hpst I find all sorts of people asking similar questions online going back many years, but they never get anything but the usual unhelpful responses and no solutions. Like this for example https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/eye-strain-from-certain-video-modes-drivers.53468/

On one hand with the knowledge of PWM and blue light being common I feel issues like the ones we talk about are less obscure then they used to be. Does that make the end of the story? Not at all. More work needs to be done and there are still many things we aren't certain about.

    JTL but I fear the latter (arguments and fixation about unrelated things) could happen.

    I am positive it would based on years of reading there, and am frankly just so desperate I am revisiting all the bad ideas I have ever had. It's a constant cycle of desperate motivation, trying everything again, failing, being more depressed for a while, then repeat. Every time I think I even find a workaround something comes up to burst that bubble. We need to find someone to supplement your ideas or who can work on this more regularly. I just don't know where to find them.

    • JTL replied to this.

        JTL Yeah every thread I have seen there talking about eye strain in some manner is already off the rails before I notice and could comment and bring up our ideas. Since stuff has a very short lifespan of discussion there unless you are in at the start and get votes there is zero chance of guiding the discussion at all.

        • JTL replied to this.

            hpst

            hpst Since stuff has a very short lifespan of discussion there unless you are in at the start and get votes there is zero chance of guiding the discussion at all.

            Couldn't have explained it better.

            • hpst replied to this.

                  JTL I just don't know where else to MAYBE find more people like you to work with you or who could even run with your findings independently. You have too much going on to work on this full time, but you are the only one I have seen with any plausible plan. It's obvious industry isn't going to help...Intel shut it down and acted weird. It's going to have to be an ad hoc solution. I can't wait years so am willing to help crowdfund whoever can help.

                  • JTL replied to this.

                      hpst When I paused work on this in January to attempt to get some work done I was half hoping someone else with the right skills would "pick up the torch" and ask me to writeup my research and code for them to them to work on it.

                      I may restart work on this when I'm able and PROPERLY take some notes this time. While I remember almost all of it I think having a set of notes written up would be helpful too.

                      Lot's of interest here, but the skills you need to do this, they aren't the sort of thing you learn in a day from a premade guide. It's from years of somewhat related low-level programming experience.

                      • hpst replied to this.

                          Gurm how do you find the switch in docked mode?

                          • Gurm replied to this.

                              Link Much the same. It's not the screen that causes issues, it's the display chip/driver. Hard to say which was more tolerable, docked vs. handheld, because handheld I took my glasses off and docked I was 10 feet away from my 60" plasma.

                              • Link replied to this.

                                  Gurm you can see the film grain type of dithering on the switch?

                                  • Gurm replied to this.

                                      Link I'd have to go back and check. I sold my switch because it was hurting my eyes, but my kid is buying another one so I'll let you know. It also seemed pretty variable - meaning that an early edition (release day) switch I played with didn't give me issues, and I've seen them hooked up in store displays looking ok... but again those are probably first-gen, first-run units.

                                        JTL So how and where do you suggest we find someone to help carry the torch?

                                        • JTL replied to this.

                                            hpst I don't know anyone who has the time, interest or knowledge to work on this stuff sadly.

                                            Other then myself, but like I've said before I have some time constraints at the moment. 😐

                                              4 months later

                                              So. I just picked up an XBox One S.

                                              And... eye strain. Not as instant as the X, but definitely there.

                                              What's BEYOND ODD is that I've successfully used the XBox one (S, usually, but occasionally X) in multiple places - conventions, mostly - without problem. Why is it an issue in my living room? Not sure. I'm back to trying to downgrade the original X to last August and see if that helps. If I can pinpoint "yes it was the October 2018 patch that broke it", then I can petition MS to find out what they changed in the display driver/code/etc.

                                                Gurm So far only newer computers have caused my eye strain. About 2 years ago I upgraded my original Xbox One to and S and haven't had an issue except for Borderlands 2 from the Handsome Jack collection. I played the original Borderlands 2 on Xbox 360 years ago with no issue but when playing the Xbox one version I couldn't play more than a few minutes without eye strain and a headache.

                                                Someone mentioned a switch earlier in the thread so I'll also add, I'm able to play Switch in handheld and TV mode without issue. I'm playing on a 2017 65" Samsung series 8 LED TV.

                                                  Gurm

                                                  Could be your tv, If it has a particularly fast response rate then it could make dithering more harsh.

                                                  To be honest though, I think it could simply be the excitement of being at the convention keeping it from affecting you. I personally find that to be a factor for me.

                                                  • Gurm replied to this.

                                                      Seagull true. Although at the MS convention, I was exhausted and killing time at the end of the day. But in that instance I was playing an XBox One X on a MONITOR. I think before I rule anything out I'm going to plug this S into a known-good monitor and see how it looks at a stupid fast refresh rate...

                                                          2 months later

                                                          Gurm to follow up on my last post. After not playing much xbox one s since October when Black Ops 4 came out, I turned it on and updated. I tried playing the master chief collection and eye strain kicked in right away on the home screen and loading screens. My eyes were bloodshot after playing a few rounds of slayer and I had to give up.

                                                          • Gurm replied to this.

                                                              SeniorTaquito it might be the latest updates killing it. I'm going to try rolling mine back to last summer. I don't know how long I can prevent updates before some games become unplayable, but if I have to block the updates indefinitely I will.

                                                                  a month later

                                                                  Gurm haven't logged in for a while since reading through a lot of the posts increases my anxiety and I lose hope. Did rolling back the update work? I haven't turned my xbox on since my last post. I was always upset that nintendo didn't keep up with the other consoles but now I'm happy about it. Switch is the only current gen console I can play without issue.

                                                                    dev