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Are you experiencing this issue?


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newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,154
3,047
East of Eden
Anyone ever heard of Iris? It's a program in the same vein of flux, Night Shift etc, and it apparently reduces PWM issues by altering the white point in a way that does not involve PWM.

https://iristech.co/how-iris-reduces-pwm-flicker-medium/

Anyone out there have a PWM moniter they'd be willing to test it on? If this actually does work, maybe it'd be worth bringing to Apple's attention

Also, I dunno about you guys, but my experience with the X has gotten a lot better recently. For example, I used my phone heavily today and didn't have any issues whatsoever. I'm assuming that if I didn't have any strain, it's okay to keep using it, so we'll see. Anyone else having an easier time with it now?

Very interesting and worth reading - thank you.
 
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windywalks

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2004
606
635
If you need to ask how to reproduce the flickering while scrolling, then you don't notice it and shouldn't worry about it. :D
Exactly!
I wouldn’t even know how to begin to explain this. Just as I recently tried to demonstrate how my friends LED headlights have a slight flicker to them when looked at from a certain angle.
This is a phenomenon that isn’t visible to all individuals, otherwise OLED screens would have an extremely limited audience.
 

sd13

macrumors regular
Jun 16, 2009
194
22
I am getting heavy eye strain and headaches with my iPhone X. Not sure if it’s the oled though because I have an LG Oled tv and I used a galaxy phone for a while and neither bothered me.
 

SlimFit

macrumors newbie
Sep 29, 2016
17
5
I'm trying the x again and giving it a week. So far I still feel some strain but it's not as bad as before.
 

Tijdelijk

macrumors 6502
Jul 8, 2017
267
234
I'm trying the x again and giving it a week. So far I still feel some strain but it's not as bad as before.

It's only a phone.
Why trying and still feel some strain.

Buy the iPhone 8 instead if you are sensitive to the PWM dimming.

Also there is no rearview mirror(notch) present in the iPhone 8 (plus) ;) ;)
 
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TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
It's only a phone.
Why trying and still feel some strain.

Buy the iPhone 8 instead if you are sensitive to the PWM dimming.

Also there is no rearview mirror(notch) present in the iPhone 8 (plus) ;) ;)
Have you seen the bezels on the iPhone 8+?

Kidding. Seriously though, the 8+ is a fantastic phone. I'm considering switching to it instead of my old Galaxy s8.
 
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Tijdelijk

macrumors 6502
Jul 8, 2017
267
234
Have you seen the bezels on the iPhone 8+?

Kidding. Seriously though, the 8+ is a fantastic phone. I'm considering switching to it instead of my old Galaxy s8.

Yes I know the bezels.
However within 1 day I was fine with it.
Also I use the phone for displaying photo and video content. And 16:9 is better (bigger) for that purpose and sometimes the notch is bothering me. Especially in landscape mode.
 
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cyb3rdud3

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2014
4,124
2,805
UK
TVs are a different kettle of fish. Among other things, mostly we run them at full brightness, and with most devices that minimizes or eliminates the flickering effect of PWM.

Who is this “we” who run TVs at full brightness? My LG OLED is at 50, no way I’d run it at 100. The picture would look rubbish.
 

dan98

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2013
203
344
TVs are a different kettle of fish. Among other things, mostly we run them at full brightness, and with most devices that minimizes or eliminates the flickering effect of PWM.

Can you clarify what you mean by 'a different kettle of fish'? I've had terrible problems with certain LED TVs.
And running at full brightness on most displays is insanely too bright for my viewing conditions.
A quick test in my local Media Markt showed that more than half the smaller TVs on display were using PWM, in some cases even when adjusted to full brightness.
 

newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,154
3,047
East of Eden
Who is this “we” who run TVs at full brightness? My LG OLED is at 50, no way I’d run it at 100. The picture would look rubbish.

Can you clarify what you mean by 'a different kettle of fish'? I've had terrible problems with certain LED TVs.
And running at full brightness on most displays is insanely too bright for my viewing conditions.
A quick test in my local Media Markt showed that more than half the smaller TVs on display were using PWM, in some cases even when adjusted to full brightness.

