• AbstractHardwareOS

  • Macbook Air 15'' M3 IPS display bugs - Brightness F1-F2 flickering; Gradients

You're dealing with two separate things.

Regarding the first, I don't think this is a bug. This is by design.

When auto brightness is on, auto gamma is also on. (Auto gamma has been discussed elsewhere on this forum, including the underlying parameter that controls it.) There appears to be slower hysteresis when video is playing, which also seems by design, to avoid quick changes in gamma while people are watching movies.

I'm not convinced that auto gamma is ever useful, personally, and it's probably never desirable for working with photographs, but the PhD (I forget his name) who advises Apple on this has some credible arguments on why it should be this way.

Regarding the second, the MBA 15 uses a form of FRC on darks and midtowns to improve banding of dark regions. This is distinct from the FRC that Stillcolor turns off. There doesn't seem to be any way to turn this off.

    DannyD2

    If some tray App will forcefully simulate a video player that is turned ON in each workspace, then this algorithm (auto gamma). This will solve the problem with F1-F2 flickering if Autobrightness OFF.

        vladnft There is an app that's available that continuously plays a 120fps one-pixel-wide video in the menu bar, for people who want to force their MB Pro screens to 120hz mode. You could try that. I don't think it will turn off auto-gamma though; it'll probably just slow the hysteresis. (I personally recommend just disabling auto brightness, but you might like the effect… what it does is push the display to gamma 2.4 from the default 2.2 in dark rooms.)

            DannyD2 Maybe this could explain why some people including me feel way better with Generic RGB color profile, which is wider gamut than sRGB, but has much darker tones than sRGB this way minimizing dark tones FRC effect.

              If so many people (current users of Macbook Air M3 IPS) feel uncomfortable with the default software / driver display settings, our goal is to push Apple to add into Settings some option to manage those things. If one-of-a-kind PhD wants to use it - he can turn it ON. But the majority of users prefer to turn it OFF…
              Add to Display Settings:
              - On/Off instability in plain colours (especially black text on a white or light background), simple shaders all colours shaded evenly.
              - On/Off F1-F2 flickering (auto gamma)

              - On/Off Gradients not smooth - gradient algo to make Lagom test smooth

              It will satisfy majority of the users. The only way is flexibility in settings to make display comfortable for different eyes.

              DannyD2 There is an app that's available that continuously plays a 120fps one-pixel-wide video in the menu bar, for people who want to force their MB Pro screens to 120hz mode.

              Who can share the app's name or link to this app?
              Searched in Google, didn't find that.

                My early bug report regarding flickering and feedback from Apple.
                Link to the screenshot:
                https://ibb.co/JkJbSJZ

                "…From your descriptions, including using F1-F2 to change brightness resulting flickering, it's possible you may be experiencing an unexpected hardware problem. We recommend you have your device evaluated at an Apple Store or by Apple Support. https://support.apple.com If you strongly believe the issue with your Mac is software related, please file a new report from your Mac, and include Mac sysdiagnose logs in your report so that we may investigate. Thank you for your feedback."

                BTW - I've checked 5 different Macbooks Air M3 15'' all of them have this flickering

                Sad that when I bought IPS M3 Air I wanted to just use it. I thought IPS = it doesn't flicker.
                But Apple added some "features" like: Auto gamma F1-F2 brightness flickering, Dithering flickering.

                They want to make IPS flickering. Because If IPS not flickering then it is better than miniled…
                So they make it worse on a software level.

                …

                Now I found myself as a beta-tester for Apple's "new features" that annoys and damages image.
                They don't tell to buyer and user whats inside the product.

                An unexpected disappointment and weeks of searching to figure out if you're crazy or if it's a defective macbook you've bought. And only then you'll find out that this is how it's Aplpeple meant Macbook to be...

                ==

                This is like a knife with two blades and without handle - some kind of innovation that makes product worse

                Maybe dynamic refresh rate could be also an issue on macbooks, or dynamic voltage control for leds.

                Macbook air m3 - brightness is changing not equal

                https://ibb.co/PhzV9Nj

                Macbook Air M3 15'' IPS built-in display has 16 brightness levels.

                I've noticed that 1-8th each step more visible in terms of brightness change 9-16th less visible brightness change Why? Also I've noticed that The most noticeable interference in plain colors appears while brightness is 4 - 7 level of 16. Seems like some image algorithm turns on at those levels, or works more intensive When brightness level 8-16 then white and plain colors seems more stable and without interference.
                Dithering is OFF. Seems like it another type of interference.
                Comparing to MBP 15'' 2014 - that has brightness change equal in the whole range.

                e it another type of interference.
                Comparing to MBP 15'' 2014 - that has brightness change equal in the whole range.

