Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[Proteinaceous]

I just bought the phone yesterday and also have trouble with focusing on the screen and getting headaches from it. Has any of you gotten used to it after time or should I just go and return it and hope they use a non PWM-panel next year?

As with the previous poster, it did not get better for me...in fact, the headaches got a bit worse.

 

[Faste]

Lol get better genetics

It’s probably because the genetics are too good that our eyes have the ability to pick up the flashing. Like me I promise you the others who have this problem do not wear glasses or have other vision problems.

 

[janeauburn]

So half of all people who have this phone are getting headaches?

 

[Proteinaceous]

It’s probably because the genetics are too good that our eyes have the ability to pick up the flashing. Like me I promise you the others who have this problem do not wear glasses or have other vision problems.

Umm...I wear glasses.
[doublepost=1513437640][/doublepost]

So half of all people who have this phone are getting headaches?

No. Half of the people that meet the following criteria:
1. Read/subscribe to Macrumors
2. Have an interest in the reading a thread about the iPhone X and eyestrain. This includes people specifically looking for threads like this because they are having this specific issue.
3. Are interested in voting.

In other words, this is a biased sample and, therefore, not representative of the overall population. If 50% of the general population had this problem I am sure it would be getting a lot of media/press attention.

 

[TDDM]

Umm...I wear glasses.
[doublepost=1513437640][/doublepost]
No. Half of the people that meet the following criteria:
1. Read/subscribe to Macrumors
2. Have an interest in the reading a thread about the iPhone X and eyestrain. This includes people specifically looking for threads like this because they are having this specific issue.
3. Are interested in voting.

In other words, this is a biased sample and, therefore, not representative of the overall population. If 50% of the general population had this problem I am sure it would be getting a lot of media/press attention.

I remember reading a study that said something like 75-80% were not affected in any way, 15-20% had mild discomfort, and 10% had obvious discomfort. So it's definitely not 50%, and it's probably not a huge priority for Apple.

Also, I've been doing some reading about PWM, and one solution I found involves turning thr brightness up, then artificially lowering it through contrast settings. Maybe that could be some kind of Accessibility setting or something?

 

[MICHAELSD]

I remember reading a study that said something like 75-80% were not affected in any way, 15-20% had mild discomfort, and 10% had obvious discomfort. So it's definitely not 50%, and it's probably not a huge priority for Apple.

Also, I've been doing some reading about PWM, and one solution I found involves turning thr brightness up, then artificially lowering it through contrast settings. Maybe that could be some kind of Accessibility setting or something?

This is already possible by using the reduce white point setting but it doesn’t look good, and PWM is present at 100% anyway so it doesn’t help.

 

[Calleknug]

As with the previous poster, it did not get better for me...in fact, the headaches got a bit worse.

Thanks, returned it less than 24 hours after my purchase. Such as shame

 

[Faste]

Turning off True Tone helped.

 

[robert1998]

So any idea if this could be resolved with a software update?

 

[jgiannakas]

For me turning on True Tone and putting the display at 50% brightness had the best effect. I no longer have any discomfort. At 100% the screen is too bright so you will get eye strain. At 0% the flicker is noticeable when moving your fingers over it. At anything over 20-30% there is no flicker whatsoever.

 

[Tijdelijk]

For me turning on True Tone and putting the display at 50% brightness had the best effect. I no longer have any discomfort. At 100% the screen is too bright so you will get eye strain. At 0% the flicker is noticeable when moving your fingers over it. At anything over 20-30% there is no flicker whatsoever.

Abcourse there is flickering at 20-30%.
Make a Slowmotion video and see how bad it is.

Because you cannot see it it does not mean it's not there. You're brain is able to detect it.

Even at 100% it's there!!!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xff8k2nc6opem0j/X_SLOW.MOV?dl=0

 

[jgiannakas]

Abcourse there is flickering at 20-30%.
Make a Slowmotion video and see how bad it is.

