Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[5105973]

Just a update. I had to go back to my Samsung S22 Ultra to get some emails answered that were time sensitive. My iPhone is draining fast for some reason since yesterday and had to go on the charger. I'm apparently fine. So I can at least switch safely between these two OLED phones. But not the Pixel 6 Pro.

Now I have to go troubleshoot the battery drain on the 14 Pro Max. I suspect the Spotify app.

 

[dimitricook]

At notebookcheck they say this - The screen operates at 60 Hz in all brightness levels we measured. This can be a problem for sensitive users because you cannot avoid the PWM flickering by setting a higher brightness. Therefore, they should try out the iPhone 14 before buying it.

But damn look have stable the curve is.... 60hz is also the refresh rate of dc dimming right? looks like we found why many people can tolerate the 14!!

 

[Chrispy]

At notebookcheck they say this - The screen operates at 60 Hz in all brightness levels we measured. This can be a problem for sensitive users because you cannot avoid the PWM flickering by setting a higher brightness. Therefore, they should try out the iPhone 14 before buying it.

But damn look have stable the curve is.... 60hz is also the refresh rate of dc dimming right? looks like we found why many people can tolerate the 14!!

I noticed that as well. Very intersting curve data and I'm shocked how flat it is around that 50% sweet spot. Much more flat and consistent than the 14 Pro at varying brightness levels. Perhaps that's why many get along better with the 14. Not so much because of the PWM sample rate, but because it's much more consistent.

Alright, I'm done pretending I know what I'm talking about, haha.

 

[dstow]

Fascinating, explains why the iPhone 14 is the most comfortable out the line-up - Here's hoping the 14 Plus has the same 60Hz freq then I can finally pull the trigger

 

[Dejected]

Fascinating, explains why the iPhone 14 is the most comfortable out the line-up - Here's hoping the 14 Plus has the same 60Hz freq then I can finally pull the trigger

I didn't understand how 60hz is better than 280hz ?

 

[Chrispy]

This really is fascinating. It seems strange that 60hz would be better than a higher frequency like 280hz, but all I know is this (14):

Looks less problematic and "easy going" than this (14 Pro):

 

[dstow]

I didn't understand how 60hz is better than 280hz ?

I'd imagine it's in due to it being in sync with the refresh rate - flat oscillation curve = less irritation

 

[john g.]

it can be a confusing situation. I initially tried out the 14 pro and wasn’t sure about that one although I didn’t give it very long. Then I got excited about the regular 14 and tried that and it seemed like that was the ticket for a while but then I started having pretty extreme dizziness after about a week. So I sent that back and now I’m evaluating the pro again. I’m only on day three of evaluation but I’m not certain that for me it’s any worse than the 14 or not yet. it might be better. This screen looks a little more yellow than the first pro I tried. seems a bit more soothing than the other one that was too bright and cooler

 

[MICHAELSD]

It is still at least interesting to the enthusiast in me that Apple is using 60Hz PWM on iPhone 14 even if it should technically be a step backwards unless there’s some sort of DC dimming. As noted, it does look impressively flat around 50% brightness.

I may be curious to try it just because it’s a different approach, although I’m less optimistic as I’ve been getting more headaches and having more difficulty with iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Just hear a funny thing. In the morning i took my iPhone 11 to just use it for couple of minutes and instantly i got huge pressure like headache at the front of my head. It’s like my brain is adjusting to 14 and 11 was sth different. Weird stuff….

I can relate. While my eyes aren’t too happy on iPhone 14 Pro Max right now, when I do slightly adjust and go back to iPhone SE it’s like my brain gets confused like it should be compensating for flickering. It makes me envious of the Apple influencers that can switch between devices and displays with no discernible issues.

 

[nadiamo]

I found I have to have Pro Motion on to be comfortable. The same the equivalent feature on the Samsung s22 Ultra.

Thank you, you are right! I did that and my eyes felt better almost right away.

