Anyone here with eyestrain issues on iPhones or OLED screens? PWM sensitivity, temporal dithering etc...

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Anyone here with eyestrain issues on iPhones or OLED screens? PWM sensitivity, temporal dithering etc...

CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#312760 15-May-2024 08:31

I've been running an iPhone 11 for many years now with hours of screen use per day and no issues.

Recently upgraded to an iPhone 15 Pro and noticed I started getting a headache and feeling pressure around my temples after a few minutes of use. After a bit of googling wondering if it was just me I stumbled into the world of eyestrain; people with nausea, headaches, dizzyness, dry eyes etc... which seem to exacerbated by the technologies used in current gen OLED screens. Depending on the research/opinions you look at maybe 5% of people suffer some kind of eyestrain, or maybe everyone gets it but are unaware...

Does anyone else out there 'suffer' from these symptoms? Have you found anything that helps alleviate issues?

Cheers

wellygary

8321 posts

Uber Geek

#3230635 15-May-2024 09:23

Have you played with some of the screen settings,?

settings>Accessibility>motion>Reduce motion

refresh rate of 120hz? vs 60hz for the old one?

Settings>accessibility>motion>Limit Frame rate

SpartanVXL

1307 posts

Uber Geek

#3230652 15-May-2024 10:34

Try with higher brightness levels if you can. The higher refresh rate might also be throwing you off as well.

iPhones unfortunately don’t have dc dimming unlike other oled devices.

mentalinc

3229 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3230653 15-May-2024 10:37

Do you have any screen protector on it?

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CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#3230659 15-May-2024 10:59

I've tried turning off Promotion (120Hz) and seems to make no difference. Another option is to lock at max screen brightness and then Reduce White Point in the settings, but non adaptive screen brightness seems like a major negative.

People on Reddit r/PWM_Sensitive seem to reckon the iphone 15's are pretty bad

Am going to try removing the screen protector and see if that makes a difference. Its a standard tempered glass one (installed perfectly). I dont know of a mechanism why a screen protector would cause issues but the people on the below forum had some success with it.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pwm-can-a-screen-protector-make-it-worse.2384678/

outdoorsnz

674 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3230665 15-May-2024 11:12

For me, what I thought was eye strain turned out to be caused by ongoing sinus pressure which requires nasal steroid spray from time to time. Antiflams also help reduce that pressure when really bad.

Rushmere

354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3230732 15-May-2024 12:15

I'm particularly sensitive to headaches and eye strain when changing devices.

I had exactly the same issue when I upgraded my iPad on the last two occasions. The first time it happened I thought I was going to have to return the iPad as it was quite painful to use. However, I found that my eyes eventually adapted, and after about 2 weeks it was absolutely fine.

Maybe you just need some time to get accustomed to the different type of display?

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#3230733 15-May-2024 12:20

Maybe your eyesight has simply gotten worse? It does seem to happen suddenly, you don't realise you're straining until it reaches a tipping point and you start to get other symptoms.

Perhaps start with the obvious before delving to much into the 5%?

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#3230750 15-May-2024 13:37

scuwp:

Maybe your eyesight has simply gotten worse? It does seem to happen suddenly, you don't realise you're straining until it reaches a tipping point and you start to get other symptoms.

Perhaps start with the obvious before delving to much into the 5%?

Unlikely to be the case, when I swap back to the 11 the problem goes away. And when I move to the 15 it comes back

CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#3230751 15-May-2024 13:40

Rushmere:

I'm particularly sensitive to headaches and eye strain when changing devices.

I had exactly the same issue when I upgraded my iPad on the last two occasions. The first time it happened I thought I was going to have to return the iPad as it was quite painful to use. However, I found that my eyes eventually adapted, and after about 2 weeks it was absolutely fine.

Maybe you just need some time to get accustomed to the different type of display?

Interesting. Do you mind me asking what devices you changed to/from? I'd like to check if they were OLED's or have similar noted PWM issues

Rushmere

354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3230755 15-May-2024 14:14

CrazyM:

Rushmere:

I'm particularly sensitive to headaches and eye strain when changing devices.

I had exactly the same issue when I upgraded my iPad on the last two occasions. The first time it happened I thought I was going to have to return the iPad as it was quite painful to use. However, I found that my eyes eventually adapted, and after about 2 weeks it was absolutely fine.

Maybe you just need some time to get accustomed to the different type of display?

Interesting. Do you mind me asking what devices you changed to/from? I'd like to check if they were OLED's or have similar noted PWM issues

The first time was upgrading from a 2015 iPad Pro to the 4th generation iPad Air. The second time was from that iPad Air to a 2021 iPad Pro. The first change was the worst one for me.

mattwnz

20155 posts

Uber Geek

#3230806 15-May-2024 14:27

I have heard of this as OLED screens. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99w3Wmp1agI

CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#3233353 22-May-2024 08:29

Just an update, I returned the iPhone 15 Pro to the IT team with a "thanks but no thanks" and have happily gone back to my 11. Unsurprisingly removing screen protector made no difference.

The very skepical IT manager said he would use it and a couple of hours later told me he experienced the same symptoms and he's never had issues with any screens before. It was then passed on to a colleague who then returned it saying it hurt his eyes and gave headaches as well. Also with no history having eye/screen issues.

Maybe this phone has a particularly bad screen, maybe we hit the probability jackpot of 3 susceptible people in a row with no history of issues, or maybe I'm particularly persuasive and I have successfully convinced myself and now 2 others into physical pain