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  • "100% sRGB" Color Gamut cause eye strain? headache? is it even possible?

Kanatarium It's the opposite, higher PPI is always exclusively better. The culprit lies somewhere else.

A quick google search revealed to me that the panel you're using specifically has PWM on anything below 99% brightness, this is very likely what you're reacting to.
In general, even today, laptops can come with PWM dimming for brightness adjustments in lower frequency ranges (I'd avoid anything below 100kHz like the plague)

A general heads up for people reading this thread and forum members here, since people seem to shy away from advancements:
Never assume higher PPI and higher refresh rate are your issue

it's almost always some kind of flicker / brightness variance or something related to color spectrum / color gamut (unknown to me and many others as to what specific mechanism causes this flareup for people)

Also, do not result to eyepatching. It is a bandaid imo.

Take a look at UPerfect portable monitors (I'd recommend 16" 16:10 144hz QHD model, due to higher PPI nature or 18.4" 4k if you wanna sacrifice the refresh rate)

Also, please consider other factors contributing to overall health, such as diet and physical fitness.
Consider adding the following supplements:

  • a proper O3 supplement w/ Astaxanthin (Life Extension),
  • a proper eye health supplement (Macuguard from Life Extension),
  • limiting wireless devices around you (EMF's contribute to a myriad of issues in the body)

Hope this helps.

    qb74 is this the Pongo 760 BOE or Asus x450J panel? the Asus one has PWM but I always set the brightness to the max since it's not that bright, so I never notice it

    now that you mention it, on reddit someone said that the same NV156FHM-N4K type can have PWM or no PWM based on the other serial number
    mine is NV156FHM-N4K (BOE08B3) based on HWINFO which based on this Gigabyte laptop review it didn't have PWM.

    I used my friend Z Fold 5 that have PWM on 45-degree orientation and as far as I remember, I don't feel any discomfort, at least the one that easily noticeable

    • qb74 replied to this.

      Kanatarium

      now that you mention it, on reddit someone said that the same NV156FHM-N4K type can have PWM or no PWM based on the other serial number
      mine is NV156FHM-N4K (BOE08B3) based on HWINFO which based on this Gigabyte laptop review it didn't have PWM.

      I haven't seen HWInfo be able to dispaly the panel model used, interesting. Could you take a screenshot?

      I used my friend Z Fold 5 that have PWM on 45-degree orientation and as far as I remember, I don't feel any discomfort, at least the one that easily noticeable

      There are many variables at play, such as: time spent looking at screen. brightness level (100% brightness is milder on OLED than lower brightness due to PWM) etc.

      Overall, one should consider the following too:

      • Overall brightness of display (100-150nits is nice in doors, more is not good imo but YMMV, try finding out overall brightness like this,
      • Ergonomics around you (lightblubs also flicker, good and sufficient enough ambient light behind screen which also doesnt flicker and the body position which you view the screen at is something to consider for display ergonomics),
      • Coating (matte / glossy - some people prefer one over the other),
      • SPD (some people dislike blue peaks or peaks such as KSF/QDEF),
      • Psychological/physiological factors (stress, lack of sleep, malnutrition)

      It's a matter of trial and error sadly, I can only give you a few guidelines.
      You could try and use a slowmo camera smartphone and eye-ball whether it flickers (samsung, sony and apple phones can be used, havent tried others)

        qb74 this model , I still didn't know how to embed image so I can just give imgur link

        Sadly, I already tried all the suggestions there except the SPD (?) i don't know what that is

        oh yeah, I also tested my friend monitor, Viewsonic XG2405, my symptoms also happens with that one

        • qb74 replied to this.

          Kanatarium
          Have you ever tried a Mac display? Such as the older Macbook ones or iMac 2013-15? Maybe you're sensitive to how the coating is on your display.
          On this short video I've found of it online, it does seem to cause a bit more reflection than usual matte displays sold nowadays.

          For example, look how much coating can change the experience:

          The cleanest one (S236HL) looks like this:

          Random Macbook comparison

          The Viewsonic you mentioned also looks very matte

          Another thing I've forgot to mention is to disable VRR at all cost, as it can flicker on some displays.

            qb74 Coating huh? all laptops I used these days have matte coating and my old Asus is glossy.
            I also think about this one a lot but it's kind of hard to test it since the only glossy modern screen I found was that touchscreen Lenovo my work friend brings at some point.

            About Mac display….. I never own old apple product, even until now still didn't own any, it's too overpriced for my wallet BUT, I fiddle with my cousin MacBook for around an hour last year (2023) trying to fix something and there is no memorable eye strain or headache, maybe there is but it's not as instant as the touchscreen Lenovo, idk I can't really remember it. The screen is very glossy though it's like a mirror

            But all MacBook have 100% sRGB color gamut right? i do wonder why

            • qb74 replied to this.
              6 days later

              I'm sure your ultimate solution is to get a limited but precise 250 nit TN screen, which is what matters. You never get headaches, your eyes can get irritated like anyone else, but never pain or something that makes it impossible for you to see.

              Look at my screen, it's from the now discontinued $200 Dell Inspiron 3451 with only 4gb of RAM, Windows 8, and a 500 Passmark CPU, to give you an idea of ​​how mediocre the PC is, but I couldn't tear myself away from the screen. No other screen has given me the security that this one has.

              It seems crazy to me that the worst laptops give us the greatest visual tranquility

              Kanatarium
              You should avert your mind off of the idea that "100% sRGB" is your culprit, that'll help broaden your vision on this topic.
              Eyestrain is a matter of trial and error, there are some common culprits which one can explore however.
              But the ultimate verdict has to come from the end user, reviews rarely show us the full story of how a panel performs.

              Mini flicker on certain transitions, circuitry in house contributing to flicker, obscure dithering algorithms employed by various panels and GPU interplay are some of the more odd ones which can occur but I have yet to come across a proper analysis with good equipment.

              5 months later

              Connected 4060 to Samsung TV, and also faced pain in the eyes. Connected another PC with Intel UHD-eyes became easier. Has anyone tried the new video card ARC B580? How are things with it, better than with Nvidia?

                dev