain problem is gone (unsure)

helloworld Hi. The distro I installed is Arch-Linux and Xfce4 window manager. The main reason I feel eye-painless is that linux's color depth is not strong as other Operating System I guess, I think Color Dithering is turned off by default on linux. But the disadvantage is obvious that I can't watch colorful images or videos like before, because they have banding.

And because of my Macbook Pro, linux heats up quickly so I don't really want to switch to Linux. I'm still using Mac OS X.

Dithering color is major problem that causes eye problem! As much as I know, there is no way to disable it on Mac OS X. But it's possible on Windows and Linux. Try Google something like "turn off Dithering Windows", you might find some of clues. (I haven't found a solution for myself 🙁, I'm still searching .)

Have a good day

      vinkenvvt changed the title to On Arch-Linux Xfce4, eye strain problem is gone! .

      I still get small eye strain in Linux, using the X Server and in some cases at the command line, too.
      I believe it is a driver issue, because I don't have any problems in Windows using the same hardware.
      I could only test my NVIDIA card and my Raspberry Pi, but they both produce the same effect in various Linux distributions, including Arch.
      Raspberry Pi on RiscOS: no eye strain at all, but it is not a usable OS.
      NVIDIA + deprecated "nv" driver: no eyestrain, but at the same time no hardware acceleration

      Maybe the Intel Iris Pro GPU has "better" drivers. I would love to test it, but a new CPU means new mainboard, new RAM, and, in my case, a new case + power supply unit. That is too much for just a test that might not be successful. When I have to upgrade my PC in the future, I might have a look at Intel GPUs.

      Well vinkenvvt do you have ever tried installing an other linux (mint, ubuntu)? and disabled dithering in the xorg?

      does that also help you? or is this just your arch-linux-xfce64 experience?

      Same question as in the apple thread 😃

      And has anybody a working soluton for disabling dithering in windows?

          I think disabling dithering is going to be specific to the graphics card..
          Looking at this link shows how to disable it for AMD, but with having intel, doesn't help me at all.
          If we could compile a guide on modifying xorg for major graphics cards... Nvidia, AMD, Intel, etc... that could be a extremely useful resource. Maybe something on here? http://wiki.xyzz.work/wiki/Disable_dithering_linux

          23 days later

          I think this discussion that I posted might mislead people from the true reason of eye strain of computer Graphics.

          3 months later

          Two days ago I installed the latest Arch Linux x64 + Xfce. Eye strain, if any, is very minimal. No headaches. Probably the best desktop distro, in terms of eye strain, I have tried so far. This is great.
          Out of the box, "nouveau" driver, Nvidia Quadro NVS 295

          I currently tend to believe the font antialiasing, as mentioned in other threads, is indeed causing some extra eye strain. I disabled it completely now and will continue to use Arch Linux for the next days.
          I can even use Chromium (even hardware-accelerated), which definitely hurt under Windows.

          Arch Linux is known to always have the latest packages. Maybe other distros will soon be more eye-friendly, too.

          vinkenvvt, did you have eye strain before with other Linux distributions?

          There's a convenient gui tool in Linux Mint Cinnamon to adjust Hinting and Anti-aliasing

          • JTL replied to this.

            Xfce has those settings, too; the grayscale setting is 'none' in subpixel options.

            In current Arch, you can override (probably any) program's fonts with the file ~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf
            https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Font_configuration

            A drawback is many webfonts look ugly without antialiasing, and replacing them with (preferably) bytecode-interpreted TTF fonts removes many special characters.
            Maybe deactivated antialiasing looks much better on Retina displays - haven't had the chance to try that yet.

            • JTL replied to this.
            • JTL likes this.

              KM <3 Retina displays, thinking of buying a 4k monitor eventually.

                Using standard grayscale antialiasing and Firefox under Kali Linux (GNOME) looks fine to me.
                I think overriding fonts in applications might be the [ugly fonts] problem

                image https://i.imgur.com/AcAuqqb.png

                You use antialiasing, but I was referring to "antialiasing off".
                This is a screenshot, using the embedded webfont:
                image https://i.imgur.com/MWVl7Wi.png

                  KM yeah, my experience too. Which is why my setting are as set (grey scale and slight) I figure - less but still legible.

                    2 years later
                    vinkenvvt changed the title to On Arch-Linux xfce, eye strain problem is gone (unsure) .
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