Because you cannot see it it does not mean it's not there. You're brain is able to detect it.

Even at 100% it's there!!!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xff8k2nc6opem0j/X_SLOW.MOV?dl=0

The depth of the flicker is what is causing the strain. At 0-30percent it goes all the way to 0 brightness. At over 30-40 it is a shallow reduction in brightness hence less strain.

 

[Tijdelijk]

The depth of the flicker is what is causing the strain. At 0-30percent it goes all the way to 0 brightness. At over 30-40 it is a shallow reduction in brightness hence less strain.

I am afraid I don't understand your logic.

You said " At anything over 20-30% there is no flicker whatsoever"

This is not correct!!!
Even at 100 procent full brightness it's still there at 240HZ

 

[jgiannakas]

Flicker has two dimensions. Depth and frequency. Your eyes perceive flicker when the frequency is low and the depth is high. It looks more like a switching light bulb. If the frequency is high and the depth is shallow it’s imperceptible as your eyes cones and rods don’t have enough time to “discharge”.

 

[Tijdelijk]

Flicker has two dimensions. Depth and frequency. Your eyes perceive flicker when the frequency is low and the depth is high. It looks more like a switching light bulb. If the frequency is high and the depth is shallow it’s imperceptible as your eyes cones and rods don’t have enough time to “discharge”.

Imperceptible for the eyes or the brains?
I mean I cannot see any flickering with the eyes (but it's there) on the X but it's doing something to me.

I feel something I just cannot explain.
All is perfect on the 8 plus (no flickering and Abcourse no PWM dimming)

 

[jgiannakas]

Imperceptible for the eyes or the brains?
I mean I cannot see any flickering with the eyes (but it's there) on the X but it's doing something to me.

I feel something I just cannot explain.
All is perfect on the 8 plus (no flickering and Abcourse no PWM dimming)

Try the settings I’m recommending to you. Remove all colour filters and white point adjustment ( they make the screen blue which is straining the eyes). Set True Tone to on and brightness to 50% when in a well lit room so the phone is the same brightness as a sheet of paper next to it. The highest strain from phone use is due to excessive or too low brightness, too blue of a colour and constant focus on a small screen. Give it a bit of a break and try again after a few hours. You’ll be surprised that the strain is gone.

As I said earlier I had experienced the same symptom and by doing the above it’s all gone. I couldn’t see the flicker but my eyes were sore and could not focus on the screen for prolonged periods of time. A week or so later with these settings the issue is completely gone. Not sure if it’s the actual PWM that is causing the issue or a mixture of incorrect screen settings to fix the perceived yellow screen, too high brightness as the phone gets much brighter than the iPad or iPhone 6 I had before or just too long of use as it was the new shiny toy for me.

The eye chemistry dictates that your eye cannot perceive shallow changes or brightness at high frequency as the rods and cones don’t have time to chemically react to the change. It’s the same thing that causes motion blur when going fast in a car.

Not defending Apple or anything like that but just stating my own experience. Actually the Samsung phones are far worse in that department, with depth of flicker going to 0 even at 50% brightness while the iPhone drops maybe 10-20% at the same level.

 

[Tijdelijk]

Some additional info

http://www.eizo.com/library/basics/eyestrain/
[doublepost=1513514649][/doublepost]

Try the settings I’m recommending to you. Remove all colour filters and white point adjustment ( they make the screen blue which is straining the eyes). Set True Tone to on and brightness to 50% when in a well lit room so the phone is the same brightness as a sheet of paper next to it. The highest strain from phone use is due to excessive or too low brightness, too blue of a colour and constant focus on a small screen. Give it a bit of a break and try again after a few hours. You’ll be surprised that the strain is gone.

