photon78s was the last time you tested on a different macos version?
I disabled dithering on Apple silicon + Introducing Stillcolor macOS M1/M2/M3
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No. Still the same sonoma 14.4.1. Perhaps while using it, I got some hidden update? How do I see hidden updates if any? I have a similar but not quite same problem with a T480s running linux mint but that laptop only shows flickering after it has been running continuously after a certain amount of time (30 minutes at least) but stops after a day of being turned off. That lead to me briefly research and find a Texas Instruments article on display panel temperature dependent pixel artifacts.
DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs IOMFBBrightnessCompensationEnable set seems to be disallowed on Sonoma 14.5. Rats.
Rikl did you make sure framebufferBoolProperty in the BetterDisplayCLI command is "off", not "false"? i thought it didn't work at first because i was typing false but you actually need to type off
photon78s That lead to me briefly research and find a Texas Instruments article on display panel temperature dependent pixel artifacts.
Have you tried messing with temperature compensation as well?
/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=built -framebufferBoolProperty=off -specifier=IOMFBTemperatureCompensationEnable
It's also on by default, unlike backlight compensation I can't immediately see a difference but I wonder if it will affect that time you see pixel flicker on the test chart
Also, are you also using the while loop script to force disable ambient light sensor contrast enhancenment?
DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Yep. I was doing this: -framebufferNumericProperty=0x0 should have been this: framebufferBoolProperty=off.
Thank you.
Also, IOMFBContrastEnhancerStrength is always 0 for me. I'll mess with the IOMFBTemperatureCompensationEnable and see!
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Rikl It seems like it's "always" 0 until using the laptop outside or it sometimes gets stuck after going back indoors, then it shoots up to really high numbers and you start to see "moving blotches" across certain colors that change in response to moving the mouse (which become obvious because dithering is also disabled, which means the OS can't "hide" these artifacts). Sometimes I also catch it moving very slightly in some brighter indoor locations but around lower numbers
Still pixel flickering under the scope with both these scripts. The while loop script is immediately noticeable by naked eye. I let it run and re-test.
photon78s For MBP try with 60 hz. ProMotion has its own flicker issues.
This is still my setup on mbp m1. Didn't mess around with it for weeks. Along with blocked light sensor and 60 hz.
"enableDither": false,
"uniformity2D": false, // true
"overdriveCompCutoff": 0,
"enable2DTemperatureCorrection": false,
"AmbientBrightness": 0,
"DisableTempComp": true,
"IOMFBContrastEnhancerStrength": 0, // important to avoid text glow
"IOMFBTemperatureCompensationEnable": false, // has some effect
"IOMFBBrightnessCompensationEnable": false,
"IOMFBSupports2DBL": false, // no idea what this does
"VUCEnable": false, // true, visible effect, but not sure what, supposedly affects blotching
"enableDarkEnhancer": false, // true
"BLMAHMode": NSNumber(1), // 2 default. 1 seems better
"BLMPowergateEnable": false, // can't see any difference
"enableBLMSloper": false, // true
"enableDBMMode": false, // true on m1 max, not there on touchbar
"DisableDisplayOptimize": NSNumber(1), // 0, not sure if stable
"IdleCachingMethod": NSNumber(1), // 2, disables a flag that switches back and forth on activity. prevents colored cursor from switching color profile upon software/hardware cursor.
"APTEnableDefaultGray" : false, // no idea what it does
"APTEnablePRC": false,
"APTEnableCA": false,
"APTEnableCDFD" : false,
"APTPDCEnable": false,
"CMDegammaMethod": 0, // 1, sends colors directly or something, glowing
"APTFixedRR" : NSNumber(0),
"APTLimitRefreshRate" : false,photon78s that's correct, only the mini-led ones have ProMotion. the m2 tb is only 60hz
@aiaf is it maybe an idea to add an option to StillColor to disable IOMFBContrastEnhancerStrength ?
It looks like IOMFBContrastEnhancerStrength is also messing with the screen
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photon78s Maybe try DFU restore to earlier macOS version? Not just a reinstall but a full DFU restore - requires connecting to another Mac (or unofficially a Linux device) with USB-C - which is how you downgrade not only the OS but also the bootloader/firmware version
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Too bad I returned the other mac mini. Will look into this. In the meantime, if I'm going to use it for long periods of time, I would remote in or the lossy capture card approach from a PC.
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photon78s by this, do you mean that even the "000000 panel" touch bar M2 MBP that initially had less flicker ended up not being usable?
Yes, that's one. I would not say 100% not usable thought I've had more eyestrain lately but out of precaution I will not try finding out even more.
Has anyone figured out why dithering autoenables itself even while Stillcolor is on? It happened again this morning as I felt something weird in my eyes.