I'm getting some interesting results from W10 v2004. The most recent version of Windows I could use for hours on end was Windows 10 v1511, as this seems to work with my temporal dithering / subpixel rendering sensitivity which causes migraines and nausea. To use 1511 I need graphics adapters disabled, run ditherig.exe on my Dell XPS 15 9560 (Intel 630 & Nvidia 1050ti graphics).

Yesterday I installed the latest Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041.264) as a test, keeping all drivers the same and graphics adapters enabled - basically how a 'standard user' would install. Windows has not felt so comfortable for me in many years. It's way too early to draw any conclusions but I'm interested in other people's experiences.

I used my computer for 1 hour on day 1 as it was the evening, and I've now been using it for 5 hours non-stop and I have no eye strain so far. This is with all graphics adapters enabled (for the first time in years), and still running ditherig.exe as I was before (although I'm not sure this does anything). Other than that I've not tweaked anything.

For reference, these are the drivers I'm using:

Intel Date: 21/04/2017
Intel Driver: 21.20.16.4664 

Nvidia Date: 16/03/2018
Nvidia Driver: 23.21.13.9125

**Update - 12 days later, these drivers are working perfectly for me (see post 103)**

Intel Date: 17/06/2016
Intel Driver: 21.20.16.4475 

Nvidia Date: 15/05/2020
Nvidia Driver: 26.21.14.4614

Like I said, it's too early to draw any conclusions but it's a very promising start for me at least. Really hope others have a similar experience - I'll update this thread with any findings.

    Have you tried updating to the latest Intel/Nvidia drivers? Not that I want you to experience symptoms on purpose but the average user would most likely be nagged to update to the latest drivers or it would be handled by Windows update.

      diop Not yet - to be honest I was almost certain that it was going to give me negative symptoms so I wasn't expecting to be in the position of working on it all day. It kept the drivers I had installed in 1511 in place during the update, you just have to re-enable Windows Update Blocker straight after update if you don't want it to auto update everything.

      So I'm going to give it a thorough testing this week with my old drivers installed, then if that is successful (!) I will update and test the latest Intel and Nvidia drivers.

      So far, so good - but we've all been here before... 😉

        I don't think you should update the video drivers at all.

        If you do, and if you have the space for it, clone your drive to an image, so if it isn't as you expected, you can revert perfectly to how it was prior to any installation.

        Incidentally, my work laptop's Intel video drivers are also 2017, 23.20.16.4905

        si_edgey Did you install from scratch or update from 1909?
        Can it make any difference making a clean install or updating?

            tfouto I updated directly from 1511, which retained most of the drivers I was using.

            It also means you’re just one click away from rolling back to exactly how things were - W10 is very good at that.

                si_edgey But the drivers aren't usually automatically updated when Windows updates the OS?

                Have you tried updating from 1511 to other Windows Versions? Like 1803, 1909, etc?

                    tfouto Yes I’ve updated to all versions and rolled back to 1511 each time. The drivers update after the computer boots up after updating generally - so if you have Windows Update Blocker ready to go it stops them updating.

                    But if they do update (for example my Nvidia driver updated itself before I could block it) you just right click on it in Device Manager, select properties and Rollback Driver on the driver tab.

                    And if you want to go back to 1511 that option is built in to Windows, I believe the option is there for 30 days.

                    Either way you should exercise caution - if you have a working setup then there’s no need to do anything. The geek in me can’t help trying every version though!

                        si_edgey Why do you have ditherig.exe. Dont you have a NVidia?

                        I have two computers. My main computer is Windows 8.1. Fine.

                        The other is W10 1909. I might update to 2004. 1909 is horrible.

                            @tfouto As 1909 is horrible for you, no point in not updating it to 2004 to see how it goes.

                            tfouto Why do you have ditherig.exe. Dont you have a NVidia?

                            I have Intel onboard graphics too. Because at the point where I found a solution to my problems I had it running, I've never been able to get rid of it.

