I've had some similar experiences... in that I was pretty much A-OK on Windows 10 all the way up to 1909 and a bit. Something changed a while after I updated to 1909 and I was getting eye strain. (I tried installs of Win 7 and Win 10 and they all exhibited the same problem). Then a while later the problem just went away. I've never been able to explain it.

True, I did get my prescription updated around the same time so that may have had something to do with it - but then I was not having any problems with my good laptop.

Now, my Win 10 machine is all good - and it's my good (for years!) Macbook that has gone bad. Same Macbook screens, cables etc etc and there have been NO major updates installed but it's all giving me eye strain.

This stuff is just utterly confounding. That said, I am a bit suspicious about my prescription and whether things have changed there - but I can't get it checked as we're in lockdown.

    Lauda89 Interesting discovery ! So I tried dxdiag, and my HD530 is WDDM 2.1 and my 940MX driver gives me WDDM 2.4. I'll test different drivers to check if there's any difference
    Keep me updated about your tests as well 🙂

    AgentX20 "(I tried installs of Win 7 and Win 10 and they all exhibited the same problem)" Do you mean you tried to get back to older versions and the strain was persistant ?
    Indeed your prescription may have an impact on it. What W10 version have you kept in the end ?

          SAH Do you mean you tried to get back to older versions and the strain was persistant ?

          Yes, that was my observation. Couldn't explain it for the life of me.

          Indeed your prescription may have an impact on it. What W10 version have you kept in the end ?

          I'm OK on the current/latest build

          • SAH likes this.

            NotAlone I'm not sure my problem is related to this specific dithering as I have it even deactivating my Nvidia GPU, it persists even with ditherig, and it specifically appeared during that 1809 update.
            But if it helps some people it's good 🙂

              6 days later

              I think I found out about (one of) my problems. During this Windows upgrade, I was going through a stressful moment in my daily life and I felt my TMJ disorder getting way worse. I kept on using my computer (with build 1803) with mild strain. I decided to use my dental protector at night as I haven't used it so much, and tried some stuff to relax during the day.
              I can totally use my computer again, as before...
              So I can fairly say I found some of my triggers, stress and TMJ disorder. Maybe it prevents my eyes from working well or being aligned.
              Thanks to all for listening and helping 🙂

              PS : It doesn't solve my problem with all the screens though, just some that suddenly became unusable.

                SAH Good to know you found a way to relief you aches.

                Stress is always something which amplifies every little problem we have. It can be to make us pessimists or worse muscular problems or, in that case, sensibility for whatever causes eyestrain. By the way, what is a TMJ disorder?

                Hey SAH, I am preparing a post with a gather of links to forums for different platforms and this way make it easy for the rest of the users here to write on each thread to make it more visible, and I need someone with Windows 10 to do it directly to windows feedback service. Could you do it? If yes, say it and I will explain every detail to you

                • SAH replied to this.

                    TMJ is temporo-mandibular joint. It's when your jaw isn't aligned properly. I also have a dental protector and it helps at night. It looks like the same thing the basketball players wear, that transparent horseshoe which is only worn on the upper jaw. I often wake up and find my teeth embedded in it.

                      Sunspark That's exactly what I have. My jaw is quite noisy when I open my mouth, and without the protector I may hurt my teeth at night. Did you meet any doctor for your TMJ disorder ?
                      And do you see any link between your TMJ disorder and eyestrain ?

                      NotAlone You're right about stress making everything worse.
                      About helping you, I'm really busy lately and won't have time to be part of something bigger than just a couple of messages a week here, sorry :/
                      I hope you'll find someone with more time.

                          Sunspark Ah ok, I also have a dental protector. In fact, some users here also have it, and if it wasn't because bruxism is so common in these stressfull era, I would say it has something to do with eyestrain problems.

                          @Sunspark @AgentX20 Would one of you two have 10 minuts to send a message to windows staff through the Windows 10 feedback option to warn them about the problems we are suffering due their update on the graphic layer managment? With this we will have a way to gives "likes" to that question and make it more visible. Also, we will tag one Windows developer who will support us (I think). Is the better idea to get the attention of Windowdos developer it comes to my mind. COuld you spend 10 minutes on that? If yes, answer here and I will pass you the details

                              For people who are on Windows 10 1511 build is it possible to get security updates? Or those updates are only available at lastest builds?

