Good screens suddenly became bad. Few theories

choqpi

Hello! I'm new here and I'm glad I found this forum. I have story to share - maybe someone has the same problem as me.

Tl;dr - some screens that were very good for my eyes now are unusable. And I want to know why.

So, I discoverd I'm PWM sensitive 4 months ago, when I bought new phone. It was Samsung Galaxy S24 wchich gave me terrible eye strain, so I returned it. I also tested S24 Plus, S23, Nothing Phone 2, Google Pixel 8 and POCO F6 PRO - all of these phones gave me symptoms of PWM sensivity (the best for my eyes was POCO, and it was last phone I tested, it was early june). I was browsing internet - reddit, this forum, etc. in search of why I suffer from screens. I accepted the fact, that I am sensitive to OLED/AMOLED display flicker. And this is where my story gets interesting.

I have been using my main phone Samsung Galaxy S20 FE for two years. Its screen is completely neutral to my eyes - no eye strain, headaches, etc. Just perfect. Even if I stare at it five hours a day. It has AMOLED screen with flicker (246 Hz, about 8% modulation depth at highest brightness), but it not bother me.

I have also used other OLED screens - Nintendo Switch OLED and Steam Deck OLED. I've been using NS for two years and SD for nearly 10 months. They didn't cause me any issues. Until late june.

One day I was playing on my Switch for some hours and my eyes got tired - nothing unusual. But terrible thought came into my head: "What if I started to feel Switch flickering too?". Next day, after good sleep my eyes got regenerated. I decided to test NS screen, just to be sure I was only panicking. Unfortunately, I was right. After few minutes of playing, I felt discomfort in my eyes. I was wondering what happened. I thought "if Switch screen is now bad, SD screen will be even worse". And I was right once again. Steam Deck screen also gave me eye strain and discomfort. So, after months my consoles became unusable. I know it sounds like a strange story, but pain in my eyes is real.

My symptoms: tired, dry, irritaded eyes and pain behind eyes. Muscles around my eyes are tired also. When I'm playing, I feel only slight discomfort. Symptoms are much worse the next day, even after good sleep. My eyes need two days of regenerate after few minutes of playing.

Now I want to find the cause of my newest problems, because I don't understand why good screens now are bad. I have few theories.

1. All is psychological. I convinced myself, that these screens are bad, and my mind did its thing and convinced my body. This is the least likely scenario for me, because my pain is not imaginary.

2. Screens became bad because of histamine release in my body. I have cholinergic urticaria and I had a break from taking anti histamine medicaments for few months. I'm on my medicaments again for few weeks but no positive effects for now.

3. Contact lenses damaged my eyes. Before my problems occured, I visited my ophthalmologist who gave me prescription for new glasses. I also decided that I want to wear contact lenses sometimes. The ones I bought were terrible and made me photophobic. I'm afraid they may have had a negative impact on my eyes. Few days later, screens of my consoles became intolerable. Contact lenses from another company were better, but still not as comfortable as the glasses.

4. Kindle Paperwhite is the culprit. One week before my issues appeared, I tested for some days newest Kindle. What is strange to me, Kindle also gives me some kind of eye discomfort and I don't know why. I decided to test it out to get used to it. This didn't help and a few days after the test, my problems started.

5. My eyes just became more sensitive for no particular reason. I am very nearsighted (-6.50 for both eyes), and my eyesight is getting worse every year since I was 10 years old (26 now). I don't have astigmatism or any other disorders.

To reduce me eye strain I tried: eye patching (it works only if I patch my left non-dominant eye); glasses with blue light filter (not working), reducing brightness (not working), changing contrast (not working), taking lutein for two months (not working), wearing old galsses (not working).

I don't have any issues with my samsungs: AMOLED S20 FE, AMOLED A51 (second phone), laptops LCD screens, LCD monitors. In the past, only three LCD screens gave me eye strain: Asus Monitor, Steam Deck LCD and Nintendo 2DS.

I'm running out of ideas why good screens suddenly became bad. Maybe someone had similar experiences?

hansennnnn

choqpi is your good screen have been update os or update firmware ?because in my case i have use my phone almot one year with no headache but after update android 14 become bad screen causing headache

async

I love how you listed different theories for a concrete case. This is exactly what this community needs more of. 👏

This might be helpful.

