My Long Story (a.k.a. How Apple Almost Made Me a vommiting Monk)

randomboolean

@"coba_chok" #p44008

I had to double-check I wasn’t sleep-posting. this is basically my story too (10 years ago, bought macbook, damaged my eyes, vertigo, nausea, etc etc), apart from the bit with Samsung and the MacBook haha. Thanks for sharing, it’s genuinely motivating and gives hope that new tech can still work. Sounds like high-end gear with all the fancy settings stripped back is doing the trick for you, which is great. Definitely worth trying new high end tech with settings removed.

By the way, as I understand Android doesn't bother your eyes at all? Do you use the latest version?

By the way, where are you from? Quite a few of us here are non-native speakers, Europe, India and other places. I’m not native either. Been speaking in an Australian English accent lately since I moved here two years ago.

DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs

randomboolean Sounds like high-end gear with all the fancy settings stripped back is doing the trick for you, which is great.

I'd say in their case it's specifically more "high-end OLED" that's working.

I've had a few similar experiences, where some recent OLED TVs, especially LG, are actually ok to look at (provided the right source is connected, i.e. a PS5, but NOT an apple TV with all of its typical apple image processing)

coba_chok

@randomboolean #p44036

I can’t say for sure that all Android phones are eye-friendly — because so far I’ve only tested one: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, latest version (Android 15, One UI 7, June 1st update).

First thing I did? Went full ninja mode:

• Enabled dark mode

• Turned on Eye Comfort Shield

• Max Dim ON

• Auto-brightness OFF

• Extra brightness feature OFF (only when needed I change it manually)

• Killed all transparencies, blur effects, and animation nonsense

• Set a pure black wallpaper

• switched the resolution to UFHD+ and matched DPI to the actual PPI

• Changed the default font and adjusted font size to make it comfy

Basically turned the phone into a tactical no-flash stealth device. And… it worked great! Rocket fast like a computer. Immediate touch response like you tap and get result - not blurry effect, animation, just immediate result. And what I like if you turned auto brightness, auto color correction and off face recognition- there is no more sensors flashing 3000 times during the day right in your face.

Now I’m getting 8–9 hours of screen-on time while working — and absolutely zero issues. Even prefer it more then laptop.

Honestly, I’m even scared to touch the settings now — like, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 😅

As I mentioned before, eye pain was never the main issue for me with Apple, may be sometimes feeling of dry eye. It’s more about nausea, dizziness, vertigo, migraines — the full motion sickness package.

Samsung, with this setup, doesn’t trigger any of that so far. But it provides HUGELY faster motion on the screen.

I am from Europe, so hope everything I explain here in english is readable.

randomboolean

coba_chok thanks, that's very useful! How long did it take to adapt or was it an immediate relief when you changed some settings?

Also, are you still using macbook or it's still causes the dizziness, nausea, etc?

DJTaurus

coba_chok match DPI to PPI how that is done?

coba_chok

@randomboolean #p44039
There was no need to “adapt” at all — I just started using it, and boom — no issues. No any symptoms from day one.

I did mention earlier that I found a magical settings combo that made my MacBook Air 13 M4 somewhat tolerable (listed above).
But I only use it in emergency situations, when I absolutely have to run pro software like DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Photoshop, or After Effects.

Since most of my daily work involves things like browser tasks, messaging, email, video calls, Google Sheets — I just do all that on my phone - sometimes I connect it to simple Benq office monitor with keyboard and mouse and use DEX. but not that often.

Only when it's time to dive into editing or motion graphics — that’s when I reluctantly open the MacBook, because there’s simply no decent alternative yet. I have not found portable and powerful solution like MBA.

Like a toxic ex — useful sometimes, but you try to keep the interaction to a minimum. 😅

Yeah, the MacBook still causes some discomfort — even with all my custom settings.
I still can’t fully figure out what exactly is triggering it, but at least now I can get work done in short sessions with breaks.

Honestly, I’m just exhausted from trying to pinpoint the exact cause.
At first, I thought it was PWM — but based on tests, Samsung has horrible PWM and I’m totally fine with it.
Then I suspected temporal dithering — but apparently, my phone uses that too and I feel great.
So either that’s not the cause, or it’s something about how Apple implements it that makes the difference.