                            tfouto The other is W10 1909. I might update to 2004. 1909 is horrible.

                            Definitely try it. On 1909 my eyes feel like they can't focus on things, almost like they're moving around involuntarily. I start developing headaches / a migraine from even short periods of use. So far on 2004 my eyes feel calm, like they do on my working 1511 setup. I'm curious as to what has changed, but so far it feels like something major has, for me at least.

                            But I'm still only 24 hours in so it could all change.

                                  si_edgey Does the letters now seem more sharp? I also have that unfocus feeling on 1909. Like i loose focus on letters, like they become fuzzy, not sharp enough. I have to install 2004, altough i barely use that pc now.

                                  Windows 8.1 machine i where is spend most of the time.

                                      tfouto Does the letters now seem more sharp? I also have that unfocus feeling on 1909. Like i loose focus on letters, like they become fuzzy, not sharp enough. I have to install 2004, altough i barely use that pc now.

                                      I don't want to get everyone's hopes up too much - everyone is so different as this issue we all have is neurological and not related to the eyes, so it's hard to predict what will happen for others.

                                      But for me the screen feels very still and calm, the fonts look sharp again (in a way that they haven't since 1511) and my eyes feel relaxed while using it. That's why I'm reluctant to update the graphics drivers - if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

                                          si_edgey https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/windows-10-2004-upgrade-may-be-blocked-due-to-old-graphics-drivers

                                          Microsoft might blocking windows 10 updates for people with Nvidia drivers below 358.00.

                                          "Nvidia and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues with certain versions of Nvidia display adapter drivers and Windows 10, version 2004 (the Windows 10 May 2020 Update). Windows 10 devices with affected Nvidia display driver versions might receive a stop error with a blue screen or other issues during or after installing the update to Windows 10, version 2004. The affected drivers are any version lower than 358.00."

                                            Just installed 2004. I also confirm, that sharpness is back, and no more trouble focusing. Finally.

                                            As the pain in eyes, i can't say much, because i haven't spend much time.
                                            But for now first impressions, Windows 10 2004, way better then 1909. Microsoft, must have realize the mistake they made with 1909 version.

                                              tfouto Great to hear. I can confirm I have used my laptop for around 10 hours today without tweaks and have no eye strain, headache or migraine. Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end of many of our problems.

                                                Sounds very promising. @si_edgey Does that Intel/Nvidia driver setup cause symptoms on an earlier W10 build?

                                                After a bit of googling WDDM has been updated on this latest build. There is also a new 'Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling' option which apparently gives a bit of an fps boost for gamers. It is disabled by default.

                                                An official post is here > https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/what-s-new-for-windows-10-display-and-graphics-drivers

                                                On Guru3D forums there is a mega thread discussing the update and I noticed this comment

                                                Slightly reduce CPU overhead, GPU driver overhead, APIs overhead.
                                                Slightly reduce CPU usage.
                                                Improve input lag.
                                                Some software algorithms, which were usually executed in <OS - graphic driver> now are now executed on the side GPU hardware and direct to graphics layers.

                                                It could be nothing, but then again it could be something. 😉

                                                  Unbelievable, I'm reading up on 2004 and one of the features they removed was Windows To Go.. the very feature I was planning on using to take a look at it.. The laptop I want to try stuff on isn't mine, so I can't install to the internal drive.. need to use an external drive. MS is too aggressive with removing features people want, and giving them features they don't.

                                                  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/planning/windows-10-removed-features

                                                  Of interest to this group it says here in version 1809: "The FontSmoothing setting let you specify the font antialiasing strategy to use across the system. We've changed Windows 10 to use ClearType by default, so we're removing this setting as it is no longer necessary. If you include this setting in the unattend.xml file, it'll be ignored."

                                                  After all these years of having CT turned off in 10, it's back again? Prior to 1809 it was greyscale AA which is interesting because here people commented that 1803 was alright but not so much after.

                                                  dev