First, anti histamines has effects on eyes. They can cause angle closure glaucoma attacks, and they cause dry eyes. Dry eyes with contact lenses causes distortions and the eyes have to work way harder. Especially if combined with any allergies. I 100% get eye pain from some types of anti histamines, and should probably look into it some more.

What contacts do you use? It has a big effect. Look into spherical vs aspherical. Try both. They look entirely different in the dark with astigmatism. If you use Acuvue Oasis that is popular there is a ton of reddit posts on people that got massive issues after they changed to the green packaging. I started having issues when that switch happened, and I decided to try the Max version with shitty green tint. Not necessarily related, but do check.

Ofc you have the possibility that something started using another neural pathway while doing something uncommon like the Kindle display. Neurons that fire together wire together and all that. Some of this stuff related to visual pathways is crazy advanced and hard to get a grip on.

If you use displays that are plugged in to the power grid make sure you don't plug a bunch of other new thins into the same multi-plug extension cord. I've seen one computer refuse to start, and a screen overheat, just from being in an extension cord with other things.

Also make sure there are no changes to your light setup. From my experience introducing another flicker at another frequency can cause havoc. Bulbs can also go bad after a while. The easiest way to check is the slow motion camera on your mobile.

choqpi

async I love how you listed different theories for a concrete case. This is exactly what this community needs more of.

Thanks, I want to be helpful!

async First, anti histamines has effects on eyes. They can cause angle closure glaucoma attacks, and they cause dry eyes. Dry eyes with contact lenses causes distortions and the eyes have to work way harder. Especially if combined with any allergies. I 100% get eye pain from some types of anti histamines, and should probably look into it some more.

It's interesting. I have been taking antihistamines for about two years with small breaks, but they didn't cause me any discomfort in my eyes. My biggest break was between April and June. It was in June that my problems started. I went back to medication and have been taking it for a month now. But it didn't bring any results. The question is what is better for the eyes. Taking antihistamines or not? In addition in February, I changed the brand of the medicaments and noticed that my cholinergic urticaria decreased.

async Ofc you have the possibility that something started using another neural pathway while doing something uncommon like the Kindle display. Neurons that fire together wire together and all that. Some of this stuff related to visual pathways is crazy advanced and hard to get a grip on.

So, I must read about it. This is the craziest theory, but I don't rule it out. The Kindle gives me a different kind of discomfort. Immediately after using, my eyes feel heavy and it is difficult for me to focus on distant objects. I have no problem with normal paper books.

async What contacts do you use? It has a big effect. Look into spherical vs aspherical. Try both. They look entirely different in the dark with astigmatism. If you use Acuvue Oasis that is popular there is a ton of reddit posts on people that got massive issues after they changed to the green packaging. I started having issues when that switch happened, and I decided to try the Max version with shitty green tint. Not necessarily related, but do check.

I've only been wearing glasses for a long time. But after visiting the ophthalmologist, I immediately bought regular iWear contacts, but they were so bad that made me photophobic. After few uses, my problems started. Later I bought Acuvue Oasys which were much better. I wore them years ago too. But nothing is as comfortable as glasses for me. I tried Acuvue for astigmatism (I have -0.75 i one eye, but this does not require correction), but it didn't make a difference.

async If you use displays that are plugged in to the power grid make sure you don't plug a bunch of other new thins into the same multi-plug extension cord. I've seen one computer refuse to start, and a screen overheat, just from being in an extension cord with other things.

I use my mobile consoles when they are not plugged in. So I don't think that's the point.

async Also make sure there are no changes to your light setup. From my experience introducing another flicker at another frequency can cause havoc. Bulbs can also go bad after a while. The easiest way to check is the slow motion camera on your mobile.

I think my bulbs are ok. Besides, I often played in daylight and it was also bad.

Sunspark

I try to use the same power bar because ground hum is an issue if you're using different sets of wall outlets.

async

choqpi In addition in February, I changed the brand of the medicaments and noticed that my cholinergic urticaria decreased.

From what brand to what brand? They work on different histamine receptor types.

