What works for you, what do you use now without problems?
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Ryzen 7 2700X
Windows 7 64bit Service Pack 1
Nvidia Quadro K6000(Kepler)
Nvidia Quadro Driver 347.52(Last version before Maxwell)
DVI Connection with standard DVI cable.
Eizo FlexScan L997(ripped off Anti-Glare film by myself)
100% Brightness(No PWM) with OSD Color gain control to 50 ~ 60cd/m2, 6500k or 5500k temperature
(Day: 60cd at 6500k, Night 50cd at 5500k) via Color Calibration(using i1 display pro with DisplayCAL software).
To me
major culprit is Anti-Glare film of the monitor.
No other video card but Kepler.
Latest Nvidia driver slightly affect my eye strain.
No Windows 10
No Intel CPU(I don't know why)
<Problem - Solution>
PWM - 100% Brightness setting
High Brightness - Gain control
Dithering(OS) - Windows 7
Dithering(Videocard) - Nvidia Kepler Architecture Card
Light Diffusion(Heavy AG coating) - Peel off AG film
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I'd like to know what hector is using these days. He was previously trying all kinds of things and finding very good relief with a previous generation BenQ VA.
SeniorTaquito My S8 does not bother me either. idk why. It could have something to do with my screen protector. Or possibly because it's an OLED. I'm not sure.
Thats amazing you can use the new iphone! Maybe things are changing for the good!
I've suffered like so many of you with this "invisible" issue and this has effected so many bits of tech that i have bought in the past since i was about 20 and now i'm the ripe old age of 46. I've had issues with TVs, laptops and smart phones. I've tried to narrow it down to what the cause is and come to some conclusions that have worked for me. I don't think its just one thing but i do believe that one aspect is the main factor and that is CONTRAST RATIO of the screen. I find that any screen that has a contrast ratio of over 1000:1 gives me eye strain within minutes. I've tried to "push" through it to the extent that my eyes physically watering but it doesn't get any better the more i persevere. I'm still not sure if PWM is the cause as i've had TVs with zero PWM and my eyes still feel like they are being pinched at each side.
This is my list:-
Tech that doesn't work for me
Tvs
LG UH8500
Sony KDL7073
Sony XG9505BU
Samsung RU7400
Samsung J6240
Panasonic GX820
Phones
Samsung s7, s8,
HTC 10
Huawei P9, P20, P20 pro, P10 lite
Google Pixel 2XL
Laptops
Median Erazer x6000 series
Tech that does work
TVs
Sony KDL4000v
Samsung EH5300
Hisense 7120 Roku TV
Phones
Samsung s2, s4, s6
HTC one m7
Huawei P9 lite, Mate 20 lite
Nokia 6.1
Honor 20
Laptops
Acer Nitro black edition v15
I also find HTC vive ok and i currently have an Oculus quest which is fine but both do cause a little strain after a few hours but no eye pinching.
Other factors are reflective glass screens don't help and i don't know why but TVs with 120hz panels give me pain so cheaper TVs are more comfortable for me. It also isn't a case of just turning down the contrast on TVs as some manufacturers don't implement this successfully.Also turning artificial sharpness down helps.
Please use the Notebookcheck website for detailed reviews as they measure the Contrast ratio for phones and laptops. Also rtings is great for TV reviews with contrast ratio measurements.
I currently use an HONOR 20 mobile phone with a contrast ratio of 875:1 and i can stare at it all day long if needed.
I don't know why the samsung s2 and s6 were great to use as they are amoled and should have infinite contrast ratio.
Hope this helps others and send me any questions you have.
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DiscoDave Im using XE9005 which gave me still some problems but its best TV from what I had except old SONY 43WD750 which wored 100% for everythinsg.. My problem started after I sold that TV and bought NEW 4K TVs...
You are right about reflections it suirely dont help my screen is semi glossy which isnt that bad for TV but not compared to any monitor with 3H anti glare matte surface.
Thanks for the input with the contrast ratio I will try a screen with that...
How about OLED have u tried any?
For screens that work for me is my old EIZO FS2434 close to 9000 hours and not a single headache there but I need to find a bigger screen to replace my TV which would be OK.
Terraque laptop With i7-6700hq gforce 940m. No strain, but there are coil whine unfortunately.
Luki99 I've never used an oled TV as I'm scared to buy one as they are over 1k and then for it not to agree with me would be heart breaking. Your old Sony TV has a contract ratio of 1000:1 and it's comfortable and your x9005 has ratio of 5500:1 so maybe contrast is a big factor for you too. I'm tempted to buy one of the new song TV's xh8000 series as they have ratio of 799:1 and good input lag for games. What mobile phone do you use and are you happy with that screen?
Apologies it's actually the Sony x850g that looks promising but the x800h also has low contrast of 1150:1 and extremely low input lag. Would be good if anyone has these TV's to share their experience.
