Some statistic collected by an oscilloscope for the iPhone 16e.

Brightness level:

0-10% - PWM for all base colours. Magnitude is relatively small.

20-30% - PWM only on white colour. But PWM is pretty bad (for white colour). It has duty close to 50% which is most noticeable.

50-75% - PWM on many base colours(magenta, green, orange, red). PWM duty is also close to 50%.

90-100% - PWM on blue, peach colours. PWM duty is about 80% which is fine.

So, for the less sensitive individuals, brightness equal 0-10% should be fine, 20-30% can be used indoor by switching to dark mode, 50-75% is unusable, 75-100% is fine indoor(but it can be a bit bright) and totally fine outdoor.

Personally, I don't feel any negative symptoms outdoor (brightness at max level) using iPhone 16e.

    NewDwarf thanks for this.

    I didn't realize you could have PWM only on specific colors. That could explain why the white colors drive me crazy on Apple products. It feels like I'm starting at a white snowbank on a sunny day.

        7 days later

        seakerofsense PWM frequency is 480Hz.

        PWM duty depending on the brightness is in the first post. In most brightness levels PWM duty is in the range of 70-90%

          wlmsn Yes, each pixel flickers individually depending on the color.

          And each color gives different PWM duty and magnitude.

          So, many small objects of different colors on the screen create mix of light with different PWM duty. I guess this is very bad for sensitive individuals.

            That's very interesting thanks. It's contrary to the past where we have been told to increase brightness to reduce pwm.

            wlmsn My gosh you hit the nail on the head with how you described that. I didn't have words the describe the way the white screens looks on modern apple displays.

            "It feels like I'm starting at a white snowbank on a sunny day."

              dev