Regarding dry eyes, it is way worse than it sounds, so try some drops and maybe one of those apps that reminds you to blink whenever you forget. It actually helps quite a bit.

choqpi

async From what brand to what brand? They work on different histamine receptor types.

I have been using Hitaxa (Desloratadine) for a long time (about a year). In February I started using Bilagra (Bilastinum). After my problems occured, I started taking both.

async Regarding dry eyes, it is way worse than it sounds, so try some drops and maybe one of those apps that reminds you to blink whenever you forget. It actually helps quite a bit.

My eyes are not dry when I use good screens. They are dry only when I start using bad ones. That is why I ordered drops whith high content of sodium hyaluronate.

choqpi

hansennnnn is your good screen have been update os or update firmware ?because in my case i have use my phone almot one year with no headache but after update android 14 become bad screen causing headache

I checked this possibility, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to use Android 14 either.

Lauda89 2) Using a “bad device”: a month ago I tried the Nexigo Aurora Pro UST projector which caused me a very bad migraine. For 2/3 weeks every device that did not cause migraine problems had become unusable. The iphone X (IOS 14) destroyed my brain after not even 2 minutes of use, the work laptop as well. I could never use the gaming desktop (13700K + 4070 + W11 23H2) with both eyes but always with “patching.” Well, in those three weeks, even patching no longer worked and was always my lifeline. Fortunately, now I am back to “normal” however I got very scared.

Yeah, I have used many bad devices before my latest problems started. Maybe there was some "overload" in my brain…

async Thought this was kinda interesting after hammering at Claude. Might be beneficial to others as well.

A few points are really interesting. Especially those that describe a psychological background. I should point out earlier that last year I had a temporary problem with my LCD laptop. The case was similar to the one with Nintendo Switch. One evening, while watching a movie on my laptop, my eyes got tired (using computer for too long, the lighting was poor). I thought: "what if my eyes hurt now because of the laptop screen?" Guess what happened. The next day, the laptop monitor was causing me discomfort. I didn't feel any pain, the symptoms were different and lighter than now, but still making laptop unusable. This lasted for a few weeks, so I only used an external monitor for a while. After a few months, I said "Whatever. I don't care. I want my laptop back" and opened it. There was no more discomfort. I see a correlation between this case and point 9 of the above list. It also confirms one of my theories.

Lauda89

After 8 years of struggling with this problem, I can tell you what the main causes are for me:

1) Software update: I have lost count of how many times a windows update has destroyed a setup that was perfect for me. Also, the BIOS update can be a cause.
2) Using a “bad device”: a month ago I tried the Nexigo Aurora Pro UST projector which caused me a very bad migraine. For 2/3 weeks every device that did not cause migraine problems had become unusable. The iphone X (IOS 14) destroyed my brain after not even 2 minutes of use, the work laptop as well. I could never use the gaming desktop (13700K + 4070 + W11 23H2) with both eyes but always with “patching.” Well, in those three weeks, even patching no longer worked and was always my lifeline. Fortunately, now I am back to “normal” however I got very scared.
3) There were two cases that I couldn't explain: ipad air 2 (IOS 13) that I have been using for a thousand years suddenly became problematic in my head along with an old plasma TV link with an old fire tv stick. It happened more or less when I installed an FTTH and a new modem. But, I'm sure they didn't upgrade so I don't know how it is possible. Maybe the process of adapting to the work laptop (because for the first month, it was giving me major migraine problems) made me more sensitive to those two devices and less to the laptop itself (now I can work 8h with both eyes, it was the first time that I were able to adapt to a bad device).

async

Thought this was kinda interesting after hammering at Claude. Might be beneficial to others as well.

Comprehensive Framework for Understanding Sudden Neurological Sensitivity Changes

1. Central Sensitization and Neuroplasticity

Plausibility: Very High

Mechanism:

Repeated exposure to triggering stimuli causes sustained activation of NMDA receptors in the central nervous system.

This leads to increased intracellular calcium and activation of calcium-dependent kinases.

These kinases phosphorylate various receptor and ion channel proteins, increasing their responsiveness.

Simultaneously, there's an upregulation of pro-nociceptive pathways and downregulation of anti-nociceptive pathways.

The result is a lowered threshold for activation and increased responsiveness to both noxious and non-noxious stimuli.

