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Am I sensetive to the iPhone screen?

D

darkspym7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2008
7
0
For some reason, my body feels strange whenever I'm using my iPhone (tested in airport mode). For example, my leg will start feeling sore when my iPhone is in my pocket, and I will feel lightheaded while using it. I think it has to be something to do with the screen, but I'm not really sure.

Does anyone know the details of how the screen works, and how it might cause my leg to hurt?
 
clancemasterj

clancemasterj

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2007
161
21
Somewhere outside of time.
It's funny you should mention this. Sometimes when my iPhone is in my pocket and i get a call, the muscles in my leg would jerk even before the vibrate or ringer went off. I've always just dismissed as a coincidence but it's starting to happen more frequently. (Though I've never had it in airplane mode...)
 
BrownManUPS

BrownManUPS

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2007
824
25
Denver
clancemasterj said:
It's funny you should mention this. Sometimes when my iPhone is in my pocket and i get a call, the muscles in my leg would jerk even before the vibrate or ringer went off. I've always just dismissed as a coincidence but it's starting to happen more frequently. (Though I've never had it in airplane mode...)
Click to expand...

You are experiencing what scientists have termed as a "phantom" tremor and is sort of a learned response that your muscles get after frequent stimulation (via the vibration of your phone). I feel them sometimes as well on my thighs. Just enough for me to think my phone is going off! Weird problem.

As for the OP...that is a peculiar thing occurring. The screen is very bright and I can see how it could cause a seizure with prolonged exposure. I suggest keeping it dimmer so you don't feel the intensity of full brightness.
 
J

jmmo20

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2006
1,163
102
BrownManUPS said:
You are experiencing what scientists have termed as a "phantom" tremor and is sort of a learned response that your muscles get after frequent stimulation (via the vibration of your phone). I feel them sometimes as well on my thighs. Just enough for me to think my phone is going off! Weird problem.

As for the OP...that is a peculiar thing occurring. The screen is very bright and I can see how it could cause a seizure with prolonged exposure. I suggest keeping it dimmer so you don't feel the intensity of full brightness.
Click to expand...

I think it has nothing to do with a phantom anything.
Basically with vibrating phones we've taught our bodies to pay attention to vibrating stuff. This stuff doesn't come as it is in nature, so our body doesn't come built-in from factory to recognise this.

Once we've gotten used to vibrating things - we start feeling all the vibrations around us. Even the fabric of your trousers can vibrate a little bit when it twitches and stretches.

your brain notices the slight vibration and says "look, a phone call" when it fact it's not. I've felt this even when I have no phone on with me.

and about the screen.. maybe you need to wear glasses? It's the only thing that would make sense.
 
Ingster

Ingster

macrumors 6502
Apr 2, 2007
449
132
Leeds, UK
on regards to the screen issue, even at full brightness the iphone screen should not cause seizures, seizures originating from flashing/flickering lights usually affect people at mid frequencies (usually between 8 and 20Hz) it is known in some cases that higher frequencies (50-60Hz) such as those in TV's, computer monitors etc - usually the old CRT displays can affect a VERY small amount of 'photosensitive' epileptics but being photosensitive is a VERY small amount of epileptic syndromes (it was just picked up by the media years ago and escalated - yes it is good that stringent measures are in place for those who are photosensitive though)
As far as i've read there have not been any/many cases related to people having a seizure whilst using the iphone.

Sorry slightly off on a tangent there just thought i'd show a pearl of wisdom as i'm an epilepsy specialist.

darkspym7 how long have you had your iphone? did you have the 2g version before this if so did it make you feel like this? Seriously i would speak with a doctor about your problem, explain that you think it may be related to your phone but keep a list of when you feel unwell and what you are doing, i think this is probably co-incidental but it may not be!

Hope everything goes well and you can use your iphone whenever you like!
 
D

DanielJvdBerg

macrumors regular
Jun 1, 2008
143
0
The Netherlands.
Hahaha how funny, people always make fun of me when I think my phone is ringing. I guess I'm not the only one.

When sometimes just walking or sitting still, I feel a vibrate and grab my phone only to see it not ringing. Or even when I thought it was going off, reached in my pocket and... no phone. It was on the table lol:D Looks quite stupid sometimes.
Or sometimes I hear the SMS text noise, but in fact nothing rings.

Guess that's just human brain getting used to reacting quickly to those sounds and feelings.
 
K

KingCathcart

macrumors newbie
Jun 18, 2008
15
0
darkspym7 said:
For some reason, my body feels strange whenever I'm using my iPhone (tested in airport mode). For example, my leg will start feeling sore when my iPhone is in my pocket, and I will feel lightheaded while using it. I think it has to be something to do with the screen, but I'm not really sure.

Does anyone know the details of how the screen works, and how it might cause my leg to hurt?
Click to expand...

Feeling strange and lightheaded when using your iPhone? Sounds to me like you're in LOVE!

Once the honeymoon period is over you'll soon start to get irritated by the niggles your loved one has, such as dropping calls and crashing out of apps.

Before you know it you'll be bored and listless in your relationship and will start looking at HTC Touch Diamonds on the internet and visiting seedy phone shops late at night.
 
T

txr0ckabilly

macrumors 6502
May 21, 2008
421
0
Southwest Louisiana
KingCathcart said:
Feeling strange and lightheaded when using your iPhone? Sounds to me like you're in LOVE!

Once the honeymoon period is over you'll soon start to get irritated by the niggles your loved one has, such as dropping calls and crashing out of apps.

Before you know it you'll be bored and listless in your relationship and will start looking at HTC Touch Diamonds on the internet and visiting seedy phone shops late at night.
Click to expand...

divorced?
 
