Could someone with dithering problems who is using a Mac do these steps for me? Go to Terminal/iTerm, run kextstat and save the output to a file? Also please list what model of Mac you have, OS X version, and what GPU and if it has switchable graphics. This is useful: http://www.everymac.com/mac-identification/how-to-find-apple-model-family-numbers-for-mac-identification.html An example (in my case): 2015 15" Macbook Pro, Switchable Intel Iris Pro and AMD R9 370X graphics. You can use code tags to paste it without it obscuring the rest of the post ``` like this ``` like this if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } Or if it's too big email me, jtl at teamclassified dot ca I tested this morning and might have a way to modify the code of the kexts, which might allow to me to disable the dithering. Let's face it. Amulet Hotkey and the others are useless. Seems like I'm the best shot for the time being. Thanks

JTL Oops. And I accidently caused my laptop to stop booting because I accidently corrupted one of the .kexts while editing it. Goes to show you should always make backups.

Note: Modifying the existing kexts and just injecting code to turn off dithering would be safer and survive OS upgrades. Being able to edit the kext code is a good first step though. The only information about Amulet Hotkey's kext is this screenshot https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gf7GValbbu4/UIqMb-KqKKI/AAAAAAAAAas/3e5uUtw3ItU/s1600/photo%2B%252810%2529.JPG Notice after ahkinject the <4 3> . That corresponds with the other "required" kexts I think, kext number 3 is IOKit which is a method for drivers to interface with haradware. Don't know much about it.

I'd love it if you got somewhere with this. I'll pull a couple different Macbooks' data for you later today.

Gurm Thanks. The hard part after this is figuring out what functions actually control the dithering. Like I mentioned above I accidently NOP'd (no operation) the wrong function causing my laptop to stop booting. I just copied the kext back into place and it was fixed though. Still annoying.

Very excited by this prospect JTL - it could make a big difference to a lot of people's lives if you could work it out. I no longer use Macbooks I'm afraid, had to chop them out my life!

si_edgey Unfortunate. Not making any promises but now that my vision is stabilizing and I have more time, why not do it?

I think the best goal would be for me to develop a new NVinject of sorts that does IORegistry injection, but works with newer OS X versions and 64-bit, etc. If you disable SIP it let's the kext be fully used without signing (which costs $100 a year) so this is good for testing. If we have a full version that works and we know it I can just pony up the $100 to make an easy-to-use signed version. Also I was looking through the AMD kexts and saw something interesting. jtl-macbookpro:Apple kexts jtl$ strings AMDSupport |grep AAPL AAPL,slot-name AAPL%02X, AAPL,gray-value AAPL00,T1 AAPL00,T2 AAPL00,T3 AAPL00,T4 AAPL00,T5 AAPL00,T6 AAPL00,T7 AAPL00,LinkFormat AAPL00,PixelFormat AAPL00,Dither [sic] if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } Now if we check the NVinject's Info.plist <key>entriesToAdd</key> <dict> <key>AAPL01,Dither</key> <data> AAAAAQ== </data> </dict> if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } So there is a difference.

@vinkenvvt I remember you did something with Clover EFI and it didn't work, which one was that?

This is interesting https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/DeviceDrivers/Conceptual/AccessingHardware/AH_Finding_Devices/AH_Finding_Devices.html I made a simple kext that logs to the console app. It works. 151 0 0xffffff7f83e63000 0x2000 0x2000 ca.teamclassified.testkext (1) 194C7603-9A67-39C4-A95B-C1D7780658B8 <4> 2017-09-13 17:23:36.000 kernel[0]: TestKext has loaded

Good work JTL, sounds like progress of some kind. Any joy with the AAPL00 / AAPL01 thing?

OSX dithering - Help wanted

karut

devilgrove

I tried this (with dither=0) on my Early 2015 13“ MacBook Pro with an Intel GPU and felt no difference in eye strain unfortunately.

log show --predicate "processID == 0" | grep Dither

Does not return anything

nvram -p | grep dither

returns boot-args dither=0

NewDwarf

karut I also have the MacBook Pro 13'' 2015 but it doesn't have dithering by default. And yes, log show --predicate "processID == 0" | grep Dither

returns nothing.

caboy

devilgrove

Can you give us more details about your macbook model please?

You said 16".

Which year?
Which GPU?
Which OS version do you have?

Thank you

devilgrove

caboy my MacBook is actually a 16,2 meaning it's part of the 16th generation of MacBook Pros.

It'a a 2020 13" 4 TB3 running Catalina 10.15.7. It uses Intel Iris Plus from the Ice Lake generation.

caboy

NewDwarf

Thanks. I am trying to read through that now.

karut

NewDwarf

Interesting…I assume you also run the latest version of OSX Monterey. I will test the MacBook with an external monitor. The display should at least have no PWM according to Notebookcheck.

caboy

devilgrove

Awesome. Thank you.

caboy

NewDwarf

From what I can tell, the display panel is LG. Denoted by: LP133WQ5-SJA7

Looking online at the closest match to that model number it seems to be an 8-bit display (16.7 million colors). https://www.lcdsolar.com/products/ProductDetail.aspx/LGDISPLAY/LP133WQ1-SJA2/43520

I think the line with Bits per primary color channel: 10means that the GPU is a 10-bit GPU.