After doing some more reading on TVs (and computer monitors), I need to completely withdraw my comment above. TVs have a huge number of variables and computer displays even more.
 
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karinatwork

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2009
293
325
British Columbia, Canada
I exchanged my iPhone X for an iPhone 8 and I am SO much happier now. I posted a YouTube video about why I returned it (it's quite long and rambling, but I did record the screen flicker at 2:30 if you want to see that).
For such an expensive device, I was just not ready to gamble on possibly being able to get used to it. The headache pain was pretty bad. I just didn't see the point.
 

noobinator

macrumors 604
Jun 19, 2009
7,336
7,001
Los Angeles, CA
I exchanged my iPhone X for an iPhone 8 and I am SO much happier now. I posted a YouTube video about why I returned it (it's quite long and rambling, but I did record the screen flicker at 2:30 if you want to see that).
For such an expensive device, I was just not ready to gamble on possibly being able to get used to it. The headache pain was pretty bad. I just didn't see the point.

Nice video! And good job showing the issue in slow motion at various lighting levels. Really shows what the issue is.
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
I exchanged my iPhone X for an iPhone 8 and I am SO much happier now. I posted a YouTube video about why I returned it (it's quite long and rambling, but I did record the screen flicker at 2:30 if you want to see that).
For such an expensive device, I was just not ready to gamble on possibly being able to get used to it. The headache pain was pretty bad. I just didn't see the point.
Glad to hear the 8+ is working out better for you. Would you recommend it as a good replacement for the X?
 
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vannix

macrumors regular
Aug 11, 2010
132
65
Glad to hear the 8+ is working out better for you. Would you recommend it as a good replacement for the X?

I’ve got an 8+ in exchange too and I can only recommend it.

The speed and performance is the same, it is super fast and the Touch ID is blazing fast!
The screen is easy on the eyes, super detailed and easily the best LCD panel on the market, and True Tone is working flawlessly as opposed the X.
The stereo speakers are better too.

The only things I’m missing:
-The tele lens on the X was really great... stabilized and better low light performance.
-the size, the X is just perfect, I was coming from an iPhone 6 and this plus is really hard on my wrists, a little bit on the heavy side too
-I loved the taller power button and touch to wake
 

MICHAELSD

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,484
3,494
NJ
Apple really dropped the ball by telling me I’d be relayed daily updates from their engineering team then never getting back to me. I think posting about my support case here may have been the reason they dropped contact about it even though I asked twice if I could share publicly that I was working with them on this issue.

Fortunately for me I found that I can keep the brightness above 50% and the flicker doesn’t really cause sensitivity. The OLED display does pop more with the brightness up so the only trade off is using my phone in the dark so I just try to limit using it when there’s sufficient lighting which isn’t difficult. It’s the 240Hz flicker present from 0-49% brightness that causes me issues, 60Hz which the display uses from 500-100% is fine.

All my eye twitching issues went away though I try to avoid using the display at under 50% brightness so I’m curious if it would come back if I used it a lower brightness. The issues I had when I started using iPhone X were downright painful which makes me concerned if my eyes did adjust and if there are any long-term health ramifications of that adjustment.
[doublepost=1515871276][/doublepost]I can ever so slightly notice the flickering while doing things like scrolling so I’d still very much appreciate an option that disables it.
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
The issues I had when I started using iPhone X were downright painful which makes me concerned if my eyes did adjust and if there are any long-term health ramifications of that adjustment.
Same here, actually. I remember it felt like sharp pain above my eyebrows and lead to pretty bad headaches. I've gotten pretty used to it now and aren't having any of the old issues. Some slight strain if I use the thing for 40-60 mins+ at once, but nothing like it was.

I was also wondering if there would be any long term ramifications, but if our eyes have adjusted, doesn't that mean it's okay to use it?
 

Tijdelijk

macrumors 6502
Jul 8, 2017
267
234
Same here, actually. I remember it felt like sharp pain above my eyebrows and lead to pretty bad headaches. I've gotten pretty used to it now and aren't having any of the old issues. Some slight strain if I use the thing for 40-60 mins+ at once, but nothing like it was.