                ==

                https://ibb.co/KzrdBm3

                Also I've noticed that Macbook Air M3 15’’

                During Mac OS Sequoia installation image is stable, without flickering in plain colors. Like it was in Macbook Pro 15’’ 2014. Great… It means that image "improvement" algorithms used by Apple to make image quality worse

                MBA 15'' M3. When there is animation - 4-finger gesture to switch workspace. Then NO flickering effect.

                I thought it disappears only when video player is ON, but now it is clear that some other animations also make it disappear.
                If you have also MBA 15'' M3. Pls write here about the result of the same test.

                App suggestion:

                If there will be some tray app that emulate gesture animation and video player - so there will be always smooth image

                See video:
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYjMU39FJU

                  DannyD2 There is an app that's available that continuously plays a 120fps one-pixel-wide video in the menu bar, for people who want to force their MB Pro screens to 120hz mode.

                  Do you mean that idea?

                  I've hacked a way to fix the refresh to 120Hz as long as the dock is showing. I've done this as refresh rates under 100Hz give me a headache.

                  1. Install the https://tracesof.net/uebersicht/ widget manager

                  2. Install the https://tracesof.net/uebersicht-widgets/#SmoothAnalogClock_widget widget

                  ^ as long as the hands of the clock are turning and on a screen it maxes out the refresh rate

                  This is optional, but I then made the clock all black (I have a pure black desktop), the height of my dock, and placed it the bottom left of my screen by editing the widget code. So it's always on screen, but not visible for me as long as all my windows are above the dock.

                  Only tested it on a 16" MacBook M3 Max using Quartz Debug from 'Additional_Tools_for_Xcode_15'.

                  It adds around 8% load to the GPU on my MacBook, and battery performance seems fine to me.

                  https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-there-a-way-of-setting-a-fixed-120hz-refresh-rate-on-the-new-macbook-pros.2364533/

                    6 days later

                    craig24 One example of testing is on the MB Air M2/M3 15in and MB Air M1/M2 13in arch linux runs fine with no dithering or eye strain.

                    Asahi Linux is more comfortable on my M1 Air than macOS for sure, but it's certainly not "no dithering or eye strain". I can still spot dithering flicker on some gray gradients and there's still definitely eye strain (compared to my truly good setups).

                    Although there's definitely a good chunk of the display post-processing that's eliminated when booting into Asahi instead of macOS (for example no longer seeing strange blue glows around large shapes). Just not all of it.

                    craig24 It is frustrating but with the correct computer Windows 10/11 and Linux can be made to work for some of the people. Look for a old fashion IPS

                    I'd say TN has even more potential compared to IPS if you buy a third-party TN panel separately and then replace it yourself.

                    My current usable laptop is the ThinkPad T480 with a AUO B140XTN02.D TN panel installed into it, which for me is much more comfortable than all of the dozen-ish IPS laptops I've tried. It's super easy to swap out the screen on this laptop too.

                    (Note that the stock TN panel that comes with some T480 models isn't comfortable — only the replacement one from AUO that I am mentioning is good.)

                        12 days later

                        Hunter20
                        Thank you for posting this. I just ordered an M3 Macbook Air because I newly discovered terminology to what I've likely been experiencing-- sensitivity to all kinds of screen issues such as dithering and PWM.

                        I don't know how to run these codes and go through this process myself… it's just a labyrinth of different sublinks and categories. This is not my forte. Can someone please guide me as to how exactly to download this app on their Mac?

                            5 days later

                            Nomorebrightlights

                            I didn't see a difference with this program on my Macbook Air M2, its probably because the Air has 60hz without pro-motion. For the macbook pro it should crank the refresh rate up to 120hz in the UI, because it uses a variable refresh rate and drops when there is no activity.

                            But you can use StillColor to disable dithering, you can download it here: https://github.com/aiaf/Stillcolor

                                Hunter20 Thanks Hunter!

                                So I guess this app is not worth pursuing the code assistance with then. That’s good to know.

                                I’d really like to make the M2 or M3 Air work for me, but am afraid the flickering even at 60 hz will hurt my eyes.

                                Are you able to use your M2 Air comfortably after disabling the temporal dithering with StillColor, and can you similarly detect flickering still present on a camera video like the M3 Air had detected in it?

                                    11 days later

                                    Nomorebrightlights

                                    I dont have the same problem like in your video with my air M2.

                                    I have compiled this tool , unzip the file, and just run, it will stay active while invisible https://easyupload.io/x7kkl0

                                    If animations disable your flicker like you showed in the youtube video, this in theory should fix it.

                                      dev