Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[timeconsumer]

I've been using iPhone XR for a while now and it's fine, but it's a little bit too heavy and a little bit too large. iPhone XS is a perfect size, and I really want it... but... PWM. I refuse to sacrifice my health for a phone. Apple has put us all in a bad position. If they don't stop using PWM for their 2019 iPhone lineup, that means they are not going to fix the issue and that's where I still thinking about other options.

I've also been using the iPhone XR for over a month now and it's fine for me in terms of PWM. I definitely agree with you on the weight/size. The XR introduced a new issue for me, my thumbs are sore due to the "swipe up" gesture. So, I'm really going to need to be looking at a new device as this one isn't going to work long term for me. However, it seems like currently for those of us who have PWM issues, there really aren't good options out there unless we want older devices.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I tried the XR for a minute or two and it seemed okay. Under the store lighting color and contrast appeared better than my 8+, and the difference in resolution didn’t seem too noticeable. I ordered a XR that should arrive tomorrow so I’ll do further testing/comparisons. I really hope I like it more than my 8+ since I don’t want to have to return it if it doesn’t bother my eyes like the X did.

It’s a shame because I’d rather own the XS Max and not have to compromise on any features coming from an 8+ but the PWM frequency appears to be the same on the Max. XR would have been perfect if it matched the X’s PPI, the screen seems nice but it’s still a major compromise not being able to natively watch 1080p so I’m hoping the improved contrast over the 8+ makes up for the loss in resolution. Already having some buyer’s remorse over the XR mostly due to its resolution but I don’t want this to be the first year I skip an upgrade so I’ll give it a chance.

 

[spencermfi]

Eye strain on the XR as well?

No, as I wrote no eye strain with XR at all.

 

[1369281]

I've also been using the iPhone XR for over a month now and it's fine for me in terms of PWM. I definitely agree with you on the weight/size. The XR introduced a new issue for me, my thumbs are sore due to the "swipe up" gesture. So, I'm really going to need to be looking at a new device as this one isn't going to work long term for me. However, it seems like currently for those of us who have PWM issues, there really aren't good options out there unless we want older devices.

I have gone through many different cases with the XR and was noticing the thumb strain as well. I finally decided on this case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GHTJKFX/

Here is the review I left on Amazon:

Pros:
- Protects against scratches (including camera)
- Almost feels like you're not using a case at all
- Doesn't add noticeable weight
- Phone is less slippery than with no case
- Easy install
- Material feels like it's good quality
- Holes perfectly lineup; also, it makes the side buttons completely flush so they don't protrude, but they are still completely functional

Cons:
- Won't protect very well against drops

If you are relatively careful with your iPhone XR and don't want the additional size and weight of most cases, this is for you.

 

[daviddcmd]

I really think a concerted effort needs to be made to make Apple aware of this issue. I’ve been a power user of Apple products for 15 years and I am unable to purchase their flagship products because of PWM. This is a serious problem and I’m really afraid they are not going to fix, acknowledge or change course on it.

This!! I had to return an Xs Max and an Xs due to this. My fear is future flagship phones from Apple are out for me.

Also I bought a Note 9 with an OLED screen and I don't have eye strain. How did Samsung manage to make one.

 

[W.MlL]

Hello all,

I thought I'd post here about an issue I've been having and see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.

When I'm using the phone my eyes feel strained, like, they're trying to focus on the screen. Also, I've noticed that when I look away from my phone at something else, my eyes feel a little blurry and I have to blink.

Not sure why this is happening. I've tweaked with all the various displays settings (TrueTone/Night Shift/White balance), but nothing seems to make a real difference. Not using a screen protector.

Anyone else?

You are comparing the X to what? What other phone have you used under similar conditions for the same length of time and not experienced this eye strain? By chance was it a "TouchID" phone that had the "Display Zoom" setting set to "Zoomed"? The iPhone X versions do not have Zoomed view which means the text and icons are all displayed at smaller font. For me this can cause eye problems.

 

[I7guy]

This!! I had to return an Xs Max and an Xs due to this. My fear is future flagship phones from Apple are out for me.

Also I bought a Note 9 with an OLED screen and I don't have eye strain. How did Samsung manage to make one.