Thank you for posting and for your research finding a possible solution. I ordered a refurbished Macbook Pro Intel and will test when it arrives.

[Edit to add]

The LG panels previously gave me really bad eye strain (in 2012 models and others). This gives some hope. Thank you.

NewDwarf

caboy

I think the line with Bits per primary color channel: 10means that the GPU is a 10-bit GPU.

No. According to the EDID specification, this is "Basic display parameters". So, this parameter is not related to the GPU. Primary colours are Red, Green, Blue. So each primary colour can be sampled by 2¹⁰ levels.

devilgrove

devilgrove Update to this:

I disabled AppleIntelICLGraphics.kext and AppleIntelSlowAdaptiveClocking.kext, and the display is now exactly like Safe Mode (as far as I'm aware). The only problem with this is that the display rendering is just as slow and just as glitchy as Safe Mode as well. Not sure if this is usable for me in the long run, but for those who can use Safe Mode but want full access to their Mac, give this a go.

Also, I have a rough idea of how I would go about trying to keep Safe Mode-level strain while being able to speed up the rendering. AppleIntelICLGraphics.kext is broken down into four bundles: The GLDriver, MTLDriver, VADriver, and VAME bundles. My theory is that I could disable or modify a combination of these bundles and keep ICLGraphics.kext enabled so that the render is back to normal speed. If anyone has ideas it would be appreciated, thanks.

Edit: too many applications required the use of OpenGL / Metal to run properly, so I reloaded AppleIntelICLGraphics.kext. I'll try to think of another solution (if there is one).

caboy

devilgrove

Are you still having eye strain now with the nvram dithering = 0 thing?

ryans

Did anyone try this NVRAM technique and have eyestrain improve? I know it helped @NewDwarf. Any others?

insta42014

ryans I would say the same answer as devilgrove, eyestrain improved from 4/10 pain to 1/10. Problem is that the banding is completely the same as before (at least on my MacBook Pro) so we have no objective way to prove it's not placebo and that it has a real effect

NewDwarf

ryans Additionally, you can try to change gamma of the screen in the expert mode. It also has some effect.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8167595

But I use the predefined "Display P3" colour profile. BTW, my laptop has the LG screen. Probably, users will have another experience with the Samsung screens.

And, yes, I can confirm that I absolutely happy when dithering is disabled on my laptop.

…recently I bought the avalanche photodiode and I am going to build new very sensitive application to measure high frequency PWM on low brightness.

devilgrove

caboy yeah, it's still there unfortunately, but it's way more usable. My old configuration (which was like 10-15 different things going on in the setup) was a 4-5/10 in terms of pain. This is like a 1.5/10, and for the most part uses macOS on its default settings other than the nvram argument, color profile, and font smoothing. I even have the resolution on default now, versus having to use the non-HiDPI resolution before. I'm gonna try to find a true 8-bit display to hook up my MacBook to so that I can test if it'll get rid of the last bit of strain.

devilgrove

insta42014 it's 100% not placebo for me at least

asus389

My 2017 13 inch MBP without Touch Bar shows dithering is disabled by default running Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2026). This laptop running this OS doesn't bother me.

The output is:

2022-11-02 16:04:11.497027-0400 0x3cd Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (AppleIntelKBLGraphicsFramebuffer) [IGFB][INFO ] [Modeset] Dither is disabled with bpc 1

The ioreg command listed above doesn't show much, but manually searching the output text file of ioreg -lw0 for IODisplayEDID shows a value of 1552 for my DisplayVendorID key. I don't know which vendor that is.

The system profiler output for this display is:

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640:

Chipset Model: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640

Type: GPU

Bus: Built-In

VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB

Vendor: Intel

Device ID: 0x5926

Revision ID: 0x0006

Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily2 v1

Displays:

Color LCD:

Display Type: Built-In Retina LCD

Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Retina

Framebuffer Depth: 24-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Automatically Adjust Brightness: No

Connection Type: Internal

asus389

Have people in general had a better experience with the models that up until recently did not support P3 color gamut? The two thunderbolt port 13 inch MacBook Pro that did not have the Touch Bar never supported it. It’s my recollection that that model continued to not support it up until the M2 changeover. I’m not as familiar with the MacBook air line but I think it’s similar.

asus389

Is log show --predicate "processID == 0" | grep Dither specific to machines with intel graphics? I had a colleague run it on a 16 inch MBP M1 and a iMac Pro. The command took quite a while to return, but didn't output anything. I think they were both running Monterey.

NewDwarf

asus389 Yes, the command log show --predicate "processID == 0" | grep Dither is Intel specific.

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