BrownManUPS

BrownManUPS

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2007
824
25
Denver
jmmo20 said:
I think it has nothing to do with a phantom anything.
Basically with vibrating phones we've taught our bodies to pay attention to vibrating stuff. This stuff doesn't come as it is in nature, so our body doesn't come built-in from factory to recognise this.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it definitely could be that as well. I refer you to this article for more information on what I was referring to:

"When we learn to respond to a cellphone, we're setting perceptual filters so that we can pick out that (ring or vibration), even under noisy conditions," Lleras says. "As the filter is created, it is imperfect, and false alarms will occur. Random noise is interpreted as a real signal, when in fact, it isn't."

Phantom cellphone vibrations also can be explained by neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to form new connections in response to changes in the environment.

When cellphone users regularly experience sensations, such as vibrating, their brains become wired to those sensations, Janata says.

"Neurological connections that have been used or formed by the sensation of vibrating are easily activated," he says. "They're over-solidified, and similar sensations are incorporated into that template. They become a habit of the brain."
Click to expand...

Ingster said:
As far as i've read there have not been any/many cases related to people having a seizure whilst using the iphone.

Sorry slightly off on a tangent there just thought i'd show a pearl of wisdom as i'm an epilepsy specialist.
Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't think it was epilepsy either but that was the first thing to come to mind with bright screens and such...
 
Elven

Elven

macrumors 6502a
May 13, 2008
862
1
UK
It has made my eyes uneasy but then I have just gotten used to the iPhone.

I'd think it's worth having a medical though to be safe.
 
B

Barbi503

macrumors newbie
Jul 25, 2012
1
0
.

----------
Ingster said:
on regards to the screen issue, even at full brightness the iphone screen should not cause seizures, seizures originating from flashing/flickering lights usually affect people at mid frequencies (usually between 8 and 20Hz) it is known in some cases that higher frequencies (50-60Hz) such as those in TV's, computer monitors etc - usually the old CRT displays can affect a VERY small amount of 'photosensitive' epileptics but being photosensitive is a VERY small amount of epileptic syndromes (it was just picked up by the media years ago and escalated - yes it is good that stringent measures are in place for those who are photosensitive though)
As far as i've read there have not been any/many cases related to people having a seizure whilst using the iphone.

Sorry slightly off on a tangent there just thought i'd show a pearl of wisdom as i'm an epilepsy specialist.

darkspym7 how long have you had your iphone? did you have the 2g version before this if so did it make you feel like this? Seriously i would speak with a doctor about your problem, explain that you think it may be related to your phone but keep a list of when you feel unwell and what you are doing, i think this is probably co-incidental but it may not be!

Hope everything goes well and you can use your iphone whenever you like!
Click to expand...




Well I'm epileptic and lately when I stay on my phone for a long time (like past 10 mins atleast) my body will jerk very strongly and get real jittery like if it were about to go into seizure. It scares the crap outta me and makes me get off the phone. So I don't think u can say that an iPhone screen doesn't cause seizures cause I think it's very possible.
 
D

Dhall0773

macrumors newbie
Feb 2, 2013
1
0
I just got the iPhone 5 like a week or two ago. I am photosensitive and I have petit mal seizures or whatever they call them now days.. My phone makes me so light headed when I talk on it that sometimes I can't even hold a conversation. The screen gives me headaches. And sends me into absence seizures. I don't know if the phone is defective or if apple products are just not for me, but the phone charger that came with it overheats too. And the phone itself even gets pretty warm to touch when charged on the replacement cord...
 
mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
darkspym7 said:
For some reason, my body feels strange whenever I'm using my iPhone (tested in airport mode). For example, my leg will start feeling sore when my iPhone is in my pocket, and I will feel lightheaded while using it. I think it has to be something to do with the screen, but I'm not really sure.

Does anyone know the details of how the screen works, and how it might cause my leg to hurt?
Click to expand...

Your not using your iPhone at full brightness, are you?
 
aphexacid

aphexacid

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2007
936
22
Chicago
Don't know about the iphone in your pocket thing.

But as far as using it, I got an iphone replacement to my original and I used it for one week. If I used it for more than a couple minutes, I started to get nauseous.

I ended up finding out that the particular iphone 5 I had had an interlacing problem, and I'm very sensitive to this.

I also noticed some other issues with the screen that prompted me to google it, and sure enough it's a common problem.

I went and got another replacement and this one had a screen that didn't exhibit the behavior. No more nausea.

----------

OMG I just saw this was an ancient thread :eek:
 
blackhand1001

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
aphexacid said:
Don't know about the iphone in your pocket thing.

But as far as using it, I got an iphone replacement to my original and I used it for one week. If I used it for more than a couple minutes, I started to get nauseous.

I ended up finding out that the particular iphone 5 I had had an interlacing problem, and I'm very sensitive to this.

I also noticed some other issues with the screen that prompted me to google it, and sure enough it's a common problem.

I went and got another replacement and this one had a screen that didn't exhibit the behavior. No more nausea.

----------

OMG I just saw this was an ancient thread :eek:
Click to expand...

I believe the phenomenon your referring to is called dot crawl/pixel walk. It occurs on lcd's that have an improperly set common-electrode voltage. Unfortunately its very common in lcd's especially recently. I am also susceptible to it. My macbook has it, but my hp dv7 does not. My friends ipad mini had it pretty severely. Gave me a really bad headache. It seems to vary even on the same model of laptop how much it has it. Manufacturers have seemed to care less about setting this voltage properly in more recent years. Thankfully superamoled screens do not exhibit this behavior.

Heres two pages that explain more in depth and include test images.


http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php

http://www.techmind.org/lcd/dotcrawl.html
 
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