There was a blog posted here (ifixit I think) as a video comparing pwm in Samsung phones to oled. The conclusion was apple manages pwm better and has a tip for eliminating pwm from apple phones. Samsung phones gave me a headache. I don’t feel the same eye strain from the max.

 

[daviddcmd]

There was a blog posted here (ifixit I think) as a video comparing pwm in Samsung phones to oled. The conclusion was apple manages pwm better and has a tip for eliminating pwm from apple phones. Samsung phones gave me a headache. I don’t feel the same eye strain from the max.

Obviously my experience is different than yours. When I was able to see the PWM flickering using another phone's camera it was much worse on the iphones than the Note 9. I might add I bought an XR and have experienced no eye stain.

 

[I7guy]

Obviously my experience is different than yours. When I was able to see the PWM flickering using another phone's camera it was much worse on the iphones than the Note 9. I might add I bought an XR and have experienced no eye stain.

LCDs don't use PWM to control brightness. oled and lcd each have their pluses and minuses.

 

[user1234]

Obviously my experience is different than yours. When I was able to see the PWM flickering using another phone's camera it was much worse on the iphones than the Note 9. I might add I bought an XR and have experienced no eye stain.

How bad it looks depends on the shutter speed used, and how in sync it is with the PWM frequency. In order to determine which is worse, the light output has to be measured with an oscilloscope and the curves have to be compared. If the frequency is known, the shutter speed can be set to bring the worst out of any PWM controlled display

 

[timeconsumer]

LCDs don't use PWM to control brightness. oled and lcd each have their pluses and minuses.

Actually, according to notebookcheck some LCD screens do use PWM to control the brightness.

Here are some examples:

LG G7 uses PWM at 42% and below.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/LG-G7-ThinQ-Smartphone-Review.308990.0.html

Razer Phone 2 uses PWM at 20% and below.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Razer-Phone-2-Smartphone-Review.372536.0.html

HTC U12 Plus uses PWM at 50% and below.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/HTC-U12-Plus-Smartphone-Review.306394.0.html

 

[W.MlL]

LCDs don't use PWM to control brightness. oled and lcd each have their pluses and minuses.

The Sony branded OLED TV XBR-A1E doesn't use PWM.

 

[I7guy]

The Sony branded OLED TV XBR-A1E doesn't use PWM.

There may be a difference in the design of an oled screen for tv and mobile phone.

 

[W.MlL]

There may be a difference in the design of an oled screen for tv and mobile phone.

I looked into this PWM on OLED some more.

OLED is highly susceptible to image retention (burn-in). On a TV, image retention can be prevented through various techniques (e.g., pixel shift) coupled with the fact that home-theater TVs generally aren't displaying static images constantly.

With smartphones though constant images are displayed statically and I don't think techniques like pixel shift are available. So PWM must be used to prevent burn-in. To me it seems that OLED is a poor choice of display technology for smart-phone screens. It is very expensive to manufacture and requires PWM. I'm a huge OLED fan on TV but I don't think it makes good sense putting it on a smartphone with its limitations.

 

[I7guy]

I looked into this PWM on OLED some more.

OLED is highly susceptible to image retention (burn-in). On a TV, image retention can be prevented through various techniques (e.g., pixel shift) coupled with the fact that home-theater TVs generally aren't displaying static images constantly.

With smartphones though constant images are displayed statically and I don't think techniques like pixel shift are available. So PWM must be used to prevent burn-in. To me it seems that OLED is a poor choice of display technology for smart-phone screens. It is very expensive to manufacture and requires PWM. I'm a huge OLED fan on TV but I don't think it makes good sense putting it on a smartphone with its limitations.

Someone posted a link to a test done by a website and it showed oled burn-in will occur on the Xs and max after 510 hours of displaying a static image. Maybe it’s pwm or pixel shifting, but burn-in or image retention doesn’t seem to be a factor on Apple oled displays.

 

[newellj]

Someone posted a link to a test done by a website and it showed oled burn-in will occur on the Xs and max after 510 hours of displaying a static image. Maybe it’s pwm or pixel shifting, but burn-in or image retention doesn’t seem to be a factor on Apple oled displays.

Well, that certainly sinks it. I mean, I leave my phone display on for 500 hours or more all the time!

 

[saffet]

Dear All,

I have been using Iphone XS Max for four days and I have signed up this forum for the issue I experience.

I am happy that I am not the only one and the problem is a "problem" actually.