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I wouldn't risk the X800 or 850 after having xe9005. OLED isnt that much more expensive then this TV I have just checked. If you buy any display imo you need to buy it at a place where you can return it.
I think you would be better of trying a 43 monitor with IPS, 1000:1, flicker free and W-LED anti glare matte 3h - those are the stuff my monitor 24 has and its night and day vs TV when im on the monitor my eyes fell normal/relaxed I dont think about it.
You cant get 3h surface on any TV, u cant get truly flicker free (even sonys has some flicker/woble at low level backlight leves and I always use low brightness) also I always turn off all the shitty stuff TVs has like contrast enchancer, cine motion bla bla but I feel theres still some image processing being done there... Good monitors are usually very well calibrated while TVs colors calibration are quite shitty Moniotors were always better/no problem for me and problem started on 4k Tvs so I think trying out a monitor 43 is a good idea I know its smaller but if it works it wont be a huge issue.
As for TVs I would only try OLED. If you try anything update
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DiscoDave I dont use smartphone but old Nokia phone so screen doesnt matter Im just using it to call.
As for the X850g on rtings it says 799:1 but on other revievs they sometimes hit 1152:1 value so I don't know... also ONLY that could cause all that pain hm... I compared this to my XE9005 and besides it they are almost the same althrought xe9005 has much better picture quality, im using it at 9/50 brightness and then it's flicker free. But maybe u right and that contrast ratio kills it for me.
What could you worry about X850G is the precalibration settings rated only at 6.4 which is quite bad... for example my xe9005 (aka x900e US ver) has rating of 8.3 and rtings says:
"Out of the box in the 'Custom' picture mode the calibration of the TV is excellent and could be used without any further adjustments."
And in fact I can tell I always liked the colours of this TV, movies are awesome and when I rotate camera in for example MGS V it looks super smooth. This can be important same as contrast ratio because with poor precalibration you can have similar problems
Hm atm im starting to think that maybe the coulpe PC games which gave me problems on this TV but didnt on monitor 24 will give me the same on other TV/larger screen because it can be couple of factors triggering it for example those games were Sniper ghost warrior and sim racers like assetto corsa all much FOV-related games so maybe on bigger screen my brain can't handle it...
The only thing that gives me some deep thinking is why on 43wd750 I could play all games on PS4 no problems but at 4k tvs I couldnt use PS4 no more with any games but I can with most of PC games... thats a killer. Maybe like some people said in this forum one PS4 update killed their PS4 usage so maybe its my case too... It all started for me in the era of HDR support.
Again probably without trying a 43 monitor I won't know for sure it would be most similar to my 24 monitor in terms of spec.
I'm truly stumped at what it could be and it's frustrating that I can't do a simple thing as watching the TV. I know when buying a mobile it's definitely contrast ratio as I've bought and sold so many. I was convinced it was pwm flicker but had some TV's and mobiles that are pwm flicker free and because of the contrast I had to sell them. I have an Xbox one X and I turn off the hdr support as the color pallette is too garish for my liking. Could it be resolution? I have 4k TV and 1080p upscaled seems to pull at my eye balls more. Is 4k too much detail for our eyes? This all sounds ridiculous but I'm losing my mind.
DiscoDave Maybe you know this, but maybe not: first you need to make sure the device you connect is usable for you. I don't know about the Xbox One. A few of us agree upon the PS3 is a usable console (for most games at least).
The chain "device - display", and in the case of PCs, "OS - driver - GPU - display" must be perfect at every link.
If you have a device you have trouble with on a known-good display, chances are it will be unusable for you no matter which LCD you try.
I think I'm fine with the Xbox as been using it on my old Samsung eh5300 with no issues and my Sony has a cheap 32" bush TV and it's very comfortable to look at and play on with his Xbox one. Is your Sony xg800 comfortable to view or do you have issues?
https://pcmonitors.info/articles/factors-influencing-pc-monitor-viewing-comfort/
This is an interesting article that explains many of the factors contributing to eye strain. Contrast is mentioned and also pwm. I just used my android phone camera at shutter speed 1/4000 to find out my TV has flicker unless it's 100% backlight. So now I'm setting it at 100% and see how my eyes cope. My TV is only about 300cdm anyway so hopefully is still watchable tonight when it's night time.....fingers crossed
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I think the most important factor is not using too much brightness for a given environment. My eyes were bothering me as daytime changed to nighttime while my brightness level still was the same. Once I switched to a night mode with brightness at 3, I've been much better. The lower your ambient lighting, the lower you need to make your screen brightness.
Of course all screens may not dim the backlight equally well, with some invisibly flickering more than others as brightness is turned way down.
I saw a couple of Xeon's in this thread. Has anyone tried Xeon vs other Intel CPUs. Do they help make it more comfortable?