                                tfouto You need Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB to get security updates (until 2025). I use it on my PC and laptops now and it has rehabilitated what I thought to be a eyestrain-inducing laptop. Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB + Intel graphics disabled (using Microsoft Basic Display Adapter) (or unless of course you have a known good Nvidia card) + Chrome HW acceleration disabled is the best combo going right now, IMO. You may need to download driver packs or use Snappy Driver Installer (look for drivers with requirement 10.0, not 10.0...xxxxx, as this denotes a high Windows 10 build requirement) to find drivers that work with this version, especially for use with a modern laptop. I was able to find a driver for Intel UHD 630 compatible with Windows 10 RTM (also works for 2015 LTSB), which I couldn't find anywhere else on the internet. Sometimes you can edit INF files for drivers to remove the requirements for the newer Windows 10 builds and they will work fine (although this won't work for Intel graphics, as they keep updating the driver to require newer versions of WDDM).

                                Also to get Windows Update working for 2015 LTSB you need to download manually and install the latest Servicing Stack Update and Cumulative update for 1507 LTSB.

                                    NotAlone @Gurm was hinting at having some connections with Microsoft and Windows developers but I assume he got busy and that didn't go anywhere

                                    (Sorry to put you on the spot man)

                                    sigh

                                    • Gurm replied to this.

                                        degen I'm probably going to move to 8.1 for personal use eventually as there is nothing pressing me to use W10 in a hurry. In a work situation I assume that you can't use the 2015 build and are stuck on the latest and greatest?

                                        I tried W10 on my current good machine, and it actually loads the 2010 W7 graphics drivers for it. I still notice strain so something is going on with newer W10 builds as everybody is pointing out.

                                        So it's a multi-layered approach to this issue. We could find ourselves a good graphics card output and driver tomorrow, but the latest OS makes it uncomfortable. Or the OS by M$ is fixed and we have a good card, but the driver forces dithering or causes issues (then again that could be mitigated by using Basic Display Adapter instead). It's still not a practical solution though as you won't be able to do anything graphics intensive.

                                        It's so frustrating..

                                          I think I'll totally give up on new OS. I installed Windows XP and from there connect via VNC to an up-to-date Linux machine with modern web browser. This way: no Linux eye strain, and no Win 7/10 nor any future eye strain.

                                            NotAlone Would one of you two have 10 minuts to send a message to windows staff through the Windows 10 feedback option to warn them about the problems we are suffering due their update on the graphic layer managment? With this we will have a way to gives "likes" to that question and make it more visible. Also, we will tag one Windows developer who will support us (I think). Is the better idea to get the attention of Windowdos developer it comes to my mind. COuld you spend 10 minutes on that? If yes, answer here and I will pass you the details

                                            Hey NotAlone. To be honest - with the variable problems I've experienced (now my trusty Macbook of 6 years has 'gone bad' for me), I really don't know what's going on these days. I've found things to be too variable in the last 12 months to be able to paint a somewhat accurate picture of 'the problem' so I'm reluctant to go hassling Windows devs.

                                                JTL I actually chased this around, was encouraged to file a bug report/feature request. No good way to check on those though. I kind of dead-ended and then the rep I was on good terms with left, and we got downgraded to a lower tier of support. So, although I can try to check on it, I doubt we're going to get what we want from them.

                                                But the fact that I've seen good setups recently is weirdly both encouraging AND discouraging. The fact that I can go to a convention and play XBox on a random TV with a random off-the-shelf XBox One X and have it be completely FINE... or that I can use a random machine they set up to demo Windows Hello and have it be FINE... but that I can buy an XBox One X and hook it up to a known-good TV and immediately return it because it's awful... is just weird and offputting. I really don't know what's going on any more.

                                                    Gurm I actually chased this around, was encouraged to file a bug report/feature request. No good way to check on those though. I kind of dead-ended and then the rep I was on good terms with left, and we got downgraded to a lower tier of support. So, although I can try to check on it, I doubt we're going to get what we want from them.

                                                    Thanks for trying what you could.

                                                      Gurm I really don't know what's going on any more.

                                                      I know the feeling...

                                                        degen Which is the latest Laptop hardware you can you? Where to get Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB? How died you disable hardware acceleration in Chrome?

                                                          dev