As I said earlier I had experienced the same symptom and by doing the above it’s all gone. I couldn’t see the flicker but my eyes were sore and could not focus on the screen for prolonged periods of time. A week or so later with these settings the issue is completely gone. Not sure if it’s the actual PWM that is causing the issue or a mixture of incorrect screen settings to fix the perceived yellow screen, too high brightness as the phone gets much brighter than the iPad or iPhone 6 I had before or just too long of use as it was the new shiny toy for me.

The eye chemistry dictates that your eye cannot perceive shallow changes or brightness at high frequency as the rods and cones don’t have time to chemically react to the change. It’s the same thing that causes motion blur when going fast in a car.

Not defending Apple or anything like that but just stating my own experience. Actually the Samsung phones are far worse in that department, with depth of flicker going to 0 even at 50% brightness while the iPhone drops maybe 10-20% at the same level.

Thanks for your info.
However I have changed back to the 8 plus and have no issues whatsoever.
(And I also prefer the 16:9 aspect ratio)

 

[dan98]

Imperceptible for the eyes or the brains?
I mean I cannot see any flickering with the eyes (but it's there) on the X but it's doing something to me.

I feel something I just cannot explain.
All is perfect on the 8 plus (no flickering and Abcourse no PWM dimming)

This was exactly my first reaction to PWM (on a laptop) - something was making me feel very uneasy but I could not understand why - you cannot really 'see' PWM, but if you are sensitive to it, then it can give you various sideaffects (eg. vertigo/dizziness/headache etc.etc.)

Fortunately the problem is now more documentated and understandable.
But I wonder how many people are suffering, unaware of the cause.
I suspect many people just try to ignore it or simply return the product.

 

[5105973]

Try the settings I’m recommending to you. Remove all colour filters and white point adjustment ( they make the screen blue which is straining the eyes). Set True Tone to on and brightness to 50% when in a well lit room so the phone is the same brightness as a sheet of paper next to it. The highest strain from phone use is due to excessive or too low brightness, too blue of a colour and constant focus on a small screen. Give it a bit of a break and try again after a few hours. You’ll be surprised that the strain is gone.

As I said earlier I had experienced the same symptom and by doing the above it’s all gone. I couldn’t see the flicker but my eyes were sore and could not focus on the screen for prolonged periods of time. A week or so later with these settings the issue is completely gone. Not sure if it’s the actual PWM that is causing the issue or a mixture of incorrect screen settings to fix the perceived yellow screen, too high brightness as the phone gets much brighter than the iPad or iPhone 6 I had before or just too long of use as it was the new shiny toy for me.

The eye chemistry dictates that your eye cannot perceive shallow changes or brightness at high frequency as the rods and cones don’t have time to chemically react to the change. It’s the same thing that causes motion blur when going fast in a car.

Not defending Apple or anything like that but just stating my own experience. Actually the Samsung phones are far worse in that department, with depth of flicker going to 0 even at 50% brightness while the iPhone drops maybe 10-20% at the same level.

I just went to adjust my settings like you specified and I noticed that the flicker I used to actually see when scrolling seems to be gone. Unfortunately True Tone on my display looks salmon pink but maybe I’ll get used to that. I certainly am not getting used to the eye strain. I’m not returning the X because I like the cameras too much and just use my 7 Plus for eye intensive stuff like ebook reading. I can’t read ebooks on the X for very long. Other than that I don’t suffer as badly as everyone else on this thread but I can’t say my eyes feel great using this device. I’m hoping your advice will help me get more mileage out of my screen on time. I’ll let you know.

 

[newellj]

I am afraid I don't understand your logic.

You said " At anything over 20-30% there is no flicker whatsoever"

This is not correct!!!
Even at 100 procent full brightness it's still there at 240HZ

The amplitude matters, though. Do we have any information on frequency and amplitude at various brightness settings?

 

[newellj]

Consider this: the Note 8 display incorporates PWM even at full brightness, and at the quite slow frequency of 60Hz. However, the amplitude is very flat, so it is unlikely to bother anyone. This is from the NotebookCheck.com review:

 

[jgiannakas]

This is the iPhone X pwm curve. It goes to 0 brightness at under 25% and at 50 to 75 the flicker is almost non existent.

