osxcool22
BTW,
My 13" 2016 MBP Touch Bar + Windows 10 2004 with 2016 intel drivers (bootcamp default) and ditherig = awesome
Also turned off Intel DPST, no auto brightness, and disabled all video post processing settings in Intel Graphics Settings. Using latest Chrome v125 browser and 200% UI scaling
Importantly, I made sure to disable "advanced power saving for gaming" in Intel Graphics Settings too which seems to be some pseudo-variable refresh rate feature
I had a feeling for a while that the screen hardware in this machine was pretty good (good antiglare coating, comfortable backlight, probably not much pixel inversion, was historically a very good machine for non-text work like graphic design even though working with text felt weird etc.) and it was mainly the macOS software causing it to feel "off" — this pretty much confirms it
Extremely still and flat image on Windows 10, actually one of the most still "high resolution" screens I've used. Totally different than what macOS looks like on here. Also first time I've ever been able to get usable display output out of Intel Iris (instead of HD) graphics
Compared to the previous 2018 MacBook Air (with 8th gen and UHD graphics) I was testing with Windows 10, the 2016 13" is way better — in comparison, the 2018 Air still had a flicker to many colors even with ditherig I could totally notice even though Windows on there was still much more usable than Mac. But with Win10 on the 2016 Pro, everything feels so much more still and flat
Also, I can tell ditherig actually works on the 2016 as toggling from spatial to disabled actually does increase the banding on a gray gradient image by a very slight amount. On the 2018 Air, it was hard to tell if ditherig was even doing anything, but on the 2016 I can actually see the screen change.
The only issue is that the OLED Touch Bar seemingly can't be disabled in Windows (the DimBar Windows app only works on 2018 "T2" Macs and later, not T1 Macs like the 2016), but that seems to be tolerable for me IMO as I'm not looking directly at it despite its heavy PWM. The Touch Bar looks terrible on a slow motion camera, but is weirdly not that bothersome to me, maybe because I got used to it after using this laptop for so long back in 2017-2020.
Side note about my PWM sensitivity in the collapsible block below:
PWM has also been historically much more tolerable to me compared to dithering — on screens at least, although the PWM in LED/flourescent lightbulbs are a huge issue for me. And in this case it's just the OLED Touch Bar, meaning the amount of comfort I'm getting from the main 13" LCD screen I'm actually looking at it kind of "cancels it out" in a way. I can also "get used to PWM" over time in a way I can't at all with dithering which always gets worse over time.
Totally theorizing here, but maybe using an 100% safe dither-free screen but also keeping some PWM in the corner of the eye like the Touch Bar could actually be a form of exposure therapy to PWM? I only say this as I'm noticing my OLED iPhone 14 Pro feels noticeably more comfortable to look at after using the 2016 13" MBP for a while, like in a way where it feels less harsh in those seconds after turning it on. Still ends up straining me and making me feel motion sick if I use the 14 Pro for too long indoors though, but definitely has increased my tolerance to it in some way. PWM screens strain my eyes a lot but don't typically "break my brain" in the way that really bad temporal dithering screens do.
Back to the 2016 13" MBP, did some text heavy work on it yesterday for a few hours, felt very comfortable and I was productive. It's awesome to be able to both work with text and many browser tabs comfortably and also experience the sharpness and vivid colors of a P3 Retina screen, usually those totally conflict with each other but the 2016 with Win10 2004 strikes one of the best balances between reading comfort and beautiful colors that I've experienced on a screen so far
(I admit that I did say this previously about the 2018 Air but I wasn't totally committed to that statement at the time, at that time I was just glad to have something semi-usable. With the 2016 it's different, as I'm now able to directly compare this to all of the "perfect for me" very old devices I've been able to obtain since then. I'm no longer simply saying it's more tolerable than macOS on the same device. The 2016 on Win10 actually manages to get noticeably closer in comfort — compared to many other "modern" screens — to my "truly good" old devices I rely on)
However, the screen did feel too bright at points compared to the really dim screen on my "perfect" 2012 Lenovo Yoga 13 Win8.1 laptop. I already can tell everything looks soooooo much noticeably better and more relaxing on Windows 10 compared to macOS Monterey on the 2016 MBP
(It's hard to beat my 2012 Lenovo as I still have a preference for pixelated low-DPI screens over HiDPI/Retina and the balance of information density and UI size with its 1600x900 LG IPS panel at 13 inches with no need for any scaling is absolute perfection IMO. I can't believe that it's so hard to find 1600x900 at 13" today that's also IPS and not TN, but I digress…
However, I can already tell that the 2016 13" MBP on Win10 2004 has immediately earned its place as one of the good experiences I've had with a HiDPI screen, along with the 2015 12" MacBook)
I agree that your 2016 15" is definitely more usable on native macOS (because I have a 2015 12" MacBook with a similar HD Graphics chip to yours that looks great on macOS Mojave) — but now my 2016 13" is better than it's ever been before as long as I'm using Windows 10 2004 instead of macOS