karut It was a DCN
panel with PROD+B000000000000+00000000000000000000000000
. From what I've read here, I believe my panel was a good one (especially as far as uniformity) compared to some other descriptions, so I suspect the underlying technology is what is bothering me.
I concur that certain brightness levels were more comfortable than others. For me, it seemed to be a very specific tick around or just over 50% that was best.
I'm glad that patching seems to be working for you. I would concede that I might also be able to adjust to it given the right circumstances and enough time.