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Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up
- Thread starter Kitkad
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We need more influencers on social media bringing attention to this issue. Apple has no way to even gather feedback. When you return a device because of eyestrain or headaches, they just mark it as "buyer's remorse".
I tried all iPhones and pro versions. 16 plus the most tolerable. At least for me.
I have had the same with my Macbook Pro M3 Pro 14 inch. I corrected monitor settings (factory settings gave headache) and installed an app called Stillcolor which now made the screen comfortable to watch. So in this case for some people there is a solution. On iPhones it's another story.
Glad to hear Stillcolor works for you. There's this caveat on the Stillcolor page:I have had the same with my Macbook Pro M3 Pro 14 inch. I corrected monitor settings (factory settings gave headache) and installed an app called Stillcolor which now made the screen comfortable to watch. So in this case for some people there is a solution. On iPhones it's another story.
"Note that while Stillcolor is 100% confirmed to remove GPU/DCP-generated temporal dithering, which is applied directly to the pixel framebuffer right before it's sent to the external/embedded display, the display panel's timing contoller (TCON) may still apply its own dithering/FRC to achieve advertised color bit depth. Whether or not Apple displays actively use TCON dithering in addition to DCP/GPU dithering is under investigation."
Yeah, it's still a russian roulette and no guarantee for everyone. But better then nothing I guess.
What makes it even worse is that it could change with an update, so even if works today, there's no guarantee it will continue to work.Yeah, it's still a russian roulette and no guarantee for everyone. But better then nothing I guess.
I got tired of returning laptops, so I just switched to Windows. Hate Windows, but my eyes are much happier.
I’m getting to this point. Haven’t used a PC since 2010 and it will be a nightmare migrating 15+ hard drives formatted for MacOS with 20tb of files over 12 years, but it’s getting exhausting trying to track down devices and then trying to match archaic panel serial numbers obtained with a Terminal command because 2 users found a panel that worked for them 😂 Absolute insanity, but when your entire professional life is locked within Apple’s ecosystem it’s easier said than done to make the switch - you never know what will go wrong with a Logic or Pro Tools session from 2016. Maybe one day we’ll get a settings option in Accessibility to disable this stuff at the cost of less accurate colors.
If they were going to do this, they would have done so by now. There's a petition here you can sign.
Sign the Petition
Apple: Accessibility Options to Reduce Eye Strain and Support Vision Disability Sufferers
www.change.org
It doesn't have that many signatures. I think the number of people suffering due to these bad displays is much higher than those complaining online (probably by 100x). Most people don't even have that awareness that their headaches are being caused by their device.
I signed that a long time ago. I agree, most people are blaming it on age and screen time or blue light. It’s likely PWM and dithering.If they were going to do this, they would have done so by now. There's a petition here you can sign.
Sign the Petition
Apple: Accessibility Options to Reduce Eye Strain and Support Vision Disability Sufferers
It doesn't have that many signatures. I think the number of people suffering due to these bad displays is much higher than those complaining online (probably by 100x). Most people don't even have that awareness that their headaches are being caused by their device.
To be fair, there has been no social media campaign to bring awareness. So I’m not surprised nothing has been done.
Something else I remembered is while the numbers in the "obvious" places may seem low and while I don't have personal experience with them, there are quite a few tech communities in the non English speaking world (e.g China and Russia) and they have their own eyestrain discussions and research. I also suspect there might be a difference in understanding and "asymmetry" between them in part due to the language barrier.
No. All others gave me a range of symptoms (from very bad to just not quite right).
I also am doing fine with the 16e, bought on launch day.
The only other OLED phone that worked for me is the iPhone 14.
That makes sense because supposedly they share the same screen.
I've tried all iPhones (at least of the non-Pro version) every year. I do remember the iPhone 14 not being too bad, but still gave me some level of annoyance. I didn't give it enough time back then, to see if it would pass.
I think there's an element of "getting used to it". It may or may not have made a difference that I used a Moto Razr 60 before, with its "Flicker Reduction" setting turned on.
It could also be that it's not 100% the same screen as the iPhone 14 🤷♂️
I had high hopes for the 16e but a no go after two days!!!
Having previously optimistically ordered for day of release, I’m not sure I have the will to go through it all yet again. Will probably wait and see if anyone actually has any success in using these horrid displays.
It's going to be either the 17 pro series or the 17 air series. The air may have new display "tech" that helps...
I've had odd success with certain devices..
The 16 series was a no go.
The 15 series is good for me
The 14 series was good for me
The 13 series was awful.
The only display tech (if it can be called that) that I am aware of is the nano texture glass. What is the other display tech that is new to the iPhone in the 17 pro/17 air?
The new Pixel 10 pro has an eye comfort option which increases the pwm frequency to 480Hz which is still not great but the first signs that the non-Chinese phone makers are considering this. I have been given a work iPhone 15 which I have an anti glare screen cover on and this has been the most useable OLED iPhone for me. Not sure if the anti glare screen helps but it seems too. I think the 15 also has a pwm frequency of 480Hz. I’m really hoping the 17 series considers this too. I have heard the pros may have an anti glare screen so if true they may be finally considering eye comfort.
I don't think there's any new display tech.. but maybe some advancement in OLED that helps minimize it... Rather intentionally or accidentally...