G3RDAS I doubt it works, its just a placebo. You install something, and then kind of feel in control and as if something really changes. Or maybe, not. I do not know anymore. But Installing some exe app, claiming it will improve X, Y, Z, and app which is precompiled by presumably Japanese engineer person, is a fishy idea. It could be some Russian hacker sitting in a basement, and using it for residential proxy or other not obvious exploitation. So if you install, make sure you - inspect the code line by line and then compile yourself.
ditherig.exe on Windows 11 24H2
It definitely helps with my eye strain on windows 10.
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I was debugging the ditherig on Windows 11. This application changes the dithering enable bit value in the video chip's pipe misc hardware register, which is the same thing ACM does. Essentially, they perform the same task since they access the same bits in the register.
On my hardware the dithering bit is reset to zero by default, meaning dithering is completely turned off. In the case of an iGPU, this might depend on the motherboard's firmware, as it can contain firmware for the iGPU with a specific set of default settings. The ditherig application works in Windows 11, but on my hardware, there is no need for it.
I don't think anything could have changed in the new versions of Windows 11, as the ditherig application works directly with the iGPU hardware and its operation primarily depends on the hardware specifications. But the ditherig may not work in the case of unknown hardware that is not included in its configuration.
P.S. I can't say anything about AMD iGPU because I don't have them.
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WhisperingWind speaking about motherboard firmware, how would I know if a Intel arc dgpu is set to not dither? Is there a way I can check the bits easily? And what would the bits be for non dithering ? I think you told me in the past but I totally forgot. Seems 8bit doesn't dither like you said but if mb fw can change that then I'd like to manually check
kgharvey I personally did not have rigorous enough testing structure so I can confidently say its not placebo. What definitely helps, is instead of trying to find a fix of eye strain during a work session, is - simly taking a break. Also lagom test gradients absolutely do not change before and after windows 10 or 11 for me. But my GPU is specifically on the top list when it comes to dithering.
And this statement is just funny to me:
"Software to change the dithering configuration of Intel and AMD CPUs in notebooks to improve the image quality of the built-in display." - Ohh realy, you buy a machine which utilizes temporal dithering which by itself required a lot of labour and technology money investment to develp, and all of the sudden you disable it and it improves quality. So what a hell vendors are interested? - Eye strain? Sorry, this is absolue rubbish.
"I have checked behavior with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel HD Graphics 515, Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200, Intel HD Graphics 4000, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics and AMD Radeon 680M." - Ohh, thank you very much for checking for me. I guess I do not need to think for myself anymore. Maybe next time include actual objective measures that have been used. Heh, I have checked 
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Is there a way I can check the bits easily?
Unfortunately, there is no utility for displaying the state of Intel iGPU/GPU registers on Windows. You need to compile and debug the ditherig application in Visual Studio. During debugging, you can check the values of the pipe misc register in the source code. The variable OLD will contain its value https://github.com/WhisperingWindLinux/ditherig/blob/2fb5b3a3b8edc405c3427757e1213cc9fcafbc9f/ditherig/ditherig.cpp#L624.
I don't know how this will work if two supported iGPUs and GPUs are detected simultaneously, so it's better to leave only the necessary one active.
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And what would the bits be for non dithering ? I think you told me in the past but I totally forgot.
The register value needs to be converted to binary format. The fourth bit (counting from right to left, starting from zero) is responsible for enabling/disabling dithering on Intel iGPU/GPU. For example, in 00000000000000000000000000010000, it is equal to 1, meaning dithering is enabled. In 00000000000000000000000000000000, it is zero, meaning dithering is disabled.
Link to the Intel manual where you can find information on registers (including PIPE_MISC, which we worked with above): Intel Manual, page 688.
speaking about motherboard firmware, how would I know if a Intel arc dgpu is set to not dither?
The dGPU has its own VBIOS, and the default settings is flashed into it rather than the motherboard's firmware.
Whether there is dithering or not, in the case of a dGPU, depends on the firmware of the dGPU itself and the driver. My ASRock ARC A770 uses the same driver as yours, so we can conclude that the driver does not enable dithering, as it is absent for me by default when working in Windows 11. This means only differences in the firmware of the dGPU remain. To check this, you would need to use the method I described above, if you need to verify it specifically in Windows.
P.S. About Win10, I can't say for sure; I did all my experiments in Win11. But now I use ARC only in Linux; I hardly use Windows.
Donux "Software to change the dithering configuration of Intel and AMD CPUs in notebooks to improve the image quality of the built-in display." - Ohh realy, you buy a machine which utilizes temporal dithering which by itself required a lot of labour and technology money investment to develp, and all of the sudden you disable it and it improves quality. So what a hell vendors are interested? - Eye strain? Sorry, this is absolue rubbish.
If they really are Japanese, it could be a miscommunication due to the language barrier. So I wouldn't read too much into it.
