New car is making my life miserable

omrydegani

Hi everyone,

My pwm sensitivity has broken free about 4 years ago when I got a Galaxy S20 phone. Ever since then, I've switched phones and done alot of eye therapy exercises and after a few months I was relatively symptom-free again, even got my self to tolerate an Iphone screen which is less harsh then the Samsungs.

I've recently switched my 14 year old alfa romeo to a 2021 Mazda 3 Hatchback. The car is amazing and the interior is honestly probably the best non-premium brand you could get out there.

However, I've been getting horrible symptoms and it turns out with high shutter testing, everything in this car uses PWM - infotainment, instrument cluster, even the small AC control monitor. For the past week I've been having the worst time and everyday I feel more fatigued. I feel as if I keep this on for one or more week im bound to be at the stage of daily migraines as I used to experience with the Samsung phone.

This makes me feel miserable because I'm in love with the car's interior. Also the car switching process is tedious and I cant think of any model to replace this one. Having to replace it would also hit me pretty rough financially.

Has anyone went through this? Are there any other options other than taking the hit and replacing the car?

Much thanks,

whystrainwhy

omrydegani In addition to what the others have said, I've heard you can go buy the black tint paper from the automotive store or anywhere that sells it, really, depending on where you are. Then cut out pieces of that to fit over the gauge cluster area and anywhere else, tape it, and possibly get some good results. Someone else in this thread here has mentioned this to me in the past and it's something I plan on trying when I decide to get a new car and if I run into issues. I'm curious if this would help you as well 👍️

Sunspark

Turn off the tablet, you don't need to have it on when you're driving.

As for the rest of it, look in the manual for a switch or slider that lets you adjust the brightness of the cluster. You might find it more comfortable on maximum brightness.

Sunspark

I would try tracing paper first before using tint.

whystrainwhy

Sunspark ooo that's interesting I'll keep that mind for myself. Thanks for that

Berezny

Check if you can adjust the brightness settings for the infotainment system and instrument cluster. Some vehicles allow for changes in display settings that may help reduce PWM flicker.

thorpee

I have a new car that I can use if I put it on digital speed and then hold a button to turn off the analog gauges.
The digital screen behind the steering wheel thankfully has minimal PWM.

The infotainment screen is really bad on low brightness. It has a slight PWM on high brightness but i've gotten use to it as I only glance at it.

Check your fuse panel you might be able to disable some interior lighting by pulling out a fuse.

I was nearly going to cover up everything with material covered cardboard cut to size and rely on my phone in a holder for speed and navigation.

Vip

Low tech solution that I've used in the past - black post-it notes from Amazon to cover up the non-essentials.

ensete

Don't buy new cars. Ever. I have accepted the fact I will be buying circa 2010 or earlier vehicles for the rest of my life.

Since software is cheaper than hardware you will always get car manufacturers shoving more and more screens in cars. Eventually they will just want to sell you an iPad on wheels.

qb74

I agree with the user above, the only way you can avoid the problem is by avoiding cars with the problematic displays.