Ok, so I'm going to rant here for a bit. Please bear with me.
It may be the easiest way, but the most accurate way is a light sensor hooked up to an oscilloscope. If the flicker frequency happens to be in sync with the frame rate and shutter speed flicker may not be seen even though it exists. I'm using a BPW34 miniature solar cell which I'm planning on connecting to a computer running a software called Soundcard Oscilloscope. It will not allow me to calculate the flicker percentage as it will not give me an amplitude reference, but I will be able to see the frequency of the flicker if there is any. As soon as I have built an enclosure for the miniature solar cell, I will start testing on all of my devices. Both those who are giving me problems, and those who are fine, so that I can understand what works for me and what doesn't.
The reason I'm sharing this even though it may technically be off topic is that measuring is the only effective way to learn what causes issues and what doesn't. With this knowledge I will hopefully be able to test things before I purchase, or at least within the return period. This is the length those of us who are most sensitive have to go through to not have issues with LED lighting and OLED panels becoming the norm. TV panels have had these issues for years, and it can be a complete nightmare to find one that works well.
I agree that Apple should put effort into getting rid of PWM. They did it with their computers a long time ago, with their iPhones at some point (not sure when iPhones got rid of PWM if they ever used it in those) and I think they should invest some of their R&D into getting OLED panels to be flicker free. The same goes for the Micro-LED panels they are rumored to be interested in. They use the same principle of operation as OLED so the same R&D would be applicable there.
What frustrates me the most is that the big tech companies doesn't acknowledge this issue. If we assume that the estimated 10% of the population being sensitive is accurate then 10% may be a relatively small percentage of Apples users, but with over a billion of active devices this would be millions of users even though many users have multiple devices. I don't know how to get the attention of those who can make a difference with this issue. There has to be employees of both Apple and Google who can't tolerate OLED, and yet both these companies are going all out on OLED. Do they not care?
Reviewers are not making the situation any better either, raising OLED devices to the sky while complaining over LCD displays. For the end user this does not make a big difference. I would assume that the number of users who truly care and won't settle for LCD is relatively small. Apple use some of the best LCD panels available, and they have kept pushing this now very mature technology to make it great. I think these tech giants are afraid to use LCD panels because they don't want to get bashed by reviewers and have poor sales. Yes, OLED can technically achieve better color accuracy, works well with HDR, and has blacklevels that LCD can't compete with. I can however say that the amount of times I have looked at any of my LCD devices in the dark lately and noticed black not being 100% black is 0. If I look for it I can see it, but under normal use it's a non-issue.
Any ideas how we can raise the issue? A petition? An open letter? Both? Something else?
Rant over.
On topic:
I have no hope that this years OLED phones will have gotten rid of the PWM, or even have increased PWM frequency. It's LCD for me all the way. I would possibly like an Apple Watch, but I didn't realize until yesterday that they too use OLED so that will take some careful consideration.
