Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro (Max) - PWM - Eye Strain

S

seaw

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
92
12
Hi,

whoever gets his new iPhone 11 Pro first... Could you be so kind and check how the new phones handle dimming the OLED display? I would love to buy one of the new phones but I tested the X and the XS and both gave me headaches.

Thanks
 
  • Like
Reactions: Howyalikdemapls and GlenK
seaw said:
Hi,

whoever gets his new iPhone 11 Pro first... Could you be so kind and check how the new phones handle dimming the OLED display? I would love to buy one of the new phones but I tested the X and the XS and both gave me headaches.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Most likely its gonna be the same problem with the PWM as the displays are pretty much the same
 
  • Like
Reactions: Howyalikdemapls, Elitegate, jimmy_uk and 2 others
You can get the display pretty dim using the Accessibility trick, but it is still much brighter than the non oled displays.
 
To be fair this year the story is much better for people sensitive to the PWM on iPhones as the 11 is not far off the pro, from what I can see you sacrifice a telephoto camera and 2gb RAM vs the pro and not a great deal else.
 
Matt91uk said:
To be fair this year the story is much better for people sensitive to the PWM on iPhones as the 11 is not far off the pro, from what I can see you sacrifice a telephoto camera and 2gb RAM vs the pro and not a great deal else.
Click to expand...
They all have 4 Gigs of RAM. You also sacrifice the data speeds since the 11 is only MIMO2 vs MIMO4 in the Pro models.
 
  • Like
Reactions: numberfour
madKIR said:
They all have 4 Gigs of RAM. You also sacrifice the data speeds since the 11 is only MIMO2 vs MIMO4 in the Pro models.
Click to expand...

I thought the pro models had 6gb for some reason! Well even more reason why the 11 is a great option with little compromise for people sensitive to pwm. Just a shame that the screen is not quite full hd!
 
Coffee_Time said:
Is there any Amoled that can do brightness control other way than pwm?
Click to expand...
Honestly, PWM isn’t necessarily bad. For example, Macbooks have PWM and no one has any issues with it (For the most part). The difference is that the Macbooks have PWM with Hz rates of 100,000+, while most phones seem to hover around 240Hz. I really hope that Apple increases the Hz rate before they switch to an all OLED lineup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: timeconsumer and Coffee_Time
asus389 said:
Is there any way to keep the flicker above a certain less irritating level and still use the phone without headaches?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the OLED iPhones always have flicker, even at full brightness.
 
Well... at least we can watch their new show “See”

Great job being ignorant when it comes to eye health Apple.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJTaurus
seaw said:
Hi,

whoever gets his new iPhone 11 Pro first... Could you be so kind and check how the new phones handle dimming the OLED display? I would love to buy one of the new phones but I tested the X and the XS and both gave me headaches.

Thanks
Click to expand...

There's a bit of mitigation possible to minimize the effect of PWM:

The way Apple use PWM on X, XS, and probably 11 Pro, it only use the flicker between 0-50% brightness. From 51-100% it doesn't use PWM. As long as the display brightness is above 50%, PWM isn't in use.

Now you probably don't want the display that bright all the time. Luckily you can use the Reduce White Point option in Settings -> Accessibility -> Display Accommodation to make the screen less bright. This feature on OLED screens, which doesn't have a backlight, will dim the display by the amount set on the accessibility slider.
 
shinyleaf said:
There's a bit of mitigation possible to minimize the effect of PWM:

The way Apple use PWM on X, XS, and probably 11 Pro, it only use the flicker between 0-50% brightness. From 51-100% it doesn't use PWM. As long as the display brightness is above 50%, PWM isn't in use.

Now you probably don't want the display that bright all the time. Luckily you can use the Reduce White Point option in Settings -> Accessibility -> Display Accommodation to make the screen less bright. This feature on OLED screens, which doesn't have a backlight, will dim the display by the amount set on the accessibility slider.
Click to expand...
This doesn't work, iPhones have PWM at all brightness levels.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ciki62, jimmy_uk, tonybarnaby and 2 others
Daft question klaxon.

Is this flicker something that some people are able to see or is it a...er...invisible annoyance?

To clarify invisible, I mean it can cause headaches even though the flickering isn't necessarily visible during usage.
 
spooky23 said:
Daft question klaxon.

Is this flicker something that some people are able to see or is it a...er...invisible annoyance?

To clarify invisible, I mean it can cause headaches even though the flickering isn't necessarily visible during usage.
Click to expand...
Yes it causes headaches even if it isnt "visible". I remember playing with an iPhone X for about 20 minutes in the store and wondered why my head felt funny after.

This issue affect approx. 10 percent of people so its not a HUGE issue but its significant enough that people are now aware of it.
 
It's likely to be the same as the X/XS or so close as not to matter. If it bothers you, you probably need to go with the 11, not the 11 Pro. :(
 
jonnyb098 said:
Yes it causes headaches even if it isnt "visible". I remember playing with an iPhone X for about 20 minutes in the store and wondered why my head felt funny after.

This issue affect approx. 10 percent of people so its not a HUGE issue but its significant enough that people are now aware of it.
Click to expand...

Cheers fella. Not had issues with OLED in tv's but that's a touch different from a handheld device. Here's hoping I'm not part of the 10%.

Never had an issue using the X (family members own it).
 
Mathe the new 11 pro does have a higher refresh rate than 240Hz.

We will know it tomorrow (hope so)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back