Okay so I used the 14 pro for the whole day today (and on my MacBook Air M1 all day for work as well. I can feel the pressure behind my eyes. It could be I was staring at screens most of the day, but with iPhone 11, it was better. However, with 11 pro I had horrible headaches, and knock on wood that hasn't happened yet. We will have to see how tomorrow goes. One issue I noticed is that I found the new phone's white texts too bright for me. But if I adjust reduce white point way up, even with the brightest screen setup it's still bit dim overall. I have to play around more to find the best set up.

My family members has 12 mini and 13, I help them to set up the phones at times and I can feel a difference looking at those screens comparing to my old 11. Same feeling here with 14 pro. I do hope tomorrow it will better and I can adjust to it. So much better than my old 11 phone and I really want this to work out for me.

 

[Dejected]

I'd imagine it's in due to it being in sync with the refresh rate - flat oscillation curve = less irritation

What about the 14 Plus

 

[dstow]

What about the 14 Plus

No one knows, waiting for the results to come in - I'd hazard a bet it's the same PWM freq but it's anyone's guess how long notebook check take to review the plus

 

[DJTaurus]

Guys don’t get your hopes up. At least from me.

4rth day today and i woke up with a heat/dry feeling in my eyes. Also the tolerable pressure on my head didn’t go away and i also had a consistent tingle on my head since yesterday. Guess who is selling his iPhone 14…..

I am gonna give a chance to 14 pro in the next month and it’s over for me until iPhone 15 line or hopefully that se 4.

I am back to 11 and the tingle has already reduced. I miss so many things from 14 but that’s life. Health is more important!

 

[dstow]

Guys don’t get your hopes up. At least from me.

4rth day today and i woke up with a heat/dry feeling in my eyes. Also the tolerable pressure on my head didn’t go away and i also had a consistent tingle on my head since yesterday. Guess who is selling his iPhone 14…..

I am gonna give a chance to 14 pro in the next month and it’s over for me until iPhone 15 line or hopefully that se 4.

I am back to 11 and the tingle has already reduced. I miss so many things from 14 but that’s life. Health is more important!

Give the 14 Plus a go? your sacrifice would not be in vein

 

[PwmMen]

The iPhone 14 was the worst for me. Hardly any problems at first, and then eye pain for days. The iPhone 14 Pro would have gone if it weren't for motion sickness. Is there anyone here whose travel sickness got better after a few days?

 

[DJTaurus]

Give the 14 Plus a go? your sacrifice would not be in vein

Unfortunately Apple is not official in my country so every time i buy the device and sell it by myself. So i am loosing 50 euros approximately every time. Plus has same tech. So i would try 14 pro

 

[asus389]

I’m pretty skeptical of the notebook check measurement for the regular 14. My guess is they are picking up 60 Hz screen refresh and not PWM for whatever reason. But who really knows? I tested out the regular 14 in an Apple Store and it had the same effect on me as the regular 13 which is to say it caused eyestrain and made me feel like I was about to get a migraine. But maybe other people will have better luck?

 

[AJAAY]

Update on my end. I’m convinced not all screens are created equal.

Back in August I got the regular 13 and had minimal symptoms. Decided to return to take advantage of the price reduction from the 14 release in September. Bought another 13 in September, I had slightly worse symptoms which made having the phone unbearable! Because of this I decided to try the regular 14. My symptoms were slightly better and bearable.

I love the bigger screen so decided to try the 14 plus. Due to UPS dropping the ball I ended up with two 14 pluses. The first one, I immediately had unbearable symptoms. I was ready to give up the phone not even after 24 hours. The 2nd 14 plus is much better (which I’m typing on now). Still have slight tension with this phone but definitely bearable to use.

Since the PWM rates that notebookcheck post don’t make sense anymore, I’m going to try the 14 pro max. Seems as though if you pick a phone model you want, you’ll have to play the screen lottery to get one you can tolerate.

 

[Gargamelus]

I am also becoming more skeptical about Notebookcheck.. there is a device on Amazon that can be used to measure display properties.. also PWM. am considering buying it.

