Has anyone found screen protectors to help? Or even worsen issues?

cooldudz

Been thinking about this just now. I say this because of my own personal bias, but I'm starting to wonder if some people's symptoms are just general photophobia. The amount of nits modern smart phones can reach is honestly ridiculous these days.

I'm not a guy who needs to use my phone outdoors in the sunlight. But lowering phone brightness can introduce things like PWM and flickering. I was thinking a screen protector may be one avenue to lower brightness without having to do it on a software level. Even if it's just 10% less, 10% of 1000+ nits is not trivial.

Anyone had some success with this? Even if it's just, "my symptoms do seem a little less now that I use it".

The only thing that makes me hesitant is I have read stories in the past where someone said, "I took off my screen protector and now I'm able to handle my phone again". So some screen protectors can give some problems for some people, though of course, no one is exactly sure why.

K-Moss

cooldudz The XP Pro is very comfortable. I was hesitant to remove the included plastic screen protector in case it had a role in the comfort I experienced. However, it had a small air bubble, and I decided to take it off and see if I could apply it any better.

I found the screen without the plastic protector just as comfortable.

However, the XP Pro has glass four times thicker than standard phone glass, and I am convinced that must have a beneficial role in how the eyes see that LCD screen.

I've encountered anecdotes of improved comfort when using a TPU screen protector.

Also others who claim the same with a glass screen protector.

Based on my positive experiences with the XP Pro, which uses especially thick glass, I would suggest trying out a glass protector.

As well, the Darker app for Android can be surprisingly helpful.

Speaking of brightness, the XP Pro has a max brightness of just 550 nits. The Moto G75 maxes out at 1000 nits, or almost double.

The Moto Edge 2025 has peak brightness of 4500 nits.

cooldudz

K-Moss Yea, thick glass may be a positive. I've thought about that as well. Like I could handle watching films on a CRT. I wonder if it goes back to the light thing. The thicker glass may be diffusing the light better than thinner glass where the light just shines more directly onto people's eyes like a flashlight. Add in the strobe effect from PWM, flicker, etc and people get symptoms.

K-Moss

cooldudz Sounds right to me. I can get a stinging in my eyes from Moto LCD's that isn't apparent with the XP Pro.

Moto LCD's use much thinner glass.

As well, if I use my desktop monitors in the dark, I get similar stinging that improves when I enable Night Light. Night Light not only filters the screen to be more red-orange, but considerably decreases the amount of light shining out of the screen.

It's a pain manually adjusting the brightness of desktop monitors depending on ambient lighting, but for sure using them without any lights on, without simultaneously lowering their brightness, increases eye strain.

I haven't tried, but I would be curious if a Moto LCD with a glass screen protector is almost or just as comfortable as the XP Pro. If you add a glass protector to a Moto, the screen in theory should be very similar to the XP Pro, unless there is some other factor I am missing.

Yes, the Moto may have higher peak brightness, but lowering the brightness should yield acceptable results since there is no PWM dimming. Even so, many say Moto LCD's bother them, and I wonder if a simple glass screen protector is all that is needed to fix that discomfort.

Another thing to try is FL-41 Rose Glasses.

People try out the Moto LCD's, say they bother them, and return them. They tend not to try a glass protector or computer glasses before sending them back. However, they should. It makes sense to me most consumer phones are using overly thin glass. Most desktop monitors too.

Thicker glass gives you more of a barrier between you and the backlight. I don't see how it would hurt and I can see how it will help.

macsforme

A few days ago I refurbished my iPhone 7 (iOS 15) with a new battery and a refurbished OEM screen (new glass, original LCD and digitizer) and installed a blue light reducing screen protector. After the initial adjustment period, the screen seems quite gentle on the eyes. I believe it may be a slight improvement over the original, but at a minimum not any worse.