The more I read the more confused I get about this issue. At work there is a large laboratory with 16 dell p5050 PC`s and Dell p2217 monitors. I can use these with only minimal headache/eyestrain but if I bring one down to my office I get an instant long lasting headache. In the lab using one I am aware of the large surrounding airy space in my peripheral vision but in the office there is a filing cabinet on my immediate left, a wall on my immediate right and a room divider in front of me behind the monitor. Do all of these contribute to my eyestrain/headache?? Are your surroundings and the visual impact of these part of the problem? This might explain why its possible to use a device in a store yet find it gives major problems when you buy it and get it home?
What works for you, what do you use now without problems?
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.
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?
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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.
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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?
JTL What medical treatment?
SeniorTaquito Something something cannabis medicine 
Can anybody advice a usable laptop? Any year, any brand. But something that “works for you”, with all registry tricks or without.
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!
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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