I was also wondering if there would be any long term ramifications, but if our eyes have adjusted, doesn't that mean it's okay to use it?

Is it really worth all the issues?
It's a phone (with an ugly notch especially in landscape mode and the round corners of the screen reminded me about the old TV sets )

Buy the iPhone 8 or 8 plus with a flickering free best in the world LCD.

The bigger bezels are not an issue for you health and it's notch free with a superb finger print.

Just my thoughts
 
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TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
Is it really worth all the issues?
It's a phone (with an ugly notch especially in landscape mode and the round corners of the screen reminded me about the old TV sets )

Buy the iPhone 8 or 8 plus with a flickering free best in the world LCD.

The bigger bezels are not an issue for you health and it's notch free with a superb finger print.

Just my thoughts

If I was still having the eye strain and headaches like I was before, then I absolutely would switch. But if I'm not having any strain, I'm assuming it's okay to keep using. Plus, some of us don't mind the notch :p
 

MICHAELSD

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,484
3,494
NJ
Can anybody else notice the flickering? If I focus on the display it’s actually slightly noticeable, especially with motion (scrolling, even the keys on the keyboard). I’d be more than happy to wait till September to see if Apple gets rid of the PWM on the next generation, but I’m not really sure I want to switch to an 8 Plus.

It’s frustrating not being able to really enjoy iPhone X, especially since I spend hours a day on my iPhone — it’s my main computer, by choice.
[doublepost=1515959856][/doublepost]I’ve been mostly fine lately but I’m starting to notice eye strain creeping back. I think a lot of people don’t realize it’s from iPhone X until they hear other people talking about it since I’ve noticed i.e. when I watch an iPhone X vs iPhone 8 Plus YouTube video and the uploader mentions eye strain briefly, then there will be a bunch of comments of people commenting about eye strain.

I’d rather have my iPhone X than an iPhone 8 Plus so I’m still struggling with what to do. But I will say that I enoyed my 7 Plus more than my X, and I’m sure the eye strain is a main factor of that. The iPhone 8 design already feels archaic.
 
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TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
Can anybody else notice the flickering? If I focus on the display it’s actually slightly noticeable, especially with motion (scrolling, even the keys on the keyboard). I’d be more than happy to wait till September to see if Apple gets rid of the PWM on the next generation, but I’m not really sure I want to switch to an 8 Plus.

It’s frustrating not being able to really enjoy iPhone X, especially since I spend hours a day on my iPhone — it’s my main computer, by choice.
[doublepost=1515959856][/doublepost]I’ve been mostly fine lately but I’m starting to notice eye strain creeping back. I think a lot of people don’t realize it’s from iPhone X until they hear other people talking about it since I’ve noticed i.e. when I watch an iPhone X vs iPhone 8 Plus YouTube video and the uploader mentions eye strain briefly, then there will be a bunch of comments of people commenting about eye strain.

I’d rather have my iPhone X than an iPhone 8 Plus so I’m still struggling with what to do. But I will say that I enoyed my 7 Plus more than my X, and I’m sure the eye strain is a main factor of that. The iPhone 8 design already feels archaic.
Do you actually see the flicker when you scroll? It's supposed to be invisible to the eye unless slowed down, that's strange that it's visible.

I'm in the same position as you though. I have slight strain sometimes, but not. nearly as bad as it was. I think I'm gonna keep the X for a while and see if it goes away completely, otherwise I'll switch. No reason to not keep it at this point, my return window ended weeks ago :p

Also, has anyone been able to try Iris? The creator claims it can erase PWM, so it might be worth a shot. I don't have a PWM monitor, so I can't test it. If it does work, maybe we could all feedback it to Apple?


https://iristech.co/
 

Faste

macrumors newbie
Dec 3, 2017
21
24
I am just wondering if different units have different effects. I was at Best Buy the other day and was playing with the display model and it did not effect me. The second I use what was my old iPhone X (gave it to the wife) I feel it. Maybe different build dates have different screens? Would explain why the people on this thread who bought the phone again at a later time didn’t have a problem...
 
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