In 2014 i had an HP monitor with PWM and became sensitive to any digital screen for a 1 year or something. Then i bought an ACER NP515 nitro Touch notebook with Nvidia 1050 dedicated card ( around 2018). No eye strain/pain at all with that laptop ( running win 10 all updates and latest Nvidia drivers). Could use it for hours gaming/movies all was fine. Then i decided to upgrade to my current setup and the pain in my eyes is back ( also headaches, neck pain, etc ).

My current setup :

- i5 12400F paired withAMD GPU Mesh 6500XT 4GB connected via HDMI.The monitor itself is an 6 bit ( don't know if is FRC or not). This setup causes eyestrain to me. Maybe i should take a look to change color depth or some options in AMD software to test it again

    Allekss I am using nearly the same setup, same processor and a 6600xt. I am using it on 6bit colors, but i can do this only with an DP cable(driver otherwise doesnt let me change it). I had an ATI card before, i didnt get the eye pain, perhaps something changed with this generation of graphic cards. Tell us when you find sth that helps.

      hayder1983 I am considering an RX6600 so that 6bit switch is possible. This removed eye strain for you that was there before I infer?

        karut It didnt remove my eye strain, but it was a big part of making it better(like 20% better). I still think i got sth wrong in my settings and my monitor is not the best for my symptoms(looking for an TN Panel with low contrast and okayish blacks).

        Perhaps its better to be a used ATI just to try it? What card are you using now?

        I have a very good test when you want to test whether dithering is really your problem. LG TVs have an setting to directly turn on and off dithering, and it works with your normal TV signal. It is called "Color Gamut" and anything else than "wide" is with dithering/FRC on. It kills my eyes within seconds.

          hayder1983 I use an Nvidia 1050 Ti on Windows with no eye strain (on Linux I experience strain with the card) and a HD4000 on Linux with no strain. I havent found any Macbooks yet that I tolerate. I am pretty sure dithering is the culprit for me.

            Can someone try to choose at Display tab in AMD adrenalin settings Vivid in Display Color Enhancement in AMD adrenalin settings. I'm not sure if this helped right now, fonts are sharper, white is so good as a minus is black crush, but since lower gamma make me feel a bit better it's good for me. Actually i like an image. Interesting notice, that white is brighter than before but strange that it doesn't burn eye's. Something related to black/gray or gamma causing bad symptom's probably for me. I should add, that brightness of my display is set on 0, gamma is 1, sharpness at lowest.

              WeinTrust That is interesting. Did you try raising contrast to 125 instead of vivid colors? I think has a very similar effect without the oversaturation. Raising contrast in the display driver is somehow different than raising it on your monitor, whites will be crushed, but i have seen some people do it on purpose. Not sure i like it, but perhaps it helps.

              I dont use brightness 0. I use contrast 0 and adjust only brightness to 35 on my benq and 65 on my eizo(this is darker than the benq). If you have a problem with peak brightness try this.

              What helped me was deinstalling adrenalin drivers and taking AMD Pro drivers. Text is very clear and sharp with that driver. Gaming perfomance is the same i think.

              I get more Eyepain, with too much green in my white point(for example Benq monitor R/G/B=97/87/94 is much better for me, than perfect white). Dont know why, tried it with various monitors. And RGB limited on monitor and display drivers is essential to make HDR watchable.

                karut Well, then you can try ATI 6bit. Use the AMD Pro drivers instead of adrenalin drivers. (see post above)

                If you want to play video games on 1080p 6600xt is ok, i can play cyberpunk on medium details, Witcher3 & Borderlands 3 on high-highest. Will be ok for the next 4 years i think. If you are using more than 1080p think about a higher think about the 6700xt or 6800xt. Just saying 😉

                I wanted to try my wifes Macbook, but hadnt the time for it till now.

                So basically, to change the AMD GPU output color depth ( to 6 bit in my case ) , we need to connect via Display Port or HDMI is working too?

                  I downloaded AMD Pro Driver fro my 6500XT ( connected to Monitor via HDMI ) and I'm able to change Color Depth 8, 10 or 12 ( photo 1 ).

                  Also, I'm able to change Full RGB ( default settings ) to Limited RGB !!! What a big difference ( photo 2 & 3 ).

                    Are you able to use 6bit colors? I have tried it with 3 monitors, always worked with a DP-cable, never with a HDMI-cable

                      hayder1983 No , i don't have that option 🤔 min for me is 8 bit via HDMI. Need and DP to try it ( my monitor also doesn't have DP port :// )

                        Allekss #OK. Dont buy an adapter cable, it wont give you the option. Tried it with DP-to-DVI, doesnt work, it display DVI as connection, see below.

                          hayder1983 i have to test it for a week or two. If it doesn't work, i assume it is a body/physical issue for me!!

                          Should your problem not go away, send your card back and try glasses and eyedrops/healing ointment. It helped me reduce eye strain a lot. Dithering is still a problem for me, watching TV is still straining to me, but using the PC is much better now. I just have 0,75 dioptrin on each eye, still made a huge difference.

                          You could also try lenses, because it would be cheaper to try. They cost like under 20$ for 30 lenses.

                          hayder1983 I've just tried to play with contrast both in adrenalin and monitor, look like vivid gaming doing something with gamma i guess, completly different results. I'm trying to adjust green, much green in some videos and artifacts on black shades.

                            WeinTrust i think it is much more contrast and different gamma, which will oversaturate a lot colors and change gamma for all colors. I cant find a sweet point that way.

                            I am pretty sure dithering is not off, even with 6bit colors. I can see the dithering on grey and white. Dont buy a new AMD card just to turn off dithering, it doesnt work. Sorry 🙁

                            dev