Sudden Shift Explanation: The process occurs gradually at a cellular level, but the perceived effect can be sudden once a critical threshold is reached. Insights from epilepsy research suggest that central sensitization can occur more rapidly than previously thought, potentially explaining very sudden onset of sensitivities.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Once central sensitization occurs, it affects the processing of a wide range of stimuli.

Biochemical Basis: Involves changes in neurotransmitter release (e.g., increased glutamate, substance P) and receptor density.

2. Thalamocortical Dysrhythmia

Plausibility: High

Mechanism:

Abnormal thalamic rhythms disrupt the normal gating and processing of sensory information.

This disruption can be triggered by changes in input patterns.

Altered thalamocortical oscillations lead to abnormal cortical processing of sensory information.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Changes in sensory input characteristics can abruptly alter the pattern of input to the thalamus. In epilepsy, thalamocortical circuits can rapidly shift into pathological oscillatory patterns. This might explain how sensory processing can change abruptly in non-epileptic hypersensitivity conditions.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Once established, thalamocortical dysrhythmia can affect the processing of inputs from various sources.

Neurochemical Basis: Involves alterations in the balance of excitatory (glutamatergic) and inhibitory (GABAergic) neurotransmission in thalamocortical circuits.

3. Neuroinflammatory Response and Glial Activation

Plausibility: Moderate to High

Mechanism:

Intense or prolonged sensory stimulation triggers activation of glial cells (microglia and astrocytes).

Activated glia release pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-1β, TNF-α) and chemokines.

This localized neuroinflammation alters synaptic function and neural excitability.

Chronic neuroinflammation can lead to structural changes in neural circuits.

Sudden Shift Explanation: While the inflammatory process is gradual, the cumulative effects can reach a tipping point, leading to sudden symptom onset. Recent epilepsy research highlights the role of rapid glial signaling in seizure propagation. This fast glial response could contribute to sudden onset of sensitivities in non-epileptic conditions.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Neuroinflammation can spread beyond the initially affected areas, influencing broader neural networks.

Biochemical Basis: Involves complex interactions between neural and immune systems, including changes in levels of inflammatory mediators and neurotrophic factors.

4. Trigeminal Pathway Sensitization

Plausibility: Moderate to High

Mechanism:

Repeated stimulation leads to sensitization of trigeminal nociceptors.

This results in lowered activation thresholds and increased responsiveness of trigeminal neurons.

Central sensitization in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis can occur, amplifying incoming signals.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Accumulating subthreshold stimulation can lead to a sudden crossing of the sensitivity threshold.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Sensitized trigeminal pathways can respond excessively to various types of sensory input.

Neurochemical Basis: Involves release of neuropeptides (e.g., CGRP, substance P) and changes in ion channel properties in trigeminal neurons.

5. Disruption of Inhibitory Control Mechanisms

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Normal sensory processing relies on a balance of excitatory and inhibitory signals.

Prolonged or intense stimulation can lead to dysfunction of inhibitory interneurons.

This is often mediated by changes in GABAergic transmission or alterations in chloride homeostasis.

The result is a failure to properly filter and modulate incoming sensory information.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Inhibitory dysfunction can occur rapidly if the system is pushed beyond its compensatory capacity. Epilepsy research shows that inhibitory control can break down rapidly under certain conditions, potentially explaining sudden shifts in sensory processing.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Impaired inhibitory control affects the processing of various sensory inputs.

Neurochemical Basis: Primarily involves changes in GABA signaling and expression of GABA receptors.

6. Aberrant Cortical Map Reorganization

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Sensory cortices maintain dynamic representations (maps) of sensory inputs.

Intense or unusual stimulation patterns can trigger rapid reorganization of these cortical maps.

This reorganization can lead to altered processing of sensory information.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Cortical map changes can occur rapidly under certain conditions.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Reorganization in one sensory area can influence processing in related areas due to cortical interconnectivity.

Neurobiological Basis: Involves rapid changes in synaptic strengths and potentially the formation of new synaptic connections.

7. Autonomic Nervous System Dysregulation

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Chronic stress or intense sensory experiences can disrupt normal autonomic nervous system functioning.

This leads to an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity.

