novideo_srgb app fow windows?

smilem

I use keygen no problems either. Paying for eyestrain to M$ are you serious?

Sunspark

Why ever pay for Windows? The only PC I ever bought myself that came with Windows was in 1995, and that one was an OEM CD.

JTL

AgentX20 I concur Microsoft's policies for backward/forwards compatibility is moronic. But installing without a key should be fine for evaluation.

Also a reminder not to discuss methods of hypothetical "piracy" on this forum.

AVE10N

Hi! (Sorry for using Google Translate.) I used the program novideo_srgb to test my sensitivity to dithering. I turned it on in this program and immediately felt eye strain that I hadn't experienced before. I immediately turned it off and reset everything, but the eye strain didn't go away. I reinstalled the video card drivers, deleting the old ones via DDU, but it didn't help. I figured Windows 11 had somehow remembered the dithering settings and reinstalled Windows from scratch, but the effect didn't go away. How could this even be possible? Where are these settings stored now that nothing helps restore everything to its original state. Before this, my eyes never hurt from my monitor and RTX 3060 video card in Windows 11 and 10. I'm simply desperate that I decided to try this experiment; I thought everything could be easily restored to its original state. Can anyone suggest what else I can try?

Sunspark

Seems strange. You could unplug the monitor from power for a few minutes to let it reboot. Pressing the on button should help discharge it before plugging it back in. If that's no good, you could try removing the card for a few minutes and then plugging it back in.

AVE10N

Sunspark I already installed a different GTX 1650 graphics card, but nothing changed. I reset the monitor settings. I manually disabled dithering in ColorControl, but nothing helped. I reinstalled the graphics card drivers again, but still nothing.

WhisperingWind

AVE10N

It's possible that you are hypersensitive to temporal dithering, and your eyes are currently very overstrained; you need to rest for a day or more.

AVE10N

WhisperingWind Yes, my eyes are very sensitive; I can't stand even the slightest flicker. I've been trying to buy a new monitor for almost three years, but none of the 12 I've tried were as comfortable as my old one. Now even my old monitor is causing me discomfort. The worst part is, everything was fine until I decided to enable dithering via novideo_srgb. I've cursed myself a hundred times over it. I wonder if it's even possible to get used to this and not feel constant eye strain?

WhisperingWind

AVE10N

I would recommend seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist and getting tested for binocular vision disorder (BVD).

The Problem: "Strained" Binocular Vision

Although the ophthalmologist found no diseases (no refractive errors, retinal issues, etc.), the problem may lie in binocular function—in how the brain combines signals from the two eyes.

Dithering and PWM flicker (Shim) create rapid, barely perceptible changes in brightness.
For sensitive eyes and a "strained" visual processor, this is constant stress. The brain has to exert effort to maintain a clear and single image when each eye receives slightly different signals in terms of timing and brightness.
This leads to visual fatigue, accommodative spasm (tension in the muscles focusing the lens), and, as a result, eye strain and headaches.

Potential Hidden Issue: Aniseikonia or Muscle Imbalance

This is when the images from the two eyes differ slightly in size or clarity, or there is a slight imbalance in the tone of the extraocular muscles. The brain is forced to constantly "adjust" the pictures to merge them. Screen flickering exacerbates this problem many times over. A standard ophthalmologist's examination may not detect this.

P.S. This may have nothing to do with you, but it's worth going and getting tested. But for myself, this is still the only explanation I've found (a hypothesis, since it hasn't been confirmed by a doctor yet).

AVE10N

Does anyone know how to contact the developer of this program? I don't know how this is possible, but their program somehow made changes to my RTX 3060 and nothing helps. I've already tried reinstalling Windows 10/11 7 times. I never had eye strain with this graphics card and my monitor before, but now it feels like there's sand in my eyes when I use the computer. I've only had to turn the dithering on and off again, but the effect doesn't go away no matter what I do.

WhisperingWind

AVE10N

The GPU itself is essentially a "dumb" device—it doesn't permanently store color correction or dithering settings from third-party software. A clean installation of Windows removes all third-party programs, registry entries, and driver settings that aren't embedded in the hardware.

WhisperingWind

AVE10N

https://github.com/ledoge/novideo_srgb/issues/127

I also tried connecting an old drive, which has Windows 11

Don't use Windows 11, it causes eye strain for many people on this forum.

Maybe that affected it, and now the video card constantly emulates 10-bit?

Make sure you currently have 8-bit set.

Try using https://github.com/Maassoft/ColorControl instead of novideo_srgb (although they should both use the same API and give the same result, give it a try anyway).

