I finally tested the Xiaomi Redmi 3 for PWM and yes, it also has the infamous "mild flicker depth PWM at a 60~120hz-ish rate detected at all brightness levels" when filming at 240hz

surprisingly, despite this, this phone remains very very comfortable for me! in fact it is still one of the most consistently comfortable devices I own!

this is probably because because the PWM depth is too mild to affect me

the image on LineageOS 18.1 is extremely flat and most of the time everything looks rock solid. even watching YouTube videos feels amazing on this


but one thing's for sure, from all of the LCDs i've tested and have detected obvious PWM when filming anything other than white (and even in that case, it's actually still there if you lower the exposure, but cameras just do a bad job of making it visible on white in recordings)

the idea that """IPS LCDs don't use PWM""" is a MYTH and should not be trusted

same for "LCDs only use >10khz PWM rates that cameras cannot detect". this is also obviously not true as most LCDs I've tested that have "mild depth at all brightness levels" PWM appear to all use slow flicker rates

the only LCD I have not detected any PWM on at any brightness level so far is the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (the USB-C only Touch Bar version). although, of course, being a Mac it still has many color management, temporal dithering, and other pixel flicker issues

finally, "mild depth PWM" is not temporal dithering, because the M2 Touch Bar MBP is confirmed to use temporal dithering yet the backlight always appears stable on camera

reaganry The Hisense e-ink refresh options are included in the custom ROMs. Overall works much better than stock.

JOSEUISLEY BTW, in order to install LineageOS 18.1 on the device you have to unlock the bootloader (which is a relatively annoying process for this phone, since you have to get an unlock request approved). I unlocked my Xiaomi Redmi 3 bootloader all the way back in December 2016 so I can't speak for if it still works in 2024. YMMV

(If you can somehow find one that already has any custom ROM on it, that would make things a lot easier, but I'm not sure how common that is)

The "Part 1" section of the answer to this post is pretty much what I remember doing (note that 3S and 3 are different phones, but the bootloader unlock process is very similar between them):

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/177695/how-to-unlock-bootloader-root-and-install-twrp-on-redmi-3s-should-work-with

Note that:

  • it's been way too long to remember what the factory stock ROM (MIUI 7 Android 5) felt like for me. I don't remember having any major issues but there's also a chance that it's not good
  • every single other Android 5/6/7/8 custom ROM that wasn't 18.1 caused really annoying eyestrain
  • specifically the LineageOS 18.1 (Android 11) ROM with HW overlays disabled is the only custom ROM I've found that doesn't cause the strain at all!

LineageOS 18.1 is the only ROM I can "100% confirm" from experience is strain-free

This is the ROM I used:

https://xdaforums.com/t/index-redmi-3-custom-roms-kernels-etc-19-02-2021.4099085/post-83830503


Also note that depending on where you live it's either possible or NOT possible to use it as a real "phone" with cell service in 2024 — in the USA, I was able to get a 3G signal on T-Mobile back in 2016-2018, but today, it only can be used as a "WiFi-only tablet" in the USA because of the 3G shutdown

If a carrier in your country supports the phone's 4G bands (which was never the case in the USA, even back then, but is more likely to be true in many other countries) there's a chance you can still get 4G signal on it though 🙂

If you're only planning to use it as a tablet (which is what I am doing) you don't have to worry about this cellular stuff

Thanks for the tutorial. This model is difficult to find, I didn't find it on Ali Express (I live in Brazil), I only found the Redmi Note 3, same year and same specs, but is not the same device. But anyway I'll try. I'm going to use it as a tablet on wifi, for calls I use a dumbphone from 2010 lol. Thanks for everything and sorry for the bad english.

    JOSEUISLEY Be aware, there are both Snapdragon and MediaTek versions of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

    Make sure you get the Snapdragon version

    (MediaTek phones have an "image enhancement" system called "miravision" which from what I've read seems to cause many issues for sensitive users)

      DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Oh yes, the Redmi Note 3 that I saw is Snapdragon, I'll test it anyway. As we say in Brazil, whoever is in the rain is supposed to get wet. Thanks

      Can someone try lineageos on Razer phone 2? Supposedly it uses a sharp igzo 120hz panel. Looks like they have a android 14 build one but seems like lineageos 18 is also supported which also is older of course. I would give it a try if I knew if dithering isn't present

      11 days later
      12 days later
      6 days later

      So just for S&G's I went into my stock device, a TCL 20s, and went into Developer Options and checked Disable HW overlays, and I have to say, it actually made a difference. I cant tell if it;s a great difference but I could noticably see a difference in the display. I'll give it some time and see if it normalizes out into a useable device

      Note this is on a Stock Android 11 OS, no Lineage or anything

        ensete disable hw overlay can disable dithering ? what else setting beside disable hw overlay that can make difference ?

          hansennnnn No idea about dithering, dithering has nothing at all to do with my symptoms/issue.

          I can say now with confidence that even on my stock Android 11 OS, disabling the hardware overlays and forcing GPU rending has made a SIGNIFICANT difference and improvement, to the point when I can actually use this phone now as a daily driver

          I noticed yesterday after disabling that option that the eye strain immediately vanished, but using the phone was causing significant stomach pain. I used the phone a few minutes at a time throughout the day, this morning woke up and tried the phone again, still getting some stomach symptoms but they are reduced. I actually watched Youtube on the phone for a good 15 minutes and had maybe 1% of the eye strain impacts it gave me previously.

          I'm going to stick with it and see if I get complete symptom resolution over the next few days, but this is a huge discovery, assuming the relief holds up over time. I have another device that I need to re-assemble and will then try this on that one (A TCL A30) and see if it helps there as well.

            dev