Autonomic dysregulation can affect various physiological processes, including sensory processing and pain modulation.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Acute stressors or intense stimuli can trigger rapid shifts in autonomic balance.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Autonomic dysregulation can have widespread effects on multiple organ systems and sensory modalities.

Biochemical Basis: Involves changes in catecholamine levels and alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function.

8. Ephaptic Coupling and Neural Cross-talk

Plausibility: Low to Moderate

Mechanism:

Neurons can influence nearby neurons without synaptic connections, through electric fields (ephaptic coupling).

In sensitized states, this could lead to abnormal activation of adjacent neural pathways.

This might result in cross-activation between different sensory modalities or processing streams.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Changes in local neural activity could suddenly enable significant ephaptic effects.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Abnormal cross-talk between neural pathways could explain generalization of sensitivity across different types of stimuli.

Biophysical Basis: Involves changes in extracellular ion concentrations and alterations in the electrical properties of neural tissue.

9. Sensory Gating Dysfunction and Hypervigilance

Plausibility: Moderate to High

Mechanism:

Stress or heightened awareness about potential sensitivities can alter sensory gating mechanisms.

This leads to increased attention to and processing of previously ignored stimuli.

The prefrontal cortex and limbic system become hypervigilant to specific sensory inputs.

Normal filtering mechanisms are overridden, allowing more sensory information to reach conscious awareness.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Acute stress or a triggering event can rapidly alter attentional focus and sensory processing.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Hypervigilance can generalize across similar stimuli, explaining why sensitivity to one type might suddenly extend to others.

Neurochemical Basis: Involves changes in norepinephrine and cortisol levels, affecting arousal and attention systems.

10. Ocular Surface Disruption and Sensory Adaptation

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Changes in the ocular environment can alter the ocular surface conditions.

This may lead to changes in tear film composition or corneal nerve sensitivity.

Altered sensory input from the ocular surface can affect visual processing and comfort.

The visual system may undergo maladaptive changes in response to this altered input.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Acute changes in ocular surface conditions can rapidly alter visual comfort and processing.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Changes in ocular surface sensitivity can affect viewing comfort across various types of visual stimuli.

Physiological Basis: Involves alterations in corneal nerve function, tear film dynamics, and ocular surface inflammation.

11. Rapid Kindling and Seizure-Like Spreading Depression

Plausibility: Moderate to High

Mechanism:

Repeated subthreshold stimuli can lead to a rapid lowering of seizure threshold (kindling).

This can result in a seizure-like spreading depression wave across the cortex.

The spreading depression can alter the excitability of large brain areas rapidly.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Kindling effects can accumulate silently and then manifest suddenly when a threshold is crossed.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: The spreading depression can affect multiple sensory processing areas, leading to generalized hypersensitivity.

Neurophysiological Basis: Involves changes in ion concentrations, particularly potassium and calcium, altering neural excitability across broad areas.

12. Network State Transitions and Bistability

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Neural networks can exhibit bistable states - normal functioning and hypersensitive/hyperexcitable.

Certain triggers can cause a rapid state transition from one stable state to another.

This transition can occur across multiple interconnected neural networks simultaneously.

Sudden Shift Explanation: State transitions in neural networks can occur rapidly, explaining sudden onset of sensitivities.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: The new network state affects processing of multiple types of sensory input.

Computational Neuroscience Basis: Based on principles of dynamical systems theory applied to neural networks.

13. Altered Neurovascular Coupling

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Changes in neurovascular coupling can alter the relationship between neural activity and blood flow.

This can lead to localized areas of hypoxia or altered metabolism in the brain.

Affected areas may become hyperexcitable or hypersensitive to stimuli.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Vascular changes can occur rapidly, altering neural function in specific brain regions.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Altered neurovascular coupling can affect multiple brain areas involved in sensory processing.

Physiological Basis: Involves changes in cerebral blood flow, oxygen metabolism, and neurotransmitter clearance.

14. Channelopathy-Induced Hyperexcitability

Plausibility: Moderate

Mechanism:

Mutations or functional changes in ion channels can alter neuronal excitability.

Environmental factors or stress can unmask or exacerbate underlying channelopathies.

This can lead to sudden changes in how neurons respond to sensory inputs.

Sudden Shift Explanation: Channelopathies can be latent and then manifest suddenly under certain conditions.