The problem is — I can’t figure it out, because Apple doesn’t let you fully disable everything for testing.
It’s like going to a coffee shop that only sells ultra-sweet drinks.
You ask, “Can I get it without sugar?”
And they say, “Absolutely! We have a no-sugar option!”.
Then they pour it anyway — just 20% instead of 100%. The fact is that it is not "disable option" it is Apple "reduce setting"
A regular person won’t notice, but a diabetic? Yeah… that’s a fast-track ticket to disaster.

That’s how it feels — the small invisible things that “shouldn’t matter” but completely break you if you’re sensitive enough.

randomboolean

DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs I agree, that's the better way to put it. I also believe there are many good panels out there, but we don’t realise it because it’s hard to get the software and hardware (GPU, CPU) side to stay “still”.

Funnily enough, I had the most success with the cheapest of the cheap setups, probably because they didn’t support certain features, which ended up reducing high-level strain, nausea, dizziness, vertigo. But I never saw that as a long-term solution. Even though I’m not sensitive to casual low-level flicker on those setups (so I can use it all day), those ultra-budget screens are usually terrible for the eyes due to PWM and other issues.

I also had one case where newer tech was dumbed down (Windows running on the basic driver), and with a good panel, it actually worked fine.

ocean10

coba_chok

What SSRI helped you? (I realize there is the potential for the side effects you mentioned)

randomboolean

ocean10

coba_chok

My 5 cents on SSRIs.

SSRIs are often one of the first options doctors turn to, since they’re among the most widely approved and studied medications that directly affect brain chemistry. Unless you’re dealing with severe depression, I wouldn’t recommend taking them purely for flicker sensitivity or eye strain.

I went through severe depression myself, partly triggered by realising how much this LED strain issue was impacting my life. I felt completely stuck. At the time, I had severe burnout (late stages), doing meaningless work, dealing with a breakup after a long relationship, and facing a few other things that pushed me over the edge. Therapy alone wasn’t enough. Medication helped a lot and I recovered from the depression fairly quickly. The burnout took around 8 to 10 months to get back to about 80 percent productivity, and around a year and a half to fully bounce back. I’m still left with long-term consequences. Therapy and self-work also made a big difference.

I can confirm that these meds often make you feel like a bit of a zombie at first. Emotions can feel different. Some people say SSRIs saved their life, others say they ruined it. For me, it was hard at first to get used to feeling numb, but it actually became helpful. I hadn’t realised how anxious I was all the time. Over time, I learned how to experience emotions differently. They’re not as intense, but in my case, they feel deeper and more meaningful. That shift came from a mix of introspection, therapy, and personal growth. It’s not for everyone, but in my case, I became a better, calmer, more positive person. But as I said, I wouldn't recommend SSRIs to anyone, unless you are dealing with severe mental health issues.

coba_chok

@ocean10

At first, I was diagnosed with depression and got prescribed Prozac (fluoxetine).

Didn’t work for me — completely killed my libido. Like, RIP, gone.

Then they switched me to Zoloft (sertraline) — which just turned me into a zombie.

Not only did I stop caring about screen-related symptoms, I stopped caring about literally everything, including my own life.

I could’ve been on fire and just calmly said, “Huh. Warm today.”

Eventually, I dropped all of those meds — because being a lifeless, sleepless, sexless zombie didn’t feel like a good trade-off for slightly less nausea.

I do not recommend to take any meds especially that influence brain without a prescription. You can get even worse side effects

coba_chok

@"DJTaurus"

You need to check manufacturer specifications about device screen ppi. Then unlock Android developer settings and set interface dpi. In my case this option is near animation speed options in developer settings. And then I changed font size in display settings to make text comfortable for reading.

DJTaurus

coba_chok

So you check on your android phone what’s your ppi and then you go to the developer options and set the same value for DPI ?

I google it and S25 ultra has a DPI of 498.

DJTaurus

coba_chok also what font did you select and what size ?

coba_chok

DJTaurus exactly, I set 498 dpi. Font - SamsungOne, font size 4th dot from 8.

DJTaurus

I am curious if you tried any dofferent settings with the iphones you tested.

coba_chok

DJTaurus ofc I tried all settings, I mentioned it, auto brightness, true tone, face id, filters, reduce white point, different font sizes, reduce motion, reduce screen refresh rate etc, everything was tested.

DJTaurus

coba_chok they say 12 pro max is kinda more tolerable. Which one was your best iPhone experience ?

coba_chok

DJTaurus iphone 4, 5, 5s, se. Then every model from x caused issues even with ips screens like regular iphone 11.

DJTaurus

coba_chok as far androids you tested only S25 and one plus ?

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