JTL Yes I thought about it, but we should always have at least 1x test. And if this is lagom gradient test:
- Having app installed and lauched with default settings (turn off all dithering) vs. having app not installed at all and obviously not executed = Produces no visual ditherece in lagom test on chrome browser (either with force sRGB or not flag, and with hardware acceleration ON)
- Once app is installed and if you deliverately set to temporal dithering = It does produce lagon gradient test slight image flicker, but not really to the gradient bands, those kind of stay the same. So test wise it fails again, if we accept that test is all about gradient bands.
So my conclusion app either is outdated with modern software on old hardware (inc. latest drivers), or vendors have pushed themselves settings through firmware or newest drivers that limit flicker from dithering technologies.
I may be however posted something else and claimed something else before, and this is an issue with subjective judgement. You set something, you got excited, only to find that eye strain always comes back.
WhisperingWind I'm not quite sure how to do the visual studio thing but thanks for letting me know that Info! Which win11 build were you using ? I'm assuming the Linux you use is just the latest Ubuntu with the modified kernel you posted about? (6bpc dithering disabled one)
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Which win11 build were you using ?
Windows 11 23H2
I'm assuming the Linux you use is just the latest Ubuntu with the modified kernel you posted about? (6bpc dithering disabled one)
I'm currently using Linux with my TV only, which has a true 8-bit panel, so I'm using ARC in 8-bit mode.
Now I have returned to macOS as my main system because my work is closely related to it. So for now, my PC with Linux serves as an expensive TV set-top box
I wish I can tell if my old TV is true 8 bit or not.
Macs don't bother you at all with dithering?
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Temporal dithering strains my eyes, so I turn it off. I use an external monitor and Stillcolor to disable dithering. In this setup, MBP M1 is comfortable for the eyes.
This thread is - ditherig.exe on Windows 11 24H2. Not Linux, not apple, but windows and specifically ditherig.exe application.
JTL Yes, but this is kind of implicit agreement between most of dithering testers that gradient test is the most accessable. Of course, I wish I had this super fast camera, then this would be a no brainer. And I probably would be able to share all test variations and tell exactly how it is. But right now, really, I am and most other people I assume, are touching various parts of the elephant while being blindfolded. I personally struggle to understand, why I feel fatigue over time on windows 10 with or without dithering.exe, which on windows 10 I assume has best chance to work (and older versions). But I do not feel fatique when using windows 11, but that tension in the eyes and forehead.
Today I have switched back from windows 11, to windows 10. Ditherig.exe was not installed. And it feels so much easier than windows 11. Will test for a while without ditherig.exe and then maybe later install it. One thing I would avoid on windows 11 and windows 10 - not to install those windows optional drivers where you need to go and explicitly select. These change something and cause eye strain for me on my X1 lenovo. After doing it one time, I will never ever install anything from that list.
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And have to report back and say I had to switch back to newest windows 11 with all the stuff installed. Windows 10 feels good for a while, but culminates in brain fog and other weird energy drain, fatique symthoms. I do not understand why, but rather use windows 11 with slight strain (not too big, just slight tension), instead of windows 10. It is actually possible that brain has associated windows 10 with some events in life, previous work, or just familiarity, which makes it "feel good" reward when using this OS, but in reality, its not actually really good. Ditherig.exe does make changes to rendering, so it works. But I can not test it by producing dithered image signal, probably would need to spend more time in order to get to it.
So as you can see, I am just a ginny pig just most of you, trying to figure it out X * Y * Z factors = Y1,2,3...x (symthoms). To figure it out without technical testing, would need to record a lot of data over a period of time by multiple people. But this would be prone to errors, as it is really not isolated environment.
WhisperingWind This is absolutely fascinating and I'm glad I stumbled on this. I have an Intel Arc A750 Limited Edition and I have found that on a specific 1080p monitor it feels better than other monitors that are 2k/4k IPS/VA etc. The point is that I still feel a bit of brain fog after about an hour of use. From your experience with Intel Arc GPUs, do you think the new B580 that everyone is talking about would make of a difference or is the architecture used in the GPU as well as the drivers basically the same as to induce dithering or other stuff? I've basically shut off everything I can think of that would enable dithering in Windows 11, and I think ditherig kinda helps? But not 100%. Before spending a bunch of money on a GPU I can't return, I'd be curious to dig a bit deeper. Maybe I can try out Linux on that specific GPU + monitor. I have yet to have any luck with Linux, but do you have a recommended distro + DE?
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whystrainwhy I have an Intel Arc A750 Limited Edition and I have found that on a specific 1080p monitor
Can you send gpu-z main page screenshot, (to compare vbios version etc), windows build name / driver version + specific settings used, monitor + cable used, motherboard name + bios version?
@WhisperingWind Hi, could you also share same data, to compare it with WSW ? Very interesting, whats difference between your equipments…