Cross-Stimulus Sensitivity: Altered channel function can affect multiple sensory pathways.

Genetic and Molecular Basis: Involves specific ion channel dysfunctions, often with genetic components.

Additional Considerations:

Cumulative Sensitization: Exposure to multiple challenging stimuli over time may lead to a cumulative sensitization effect, eventually manifesting as intolerance to previously tolerable inputs.

Histamine-Mediated Sensitivity: Histamine-mediated mechanisms may play a role in sensory sensitivities, potentially interacting with neuroinflammatory processes.

Psychological Factors: The power of expectation and hypervigilance in altering sensory processing should not be underestimated, even when physical symptoms are present.

Stimulus-Specific Characteristics: Specific characteristics of stimuli beyond their general category may play a role in triggering sensitivities.

Individual Health Factors: Pre-existing health conditions, particularly those affecting sensory organs or the nervous system, may contribute to increased susceptibility to sensory discomfort.

Priming and Threshold Effects: Like in epilepsy, there may be a 'priming' period where the brain becomes more susceptible to developing sensitivities, followed by a threshold event that triggers sudden onset.

Rapidness of Neural Network Reorganization: Epilepsy research suggests that neural networks can reorganize more quickly than previously thought, potentially explaining sudden shifts in sensory processing.

Role of Subcortical Structures: Recent epilepsy research emphasizes the importance of subcortical structures in seizure initiation and propagation. These structures may play a crucial role in sudden sensitivity changes.

Interaction Between Systems: The interaction between neuronal, glial, vascular, and immune systems, as seen in epilepsy, may contribute to the complex and sudden nature of sensitivity changes.

Individual Variability in Network Resilience: Like epilepsy thresholds, there may be significant individual variability in resilience to developing sudden sensitivities, based on genetic, environmental, and physiological factors.

This comprehensive framework integrates multiple perspectives from neuroscience, including insights from epilepsy research, to provide a thorough understanding of how and why sudden shifts in sensory sensitivities might occur. It emphasizes the potential for rapid changes in neural function and highlights the complex interplay of various physiological systems in these phenomena. This framework can serve as a foundation for further research, clinical investigations, and the development of targeted interventions for individuals experiencing sudden sensitivity changes.

Donux

async This is really deep and relevant. Already after reading a couple of points I get a little aha moment. Just want to say you can be in apple ecosystem, as many of you have researched and contributed to the solutions, on that works for me even remotely in public place - NoMachine on macbook air m2 with lid closed in a bag + Lenovo X1 Ubuntu X11 with GRUB and X11 conf disabling temporal dithering (not sure if it actually works, but still added them). All works really well, I can live with it 🙂

async

Posted this in the wrong thread. Dropping it here.

For the ones that had an experience where short term usage of a screen significantly afffects the tolerance for other screens it would be interesting to hear about the percieved differences in both the old and new screen, and in how the old screens feel afterwards.

There is a ton of theories from Claude above, and I'm sure it can be a case of some threshold being hit, combined with a few psychological effects, but then again it could also be that some particular straining input that doesn't really exist anywhere else are experienced for the first time and causes some adaptation.

Macbook Pro M1 and some iPhones seem to be a really recurring theme in the cases where someone just got messed up. Tbh if I had to put my money on something it would probably be a combination of True Tone with really sharp high contrast edges for lines together with somewhat blurry text that forces some maladaptive change. Might be that the brightness dips somehow starts a new adaptation process each time as well.

Really interested in hearing more experiences from these types of switches.

First time really high PPI?
First time with really high contrast ratio?
First time with a screen that has really sharp and clear edges?
Mild color shift, like different tone for white and/or black? Are one screen redish and the other yellow? Does one have blueish blacks?
First time actually focusing on a screen with PWM?
First time with text size below a certain physical size?

bluetail

async I don't like these questions because they are really just accusatory and dismissive
They must not start with "First time".

QuitePainful

bluetail A rather strange interpretation. First time exposure to different technologies and screen specifications seems like very relevant information when talking about eye strain caused by switching from one screen to another.

bluetail

QuitePainful

For sure. But before all that, you need to evaluate if these things appear outside of displays - in real world / nature.
Then you need to evaluate if there are sensitivities in the individual.
Then, it needs to be evaluated what worked historically and what not.
Afterwards, the comparison between that data and the new state needs to be made.

