MacBook Pro 2017 15" Radeon pro 560 connected via display port to Dell U2717D or Dell U2713H works well. MacOS Sierra to Mojave.

Native screen of macbook feels offensive right away, I can't use it at all.
(I've turned off touchbar, added matte screen protector, changed white point to warmer, lowered resolution and changed billion to million colors with SwitchResX, bought glasses, run on 100% brightness only with screen dimmer — and nothing helps.)

iPhone 6S plus works just perfect for me.

  • AGI replied to this.

    poliakov MacBook Pro 2017 15" Radeon pro 560

    Is this a Mac which automatically switches between two graphic cards, and the other one is an Intel? Is the eyestrain independent of the card, assuming you can tell which one is being used? Sorry for the basic questions, I am quite ignorant on the topic.

    Interesting you get rid of the eyestrain by plugging the Mac into an external monitor. With my Dell laptop last year it was the other way around, I had more troubles on monitor. Maybe I should give it a go with my MacBook Air. I had understood dithering and whatever strains would be "transferred" onto the external screen...or maybe it is again subjective?

    Hi. Yes, this model switches between graphic cards, but I see no difference with “switch graphic card” checkbox turned on or off.

    I’m also very far from understanding nature of the problem, can only share my own experience. I literally see that the macbook screen (and all these modern windows screens) is not static. At some point I installed SwitchResX, lowered resolution and changed colors from billions to millions. And screen became almost static. As static as my external monitor. But “more static” mackbook screen keeps causing all symptoms just as fast. Since at 100% it should not have PWM, dithering/pwm strain theory falls apart.

    • AGI replied to this.

      poliakov I literally see that the macbook screen (and all these modern windows screens) is not static.

      Hard to express in words. What seems to bother me the most is perceiving the background as unstable. The white around the letters kind of glows and is not steady, very different from e-ink. I remember that maybe 5-6 years ago the retina display in shops looked great to me. Now I refused to switch to the latest MacBook at work because when I look at the ones of my colleagues I immediately feel numb.

      poliakov lowered resolution

      In the past lowering the resolution was a game changer for me, I could use for as long as I wanted without any symptom an otherwise unusable laptop or monitor. Do you have an explanation why it would help/why it does not help anymore with the newer technology? Someone, I believe @KM, proposed the effects of temporal dithering may be weakened. What is your thought?

      Can anybody advice a usable laptop? Any year, any brand. But something that “works for you”, with all registry tricks or without.

        poliakov

        My early 2013 MacBook Pro has been brilliant through all versions of MacOS. It also drives a couple of old Dell 2311 monitors with no hassles (they're old CFL monitors I believe).

        Great!
        So you can use MacBook pro With the laptop screen or only With those monitors you mentioned?
        If so I would really like to buy one as its strong enough cpu for my work. Maybe that gforce gr 650 doesnt go through the intel display output like the latest MacBook pro With dedicated gpu

        Internal and external screens are A-OK. I've never had a problem with either the onboard Intel GPU or when the 650 is enabled.

        Conversely I cannot use any 2nd gen 970 or 10 series GPUs, AMD Vega cards, various Wintel laptops or modern monitors that I've tried.

          AgentX20
          Cool. Thanks, this is very promising for me and others.I guess we all need to buy this.
          Btw. Can you use bootcamp with win 10 fine with this?

            Plsnostrain Can you use bootcamp with win 10 fine with this?

            No idea as I've never tried it sorry.

            No problem, mac os is more than good enough for me. Thanks!

            martin Hello man, I use such a laptop as you:
            Acer time-line 5820tg
            I use monitor Samsung SyncMaster 243lnx
            These devices are very old so it's difficult to find them in saleing((( Also these displays have low screen resolution(( But both of them are perfectly suitable for my eyes, I can work with them all day long without any strain.
            I noticed, that these screens have CCFL light(not LED) so I will TRY to use another CCFL displays in future, now I wanna try Dell2410
            My smartphones, that I can use without eyes strain:
            Samsung galaxy A3 2017
            Honor 9

            Other guys wrote that they can use MacBook, but for me they are awful, I have strange hurt in my eyes with macboks 2016-2018

            Desktop PC:
            6700K on an ASUS Z170A motherboard, running Intel 530 dedicated graphics
            Ditherig 1.9
            Connected via DP 1.2 to a Dell S2716DG (1440P, 144hz, TN monitor)

            Feels weird using Instagram, Facebook, etc. on the PC but, gotta do what you gotta do.

              PureClear Connected via DP 1.2 to a Dell S2716DG (1440P, 144hz, TN monitor)

              Is this further evidence that maybe TN panels are friendlier to people such as are around here?

                poliakov
                If have temporal dithering problem. I will tell you what you do. BTW, there are many topics in this website but i appreciate if anyone can make a new topic so everyone can list his set up that works for him without any discussion.
                As for what works for the dithering. My advice buy any laptop that has intel hd 530 or intel hd 620 (this what I have) or other listed intel graphis on the Japanese guy website. One you got the laptop, you must install the dithering tool and ensue all dithering disabled, check also the tools run on startup. How to check the dithering tool is doing the job? Simply downlod a color gradient photo from google and check that banding lines are there. You can enable dithering and disable to see the effect.

                  Riva Does this mean intel HD only laptop, or intel HD plus any graphic card? I work with design and intel HD only laptops usually have poor color accuracy.

                  • Riva replied to this.

                    I have an Acer 2012 laptop that I've owned since new, albeit for my parents use. (Aspire v3-771, 17", i5 3210M, HD4000)

                    I have installed W10 on it and alongside ditherig app, is 100% comfortable to use, as good as a 200x setup.

                    One thing to note is it's running the original BIOS and hasn't been updated since it was bought.

                    I am now ruling W10 out as a cause and pointing solely to driver/vbios/GPU as the culprit.

                    The fact is that W10 is only going to install drivers >2015 and as we can't slipstream W7 drivers into it, we could all be blaming Windows but it's the new drivers that are causing problems, not the OS.

                    I have bought quite a few different types of monitors lately. Asus VG245H is the one I settled with. It's my favourite so far and have been gaming on it alot with no issues. I believe it's the trace free option and the fact that it's a TN panel. MPRT and flicker are my two biggest problems. I have ruled out Windows 10. I have trouble with VA and IPS. I need maximum speed and the least amount of motion blur possible. I'm running Windows 10 with an R7 Radeon with HDMI. I tried a BENQ 2411P and it wasn't bad but not as good as this ASUS. LED is really bottle necked though because it's so slow compared to plasma and CRT. I hooked up my Super NT to the monitor which is basically a super Nintendo with HDMI and it's ok but is nothing compared to my plasma TVs when you make Mario run fast you can start to see it blur up. Not as bad as the BENQ though. If I use a IPS monitor immediate pain. If I use a VA panel immediate pain. Unless I use a Samsung VA but turn on strobing then the pain goes away. Still I find this TN panel way more comfortable. VA has strange issues where there is alot more motion blur for the first 30 minutes till the panel warms up. Looks like we won't see a good CRT 60 Hertz perfect quality until OLED figures out some tricks. OLED still suffers from motion blur but I believe ultimately when these monitors come out I will have no issues. LG TVS will be including strobing and they can run at 120 Hertz when hooked up to a PC which is cool.

                    dev