hpst tbh I can't really tell if it's worse, hard to pick between 2 evils. But yeah both setups are not usable and the symptoms are very different.
With the subpixel, my eyes feel like want to look towards the nose, they push the converging and I guess the ciliary musle get inflamed. The discomfort is instant, but the inflammation kicks in 30-60min. If I take any over the counter anti-inflammatory pill my eyes don't have that hard time looking at the screen, but since I wont be looking away every few min and won't be doing constant breaks after 2-4h the inflammation will kick and gets bad.
On the other side without subpixel, I again feel instant discomfort, I don't feel like my eyes want to look at the nose, but it gets some weird feel like one (random) of the eyes is soar, somehow feels like there is some misalignment although there is no visual impairment. So I don't feel burn but strain, you look away and in a minute it unstrains, so you keep doing that, but after some time this strain becomes persistent and you go to sleep, tomorrow is a new day.
In both cases I get full body fatigue too and feeling tiered although I have slept good (I mean I sleep 8+h waking up refreshed, look at the computer and within half hour I feel like I can go back to sleep).
I do not get headaches or migraines.
LED lights do not bother me if I'm not trying to look at the screen (I think screes make me sensitive to reflection tho or at least screens are much worse when there is light)
I do not have any medical history, so very isolated issue.
I do not think that flicker affects me (like PWM or LED flicker)
I use Amber Gunnars and CCFL monitor. They feel like helping, tho I do not think the issue is blue light.
My issue started 2012 with Nvidia Quadro 420 on Win 7 and I was using CCFL monitors. I did not have any hardware changes when it started (so my issue is not related to the 2011 Intel drivers).
It was not gradual, that morning I went to work, turned on my monitor and I could not tolerate the screen, it started just like that and after it I dont remember I was able looking at any screen. Back then it did not click to me that maybe auto update messed up my graphic driver.
Meantime I experimented with monitors and glasses but not with software. So I had the burning eyes issue.
~4 months ago found this forum and for the first time heart about things like dithering, subpixel, so I started messing with my Macs.
~2-3 months ago decided to see what else is out there in the stores, walked in Best Buys, so when I stopped around the Chromebooks for the first time in 6y I saw a screen that feels same as paper, does not give me eye discomfort. Thats the reason after work I can still spend more time in front of a screen and read this forum, with the Macs the days were so long that weekends were only chance to research this.
So I found safe hardware for me but it's not powerful enough. I need better solution.
I'm also curios to know WTF is happening since doctors keep saying there is nothing