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iPhone 11 Pro Pwm what is it exactly? Can it damaged? Have i got it?

E

esaelias187

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 25, 2017
232
132
So when the iphone xs came out I got it

I remember driving and looking at my phone then looking up I would get this weird sensation in my eyes and head like a strain like uncomfortable feeling

Anyway I ended getting a Samsung s10 this feeling seemed to go away

I bought an iPhone 11 and using it brings that weird strain focus issue back I'm.quite upset as I liked the phone but it this what pwm is?

And also I'm.congused why it does it with iPhone and not so much with samsung

I don't really get headaches but more focus issue and weird head strain issue

I have been optician they said eyes are fine
 
esaelias187 said:
So when the iphone xs came out I got it

I remember driving and looking at my phone then looking up I would get this weird sensation in my eyes and head like a strain like uncomfortable feeling

Anyway I ended getting a Samsung s10 this feeling seemed to go away

I bought an iPhone 11 and using it brings that weird strain focus issue back I'm.quite upset as I liked the phone but it this what pwm is?

And also I'm.congused why it does it with iPhone and not so much with samsung

I don't really get headaches but more focus issue and weird head strain issue

I have been optician they said eyes are fine
Click to expand...
Sure sounds like it. Like you, I had no issues with half a dozen OLED Android phones, but the OLED iPhones don't work for me. I even had to send my iPhone 11 back from headaches.
 
esaelias187 said:
So when the iphone xs came out I got it

I remember driving and looking at my phone then looking up I would get this weird sensation in my eyes and head like a strain like uncomfortable feeling

Anyway I ended getting a Samsung s10 this feeling seemed to go away

I bought an iPhone 11 and using it brings that weird strain focus issue back I'm.quite upset as I liked the phone but it this what pwm is?

And also I'm.congused why it does it with iPhone and not so much with samsung

I don't really get headaches but more focus issue and weird head strain issue

I have been optician they said eyes are fine
Click to expand...
tonybarnaby said:
Sure sounds like it. Like you, I had no issues with half a dozen OLED Android phones, but the OLED iPhones don't work for me. I even had to send my iPhone 11 back from headaches.
Click to expand...
Are we talking iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 pro?
The iPhone 11 has a LCD screen, PWM is not present in LCD screens.
 
cappo3 said:
Are we talking iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 pro?
The iPhone 11 has a LCD screen, PWM is not present in LCD screens.
Click to expand...

Slight correction, LCD screens can use PWM for their backlights and its commonly used on cheaper displays. The iPhone 11's LCD however does not use PWM (as you said).

@Op, if you keep your iPhone 11 Pro's screen at maximum brightness the flickering that PWM causes will be much less apparent. It becomes more noticeable at lower light levels as the time between pulses will be greater to create the effect of a dimmer display.

This may not be good if you're driving with the phone visible as the high brightness may become distracting. If you still feel strain with the phone under all circumstances you may want to switch to an iPhone 11 non-Pro.
 
I wonder if Apple have changed changed something in the 11 Pro Max screen refresh rate. I have a new 11 Pro Max, the first OLED screen I have used.

Fortunately I do not suffer from PWM headaches.

The other day when I was on public transport I saw someone using a XS Max . As they were scrolling up and down, the screen was very, how can I describe it, jerky. Certainly not silky smooth like my 11 Pro Max.

If was using the XS Max I feel sure it would at the very least give me eye strain.

Just a thought.
 
JemTheWire said:
I wonder if Apple have changed changed something in the 11 Pro Max screen refresh rate. I have a new 11 Pro Max, the first OLED screen I have used.

Fortunately I do not suffer from PWM headaches.

The other day when I was on public transport I saw someone using a XS Max . As they were scrolling up and down, the screen was very, how can I describe it, jerky. Certainly not silky smooth like my 11 Pro Max.

If was using the XS Max I feel sure it would at the very least give me eye strain.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...

It could be the lighting on the public transport interacting with the screens PWM modulation to make it look that way. If you've ever been in a wood shop they usually use special lighting instead of ones that emit light directly based on the frequency of the incoming electricity so that the lights emitting frequency doesn't align with the machinery in the room as that can cause tools to appear stationary when they are moving at a high speed.

It's possible the lighting on the public transport was at say 50Hz and made the screen appear jerky from a distance where most of the light you're seeing is coming from the room and not the devices display directly, but just a theory.
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StellarVixen said:
I can swear I can see flickering with my peripheral vision when phone is on low brightness.
Click to expand...

You probably can, that's when it's most noticable.
 
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Quu said:
It could be the lighting on the public transport interacting with the screens PWM modulation to make it look that way. If you've ever been in a wood shop they usually use special lighting instead of ones that emit light directly based on the frequency of the incoming electricity so that the lights emitting frequency doesn't align with the machinery in the room as that can cause tools to appear stationary when they are moving at a high speed.

It's possible the lighting on the public transport was at say 50Hz and made the screen appear jerky from a distance where most of the light you're seeing is coming from the room and not the devices display directly, but just a theory.
[automerge]1573465436[/automerge]


You probably can, that's when it's most noticable.
Click to expand...

Agreed, BUT, I would see the same effect on my 11Pro Max screen too, and I wasn’t.
 
esaelias187 said:
So when the iphone xs came out I got it

I remember driving and looking at my phone then looking up I would get this weird sensation in my eyes and head like a strain like uncomfortable feeling

Anyway I ended getting a Samsung s10 this feeling seemed to go away

I bought an iPhone 11 and using it brings that weird strain focus issue back I'm.quite upset as I liked the phone but it this what pwm is?

And also I'm.congused why it does it with iPhone and not so much with samsung

I don't really get headaches but more focus issue and weird head strain issue

I have been optician they said eyes are fine
Click to expand...

I have the same issue with TrueTone off. With TrueTone on I’m fine.
 
JemTheWire said:
Agreed, BUT, I would see the same effect on my 11Pro Max screen too, and I wasn’t.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily because that phone is closer to you so you will see the light emitted from the screen more than the surrounding light where as a phone further away that wouldn't be the case so readily etc

Though the screen on the iPhone 11 Pro Max is different in one major way, it's brighter. It's possible they increased the PWM signal rate to make it appear brighter which would make it appear less jittery at full brightness.
 
i have been testing and I was wondering I can see no lines flicker when I do the brightness above 50 percent does this mean the pwm flicker goes?

this sounds weird but since using the iphone x, xs apparently my astigmatism has gone worse

ive got the iphone 11 pro again and I also bought the iphpone 8 I will be testing on it then will make a decision
 
JemTheWire said:
Agreed, BUT, I would see the same effect on my 11Pro Max screen too, and I wasn’t.
Click to expand...


You wouldn’t because you are viewing the 11 pro direct, sans peripheral. Even from a negligible distance and accounting for our increased peripheral with distance the other display would appear less fluid. The 11 pro and Xs max have the same refresh rate. There is no pro-motion on either device although the updated processing (11 pro) could account for a smoother scrolling experience. I personally haven’t ever noticed jerky like scrolling on my Xs max. It appears to display refresh just as effectively as my iPad Pro with pro-motion
 
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