Cheap device to measure color temperature of light / flashlights (Opple Light Master 3 PRO )

The Opple Light Master is probably the most affordable and coolest device to measure CCT and CRI of light. The color temperature in Kelvin, and CRI in Ra for about $30-$50, and is a great gadget for flashlight users and light measuring enthousiasts.

1lumen.com

 

[Chrispy]

Update on my end. I’m convinced not all screens are created equal.

Back in August I got the regular 13 and had minimal symptoms. Decided to return to take advantage of the price reduction from the 14 release in September. Bought another 13 in September, I had slightly worse symptoms which made having the phone unbearable! Because of this I decided to try the regular 14. My symptoms were slightly better and bearable.

I love the bigger screen so decided to try the 14 plus. Due to UPS dropping the ball I ended up with two 14 pluses. The first one, I immediately had unbearable symptoms. I was ready to give up the phone not even after 24 hours. The 2nd 14 plus is much better (which I’m typing on now). Still have slight tension with this phone but definitely bearable to use.

Since the PWM rates that notebookcheck post don’t make sense anymore, I’m going to try the 14 pro max. Seems as though if you pick a phone model you want, you’ll have to play the screen lottery to get one you can tolerate.

This really takes me back. I had a very similar experience back in the day of the iPhone X. I noticed my first one had a warmer tone than I was used to and I had a terrible time focusing on it. I got a second one and got along way better with the screen. The color temp was also much cooler on the replacement. It was tolerable enough to use until the XR came out and I immediately jumped on that. I thought we were past those days, but then I also started hearing reports that the new glass they are using can cause weird refractions if the tolerances are off and that can also cause issues. So many darn variables at play.

Ah, the memories of the old iPhone X screen lottery, haha.

 

[Samdh90]

This really takes me back. I had a very similar experience back in the day of the iPhone X. I noticed my first one had a warmer tone than I was used to and I had a terrible time focusing on it. I got a second one and got along way better with the screen. The color temp was also much cooler on the replacement. It was tolerable enough to use until the XR came out and I immediately jumped on that. I thought we were past those days, but then I also started hearing reports that the new glass they are using can cause weird refractions if the tolerances are off and that can also cause issues. So many darn variables at play.

Ah, the memories of the old iPhone X screen lottery, haha.
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Stupid question but you didn't have true tone enabled on the left screen? It is not uncommon to see variations in screens, try using more than one computer monitor side by side, lol. The reason I ask is because the left phone looks like it could be using either True Tone, or the other option that makes the screen warmer.

 

[Chrispy]

Stupid question but you didn't have true tone enabled on the left screen? It is not uncommon to see variations in screens, try using more than one computer monitor side by side, lol. The reason I ask is because the left phone looks like it could be using either True Tone, or the other option that makes the screen warmer.

Yep. And boy you should have seen that phone when True Tone was on, haha. That's how I noticed it initially. It was so warm that I legit thought it was defective out of the box. Turning it off helped a bit but I could still tell it was way too warm. Then when I got the second phone I realized I wasn't crazy, lol.

 

[Samdh90]

Yep. And boy you should have seen that phone when True Tone was on, haha. That's how I noticed it initially. It was so warm that I legit thought it was defective out of the box. Turning it off helped a bit but I could still tell it was way too warm. Then when I got the second phone I realized I wasn't crazy, lol.

Okay, makes sense. I would still think that the left phone might have actually had a defective screen if any temp warming was enabled. Like I said, it is normal to see small variations when comparing two exact screens but not usually that much of a difference.

 

[Chrispy]

Okay, makes sense. I would still think that the left phone might have actually had a defective screen if any temp warming was enabled. Like I said, it is normal to see small variations when comparing two exact screens but not usually that much of a difference.

I'm pretty sure you could classify that original iPhone X I had as a defect. I hadn't thought much about it since but this thread reminded me of it. I still remembering thinking "Geez, True Tone sure is aggressive on these new OLEDs". 😆