Note: Even with the below steps, there is still dithering in lots of Apps (e.g. Whatsapp, viewing images in Whatsapp (terrible), True Tone, Night Shift, < 40% brightness, low power mode… the list goes on). Think I'll throw the phone out the window… goddammit..
Hi guys, I don't have much time at hand but I wanted to let you know I think I found some way to reduce dithering / eyestrain on LCD iPhones:
For homescreen, lock and settings
- Settings -> Appearance -> Turn on Larger Text (the setting where it 'restarts', not the slider)
- Classic invert -> On
- Zoom -> Zoom filter -> select Inverted; Zoom -> On
- (Take three fingers and tap twice to zoom out again; as turning on zoom lands you in an odd view.)
Notes:
- It seems to work best when the steps are done in that order (Larger text before turning on the Classic/Zoom invert. But this could be subjective
- It seems that restarting the phone worsens it a bit again (see below). Toggling the things improves it again.
- Also, I turned On things like Reduce transparency and reduce motion, turned Off True tone
Device: SE 2020
iOS: 17.6.1
Before: Before, I could hardly look at the display. Looking at it gave me instant anxiety and being very unsure of myself, an effect that lasted. (I get the same effect from OLED iPhones / PWM, and LED lighting as well (even on DC, always have to add capacitors to the DC output). It seemed incredibly harsh, even on 50% or 25% brightness. True Tone made things worse. Things (text, symbols) seemed to "dance" before my eyes, even normal Settings pages. I could not focus my eyes on anything. If I looked at it, it had an almost "hypnotic" effect where I would get absent-minded and almost "sucked into" the screen.
I started to dreaded using the phone, and just seeing it lying around. I stashed it after a while and only used my SE 2016 (iOS 15.8.3) over it.
Now: (Larger text + Classic invert + zoom invert):
I can look at the display comfortably. Things look like actual solid things. I don't get any anxiety feelings, arising panic or anything like that. Fonts and icons still seem a bit less sharp than on my SE 2016, but it does not bother me now (I thought the un-sharpness was what bothered me before, but that is not the case). The same goes for the harsh backlight (presumably a KSF phosphor (fuller spectrum)), I thought that was the thing bothering me but that's not the case; it is still harsh of course (equally harsh as this does not get changed), but when compared to my SE 2016, that backlight is also quite harsh on same brightness, and SE is relatively fine for me (iOS 15.8.3).
However, after looking at the screen for 5min+ I get some dry and watery eyes (not tested yet whitepoint and screenprotectors). If there was some 'psychoactive' effect I would say it is calming (which is in my view preferable). However, I don't use my phone for more than some surfing + messages, so for me it's fine.
For apps (Photos, Maps…)
When opening some apps like Photos, and looking at some gradients (iOS 13 orange wallpaper, normal pics), there is still terrible dithering. I could feel it instantly. Opening Maps, it looks a bit blurry, and then I look at a river name (blue font), again, really strong dithering and blurry appearance.
So I experiemented a bit more and came up with a fix (tested only for Photos, Maps, App Store).
It is basically turning on Increase Contrast, but via per-app setting for each app. The reason we do it this way is because the Settings App and the Homescreen (including spotlight search) become very eye-strain-y with Increase Contrast. And creating an "Exception" for Settings and Homescreen (ie. doing the inverse), does not work, Increase C. will still be on in Spotlight etc.
So this seems the best option
- Create a per-app accessibility setting
- Select Photos (or Maps, or…)
- Turn On Increase Contrast. Leave the rest the same
Before:
When looking at the iOS 13 orange gradient wallpaper, I can't focus. The image seems to keep changing. I feel like I get sucked into the image and things become blurry. I also get nauseous / an urge to throw up (I did eat a lot before). I did this test five six times, with breaks in between, and the last time I almost threw up (thankfully didn't 🙂 (Tested now, happens for fonts in Maps, App Store).
Now: Able to look at the wallpaper without issues. It does seem a bit blurry, and when focusing on details, I seem to lose track of them over time. The sucking-in effect is still there, but perhaps 1/3 as strong, relatively tolerable. No nausea feelings. Reminds me a bit of those old monitors that are a bit unpleasant to look at and have a screen-y feeling, but nothing serious. (Tested for Photos, Maps, App Store)
(Continuation from above):
However, this is not a complete fix, and I would not want to use it for 20min+.
However it's a drastic improvement over before when I did not even want to look at it for 3 seconds.
Again, the order of the steps seems to matter, and restarting the phone makes it a little worse again). !And, colors look a bit different.). But it's way better than before.
If you have some devices perhaps try it out. Let me know if it helps for you