“It can be seen that the amplitude of the modulation is not very large at the maximum and near to it brightness, as a result there is no visible flicker. However, with a strong decrease in brightness, modulation appears with a large relative amplitude, its presence can already be seen in the test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement.”

https://translate.googleusercontent...x.html&usg=ALkJrhgONLvfx09nwDVNJ9_JJCbW1taARA

So just set the display brightness to 50% and the issue should not be experienced any more. Hence my recommendation a few posts above. True Tone on, no display adjustments under accessibility (blue tint is known to cause eye strain) and brightness to 50% or whatever matches the environment.

In comparison these are the note 8 curves. Much more intense flicker on anything under 75% - same depth as the iPhone at 25%...

 

[Tijdelijk]

This is the iPhone X pwm curve. It goes to 0 brightness at under 25% and at 50 to 75 the flicker is almost non existent.

“It can be seen that the amplitude of the modulation is not very large at the maximum and near to it brightness, as a result there is no visible flicker. However, with a strong decrease in brightness, modulation appears with a large relative amplitude, its presence can already be seen in the test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement.”

https://translate.googleusercontent...x.html&usg=ALkJrhgONLvfx09nwDVNJ9_JJCbW1taARA

So just set the display brightness to 50% and the issue should not be experienced any more. Hence my recommendation a few posts above. True Tone on, no display adjustments under accessibility (blue tint is known to cause eye strain) and brightness to 50% or whatever matches the environment.

In comparison these are the note 8 curves. Much more intense flicker on anything under 75% - same depth as the iPhone at 25%...

Let's be honest.
Nice figures but....
No matter what you say :

So just set the display brightness to 50% and the issue should not be experienced any more

Excuse me?
Should not experienced any more for you?
Some people can really be bothered by the OLED panel in the X

Just look at the 120FPS movie taken from the X display at around 50 procent!!!!!! Brightness
----

There is a huge difference between the IPhone LCD/IPS panels and the X oled.
The LCD/IPS panels (No PWM) do not flicker at all no matter what brightness.

In only 120FPS Slowmotion you can see the X flickering with 50 procent brightness and for example the IPhone 5c NOT (no PWM dimming)

Iphone 5C

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rgjobo4yqwoomg7/5_SLOW.MOV?dl=0

Iphone X 50% brightness

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xff8k2nc6opem0j/X_SLOW.MOV?dl=0

There cannot be found any brightness settings where the flickering is not there on the X when filmed with Slowmotion.

So if you are sensitive to this it's could be an issue no matter the brightness settings or amplitude story

 

[jgiannakas]

Thing is your eye is not a slow motion camera. And yes the ips panel is more consistent. And yes the graph is still showing you a slight dimming even at 50%. I’m not contesting that.

But here we are talking about how to reduce the impact of this on anyone that might be suffering from headaches etc.

I’m showing people hopefully some facts and measurements and personal experience of what’s worked for me. Hope it helps anyone that still owns the phone and wants to make it better for them.

 

[TDDM]

Thing is your eye is not a slow motion camera. And yes the ips panel is more consistent. And yes the graph is still showing you a slight dimming even at 50%. I’m not contesting that.

But here we are talking about how to reduce the impact of this on anyone that might be suffering from headaches etc.

I’m showing people hopefully some facts and measurements and personal experience of what’s worked for me. Hope it helps anyone that still owns the phone and wants to make it better for them.

Maybe it's a placebo effect or something, but I swear I haven't had any eye strain today after setting the brightness to 50 and setting true tone on. We'll see if it comes back, but for now, it's a lot better. I always set the display to about 80% because I assumed that would reduce the PWM enough, but I had eye strain anyway from the bright screen. 50% is a lot easier to look at, and the PWM doesn't seem as bad for some reason.

Thanks a lot for sharing all of that info, it's appreciated