Install Windows 10 22H2 on a clean, formatted partition. Ensure that the driver version installed is the same as before and that the settings comfortable for you are applied.

Emeridan

AVE10N I think what is happening to you is a coencidece. I was using my Win 11 laptop with 3050ti for years without issues and the new updates Windows did changed something. Suddenly I can’t use it and I did not install any programs or updated any drivers when this started happening. It’s just the newest windows version. Sadly those specific updated can’t be unistalled and I don’t want to reinstall older version manually. If you want to try that, you can.

AVE10N

WhisperingWind I left him a comment there, but he hasn't written anything for two years, so I doubt he'll respond. I was wondering how the settings would be saved if I'm installing Windows from scratch. I installed the same version 25H2, the same driver 591. Before I clicked the enable dithering button in novideo_srgb, I had no voltage at all from my monitor or graphics card. I know a lot of people complain about Win11's non-disabling dithering, but I've never had any issues with it before. I installed Win10 21H2 LTSC, and even with the RTX 3060, my eyes are unusually strained; when I install the GTX 1650, everything is fine.

AVE10N

WhisperingWind Before this problem, I was running the latest version of Windows 11 25H2 and had no eye strain. I also tried Windows 10 21H2 with a GTX 1650, and it was comfortable for my eyes, but as soon as I installed an RTX 3060, the strain returned. I simply don't understand how this novideo_srgb program managed to ruin a previously safe graphics card.

WhisperingWind

AVE10N

If the old Windows installation was completely removed, then there is no place for the settings to be saved. I believe that the RTX 3060 does not have memory that can retain data after the power is cut without a firmware flash.

You'll need to try adjusting the driver settings again to find what's comfortable for you now. I'm afraid I can't offer much more advice beyond that.

Staycalmsyndrome

AVE10N Reflash bios or maybe just reset the bios by removing it's battery and then reinstall windows. Some settings are kept in the bios.

AVE10N

Staycalmsyndrome I've pulled the battery out for 30 minutes several times before installing Windows. I don't know how it happened, but my RTX 3060 is now straining my eyes much more than before. All the settings in the NVIDIA control panel are the same as they always were: 8-bit, sRGB, full range. Before I install the graphics card driver and use the built-in Windows driver, there's no strain on my eyes, but as soon as the RTX 3060 initializes, my eyes immediately start to strain. I'm not making this up; I could have accurately determined which settings are which in a blind test.

Staycalmsyndrome

AVE10N Oh, so it's also the vbios at play here. If software affected the vbios negatively for you, try testing old versions of novideo_srgb and repeat the same steps or try installing the oldest version of GPU-Z that works for you and simply save the vbios. The idea is to perform operations on vbios with software compiled in safer versions of windows and try to set previous values. As a last resort you can try reflashing the video bios with an old version of nvflash.

According to notebookcheck the RTX 3060 was announced on 12.01.2021 so probably any software older than that wouldn't work.

Sunspark

Change it to YCbCr 4:4:4 instead of RGB.

WhisperingWind

AVE10N

I simply don't understand how this novideo_srgb program managed to ruin a previously safe graphics card.

Novideo_srgb does not store or change GPU settings in the UEFI (BIOS) or VBIOS. The disk was formatted (you did it exactly like that, right?) before installing a new instance of Windows. Therefore, the information about the changes made could not be saved anywhere.

You reset the UEFI (BIOS), but as I understand it, you did this already when your eyes hurt from the RTX 3060, which means the issue is not resetting comfortable UEFI (BIOS) settings to uncomfortable ones.

I still maintain that some settings were lost. I don't have any other options for now.

P.S. You could try ColorControl to disable dithering instead of novideo_srgb.

AVE10N

WhisperingWind I tried turning off dithering using ColorControl, but it didn't work. The program showed dithering was off, but I still felt the same discomfort.

WhisperingWind

Staycalmsyndrome

If software affects the vbios negatively, try testing older versions of novideo_srgb and repeat the same steps or try installing the oldest version of GPU-Z that works for you and simply save the vbios.

Novideo_srgb hooks into NVIDIA API (NVAPI) functions. These let you send commands straight to the driver to tweak image processing on the fly. What it doesn't do is touch the VBIOS. Flashing that requires a separate utility and a ROM file—Novideo_srgb isn't involved in that.

Plus, @AVE10N mentioned earlier that without the Nvidia driver installed, his eyes are fine. That tells us temporal dithering isn't enabled by default in the VBIOS. The issue only shows up once the driver is loaded. So it's clearly something in how the driver is configuring the card.

Not sure exactly what's causing it yet, but one thing's for sure—it's not the VBIOS.