Disable Color Dither method collection

Gleb I cant even get the first command in terminal running - kextstat | grep Intel

Martin-MacBook-Pro:~ martinjanas$ kexstat | grep Intel
-bash: kexstat: command not found

You are probably very experienced and so certain things seem as given, is there more dumbed down version of how to do this?

Also how about installing windows 10 via bootcamp and trying to disable all of it there to see if it indeed helps your eyes? Could you do that and share the process? Its good testing ground as its easy to wipe it if it goes wrong and still keep macos intact. If it works there, then its good motivation to figure it out for macos.

Gleb I am running Mojave 10.14.3 - would upgrading OS to Catalina change the drivers installed?

diop

In the meantime, I wonder if you install SwitchResX https://www.madrau.com/srx_download/download.html
And reduce colors to Millions of color, instead of billions https://ibb.co/44P4CDQ

AND, more important, in System Preferences -> Display -> Color, select Generic RGB Profile instead of Color LCD https://ibb.co/hXz3JmG

Then it seems to disable (or at least reduce) dithering effects.

You can verify it on gradient image http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php
It should look banded, not linear gradient as here: https://ibb.co/PY4PZ71

Can you try it and share the experience?

diop

would upgrading OS to Catalina change the drivers installed?

Not likely, they seem to bind specific Framebuffer implementation to specific device
But worth a try. You can then send me your framebuffer kext so I can look into. Maybe, they added setting there.

Gleb So initially after trying to follow the instructions I realised I didn't have Xcode installed. I tried to download from the App Store but it required that I upgraded AppleOS. So I've upgraded the system to latest Catalina.

The Grep | Intel list looks the same > https://imgur.com/jjJorY8
However when trying to allow permissions to the Directory/plist file it said something to the effect of 'read only directory'. I ran csr disable in recovery after the Catalina upgrade, so maybe there's another security feature that needs to be disabled first?

I opened the plist file direct in Xcode here > https://imgur.com/HwYyZkD - but I couldn't find any FeatureControl option.

I did change the colour profile to Standard RGB, but didn't install SwitchResX.

Here is a pic of the test page > https://imgur.com/JLWqC1B - I can see a gradient which is strange.

If there's anything you can suggest I will give it a shot - thanks for your help so far. (Glad to know it's working for you at least).

fyi.. with AMD+Displayport you can turn off dithering in the control panel (select 6 bit color)

Gleb could be windows only

Gleb After a bit of searching online it appears that from Catalina onwards kexts have to be signed by Apple in order to work, also I think the file system changes mean system files are permanently read-only regardless of SIP being switched off.

I downgraded to Mojave and installed Xcode - I made a slight mistake editing the plist and couldn't see a way to undo changes (doh) so will start over tomorrow and try again. Presumably I right-click FeatureControl and 'Add Row'? Then enter the details like you mentioned 'Dither' value '0'.

Do the changes happen immediately after adding the line or does the system need to be restarted first?

diop

diop Do the changes happen immediately after adding the line or does the system need to be restarted first?

I presume the later, I believe the kext plist is only loaded into memory when the kext is loaded, which a reboot would do.

I tried to recap what changed in past year, and at some point (6-8 month ago) I changed display brigthness contrast to
Brightness = 100
Contrast = 30

That was because I was doing some web-design and couldn't distinguish between shades of gray. So I worked with MAX brightness for more than half of the year.

Reading about CVS (Computer vision syndrome) I realized that 100% brightness is too much - eyes are exposed to w-led which causes eye strain (?). Maybe it is the same as looking at the sun or a bright lamp

So I dropped my Brightness to 20, and raised contrast to 70:

Now, letter edges are sharper, and the overall perception of the screen is more relaxed. Also, I no longer notice visual snow.

Hope this advise will help.

Gleb I did a fresh Mojave install / installed Xcode and then performed the steps as above. Added a row with Dither > 0 and restarted. I don't think it has made any difference to be honest.

Are there any other kexts that need changing or any other way you know of that OS X enables dithering?

Also AFAIK the Intel linux driver is open-source. I'm sure others here would also be interested to know if a Linux dither-disable is something that could be implemented.

Basically our aim (or certainly mine) is to 100% disable dithering (be it Windows/Linux/or Mac) to rule out the negative effects that may be caused by it. We can't rule it out as the root cause of our problems as we can't knowingly disable it or know if/how it is currently in use.

diop

So you put this setting inside your AppleIntelFramebufferCapri.kext? What I think about this: even if there is a notion of the setting, it doesn't mean driver code uses it. So maybe it is hardcoded, for example, to always dither.

It also happens for me on 10.15, I can't tell for sure that putting DitherDisable changes something (previously on 10.14 there was a definite shift of font crispness/color when switching to AMD).

I want some proof that dithering is on, but couldn't find any. I even did recording of what I see via remote desktop (VNC):
https://youtu.be/f1RiOukuKDg

Even there nothing changes when a picture is static. (There must be pixel dancing if dithering was on)

I might be getting a 50x Analog Zoom Camera to record individual pixels on video over this weekend. I no longer believe they are really jumping/morphing. It might be electricity AC that not static 220v, but varies from 200v to 240v in my apartment.

Maybe we are pursuing a wrong goal here, and the issue is in something different than dithering.

Can you share your experience? I guess it is Mac Mini connected to the external screen? If so, do you have issues when connecting this screen to a different computer? Is it easier on the eyes? Do you use the same cable between experiments?

Gleb "Maybe we are pursuing a wrong goal here, and the issue is in something different than dithering"

Not wishing to derail, but after doing a lot of testing on myself, and confirming with my own capture card - I am sensitive to dithering. But I am also sensitive to horizontally polarised light, dithering or no, a horizontally polarised LCD screen gets me every time. The common link between these two issues? as best I can tell its that both require extra visual processing by my brain to build a stable image.