Note that if you do not get any eye-strain if you avoid all displays, then displays may have something in it, that triggers issues.
You may switch to a different technology, but your own eye-sight in real-life will always be a more realistic experience than exposure to artificial light emissions.

And yep, To say … "First time …" just feels like an insult.

I gave Chat-GPT a try. Here is what it says:

The post might feel insulting because it appears to make broad assumptions about people’s experiences with screens without acknowledging individual differences. Here are a few reasons why it might come across that way:

Assumptions About Sensitivity: It suggests that the user’s discomfort or difficulty might be due to "maladaptive changes" or specific features like True Tone or PWM, which could imply that the person isn’t paying enough attention to these factors or isn’t adaptable.
Technical Jargon and Theories: The post dives into technical details and theories without a clear understanding of how they might apply to everyone’s individual experiences. This can make it feel dismissive of personal experiences if they don't align with the stated theories.
Focus on Specific Products: Mentioning specific products like the MacBook Pro M1 and iPhones might come off as overly critical or dismissive of those who are using these devices and experiencing discomfort, potentially suggesting that their issues are minor or self-inflicted.
Generalization of Experience: The post is framed in a way that could be interpreted as suggesting there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to experience screen discomfort, which may invalidate or overlook individual experiences.

It might help to frame your inquiry more neutrally, acknowledging that different people have unique experiences and emphasizing that you’re interested in a variety of perspectives rather than focusing on specific technical causes or solutions.

async

Tbh it was a query to get some extra data points as I dig thru studies on visual neuroscience to see if it is possible to end up with a plausible and testable hypothesis on why certain devices are overrepresented (apart from PWM and blue light) and are actually able to induce issues with other types of flicker / lights. That in turn might be reversible with the right type of shaders or overlays. I will not spend time responding to woke requests on something that wasn't even mildly offensive.

bluetail

async I understand your stance.
However, also try to understand me. The data-points you try to gather are pretty late in the chain of information
If the previous data-points are not assessed, it becomes a pointless exercise, because it will be hugely biased.
We shall not end up in wrong conclusions.

Let me explain in this hypothetical situation:
1. I eat toast from the brand foo.
2. After 6 years, I notice that my throat itches when I eat that particular toast
3. <=== Now you start Interviewing ===>
4. You ask me if it was the first time I ate that particular toast
5. I say no, I ate it for 6 years
6. You ask me if I ever tried a whole grain toast

Do you see the issue?
- We need to make sure the ingredients stayed consistent
- We need to make sure the health stayed consistent
- We need to make sure the dining ware stayed consistent
- And so much more!

To have the audacity to ask for a full-grain toast, even if the user didn't choose to, for trying to fix the situation, is dismissive, misleading and not scientific at all.
We need to make sure that all details are assessed. Not just those few - late data-points.

QuitePainful

bluetail The post you originally replied to was addressed to people who have experienced a change in their ability to tolerate previously tolerable screens after trying a new one specifically. You omitted this in your hypothetical situation. If such a change occurs only after being exposed to another screen that induces symptoms, to me it seems reasonable to assume causality between these events and to start investigations on that basis.

I don't find the post accusatory or dismissive in any way. The poster is simply trying to see if they can find common patterns in these specific kinds of experiences and to come up with ideas.

Also, using a large language model to interpret people's intentions might not be the best idea. The ChatGPT text you posted is complete nonsense like most of the content it generates.

bluetail

QuitePainful I did not omit it.
Specifically, 2. After 6 years, I notice that my throat itches when I eat that particular toast

- It could have been that the user became allergic ( yep this can happen over time )
- It could have been that the ingredients changed.

QuitePainful

bluetail I must have misunderstood.

Wouldn't 2. After 6 years, I tried a different kind of toast that made my throat itch and now my throat itches when I eat my usual toast as well exemplify the premise better, making it reasonable to ask questions about the different kind of toast that was tried and that seems to have caused the change?

If a change like this occurred spontaneously without any clear cause, you would have a point, but async is talking about a situation where a plausible external cause does exist, namely exposure to a different screen.

I feel like we're veering a bit off topic here.