Hello all,

I have a desktop with the following:

  • Windows 22H2
  • Nvidia 1060 GTX
  • Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD Drive

This is setup as follows:

  • Dithering disabled via Color Control
  • KVM connected to my Dell SE2422 monitor at 60hz (higher hz seemed to bother me)
  • Iris Mini software for PWM/Brightness Control
  • Nvidia Studio Drivers
  • ICC Profile for my Monitor

Despite these changes, I get headaches/dizziness quickly (less than 20 minutes). What is odd is that I can connect to the same monitor and have no issues with my HP ZBook Firefly work laptop, but that goes through a Dell 3100 Docking Station which uses DisplayLink.

Undocked, the laptop screen bothers me, despite Ditherig and Iris Mini in use when undocked.

It makes me wonder if the DisplayLink on the docking station is what is calming down symptoms. However, I am not sure exactly what “it calms or disables/adjusts” and you can’t use this docking station with a Desktop.

What am I missing?

Thank you,

K.

    You can try to downgrade windows version, I remember people reporting versions 1809 or lower being better for the eyes.

      • Edited

      Hunter20 How can I downgrade? Any ideas why my laptop running Windows 10 22H2 works with the DisplayLink docking station?

      Dizzy It makes me wonder if the DisplayLink on the docking station is what is calming down symptoms. However, I am not sure exactly what “it calms or disables/adjusts” and you can’t use this docking station with a Desktop.

      I have a solid theory why DisplayLink seems to cause less issues.

      Basically, the way that DisplayLink works is bypassing the graphics card's own video output and instead "streaming" pixel-perfect screenshots of the screen (similar to uncompressed VNC) to the adapter first, and then the adapter relays that to the display.

      But here's what makes that interesting…

      • Since the streaming is done by the OS, similar to taking a screenshot, what the adapter recieves contains what you'd see in a screenshot and NONE of the post processing done by the GPU.

        …(Think about how when you zoom in on a screenshot you took, you get a "clean" image without temporal dithering or color artifacts)

      • That "clean" screenshot is actually what's being sent to the adapter. This essentially skips all of the weird image processing that usually happens between the final "pure" desktop image and the GPU…

      • This is also why the adapter is better than the laptop screen, since the laptop screen is still being driven by the GPU. In fact, even when GPU drivers aren't installed, a GPU still has "default" functionality.

        …(For example, my 2009 MacBook Pro defaults to "temporal dithering on" for the laptop screen, even in the boot menu without drivers — even though I can tell the GPU to disable it later with a driver setting) Using DisplayLink also avoids this!

      • DisplayLink adapters are very "low-tech", especially older ones + older DisplayLink drivers which didn't even support color calibration at all… (for example, many color adjustment apps like f.lux don't work over DisplayLink without a workaround)

      • Given the simplicity of the drivers, it increases the chances that the adapter hardware itself is pretty simplistic in its design too — it likely doesn't do much to the signal between the adapter and the monitor, especially if you have an older adapter.

      TLDR:

      DisplayLink is the closest you can easily get to sending a nearly-"clean" signal to a monitor

      It skips the GPU's image enhancements & other "hidden-from-screenshots" kinds of processing

      The only factors that remain are the adapter's own processing (likely minimal) and the monitor itself

      This is why it's better than both your laptop LCD and your desktop's output

        • Edited

        DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs This is awesome!!!! Exactly the type of information I was looking for. Are there any DisplayLink adapters I can connect to my desktop to instead of a docking station? Or, is there a better graphics card that doesn’t do all this nonsense?

          • Edited

          Dizzy Side note, apparently there we a ton of DisplayLink USB to HDMI adapters. Just ordered a Plugable to test with my desktop instead of my graphics card: https://www.synaptics.com/products/displaylink-graphics/displaylink-products-list

          It also looks like a PCI card is coming!

          https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/this-graphics-card-makes-it-easy-to-have-more-than-four-displays-sub-dollar100-displaylink-adapter-uses-a-pcie-x1-slot

          I can't use the graphics card. Only on board graphics from the motherboard.
          Making the gaming teen in my old man shell weep…

            Socrates maybe their new DisplayLink PCI card coming out later this year will help?

            dev