I have used and am still using countless screens and light sources throughout my daily routine and never ever had such a problem.

Obviously when you work, game, read etc. too much your eyes get tired. However this phone's experience was something totally different. It is more than simple eye strain. It is a combination of slight headache and dizziness around your forehead. It does not go away as soon as you leave the phone.

I am not sure if the aforementioned PWM or Face ID is the root issue but I'm done with harming my eyes and head. I will not do any more experiments. Yesterday I switched back to my fellow XZ1.

I think this is a big issue and will likely intensify as more users jump in X or XS (Max) train.

 

[BigBen2493]

Dear All,

I have been using Iphone XS Max for four days and I have signed up this forum for the issue I experience.

I am happy that I am not the only one and the problem is a "problem" actually.

I have used and am still using countless screens and light sources throughout my daily routine and never ever had such a problem.

Obviously when you work, game, read etc. too much your eyes get tired. However this phone's experience was something totally different. It is more than simple eye strain. It is a combination of slight headache and dizziness around your forehead. It does not go away as soon as you leave the phone.

I am not sure if the aforementioned PWM or Face ID is the root issue but I'm done with harming my eyes and head. I will not do any more experiments. Yesterday I switched back to my fellow XZ1.

I think this is a big issue and will likely intensify as more users jump in X or XS (Max) train.

PWM is my guess

 

[BigBen2493]

Dear All,

I have been using Iphone XS Max for four days and I have signed up this forum for the issue I experience.

I am happy that I am not the only one and the problem is a "problem" actually.

I have used and am still using countless screens and light sources throughout my daily routine and never ever had such a problem.

Obviously when you work, game, read etc. too much your eyes get tired. However this phone's experience was something totally different. It is more than simple eye strain. It is a combination of slight headache and dizziness around your forehead. It does not go away as soon as you leave the phone.

I am not sure if the aforementioned PWM or Face ID is the root issue but I'm done with harming my eyes and head. I will not do any more experiments. Yesterday I switched back to my fellow XZ1.

I think this is a big issue and will likely intensify as more users jump in X or XS (Max) train.

I took a Slow motion vid of the iphone XS at the apple store and I saw the flicker

 

[saffet]

I took a Slow motion vid of the iphone XS at the apple store and I saw the flicker

Just dim the phone back light and point another camera on the phone white background. Flickering is huge.

There is no flicker with my old, fellow LCD screen Xperia. Also checked XR and no flicker as well.

I think this is a major problem and should be stated as a health and safety disclaimer/warning on OLED displays with PWM.

 

[BigBen2493]

Xs has the best specs though

 

[0388631]

Did Apple do away with the blue light dimmer in iOS? My S9 comes with a built in blue light filter so I can use my phone in complete darkness without pain.

 

[Deifie]

No, it´s still there, called "Night Shift"...

 

[MICHAELSD]

I think it would benefit every single iPhone owner if they were to get rid of PWM entirely on the next-generation iPhone since it would lead to less eye strain and headaches for all, even those who aren’t explicitly sensitive to it.

An alternative would be to release an option in Accessibility since otherwise they are isolating a significant amount of people who aren’t able to use the phones at all due to their implementation of PWM.

iPhone XR is a nice phone but for me it presented compromises to the modern iPhone experience I’ve been used to for the past few years, and I’d rather wait until this is addressed on the flagship models rather than settle for the XR which felt like a step down from the X. So regrettably I’ll hold onto the 8+ (even though I’d still rather use a XS) until there’s a flicker-free model that can replace it.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I do think I could have demonstrated the pulse-width modulation flicker better on video as it does make a lot of sense why it could cause so many issues for a select number of sensitive users. Looking at an iPhone X/XS in slow-motion shows why it’s such a literal headache. If a friend shows me their iPhone X/XS for even a second it causes me terrible headaches, and I haven’t ever had any issues with any other devices that use PWM but the curve/amplitude/frequency varies widely by device.

The specific implementation of PWM on iPhone X/XS is problematic.
[doublepost=1549952274][/doublepost]I’ve been doing more research and dimming without pulse-width modulation wouldn’t negatively affect the lifetime of the display. If they can get the white point to remain stable and colors/gradients to look consistent at various brightness levels without PWM, then there would be absolutely no drawbacks.

A company like Apple should be able to develop an OLED display that doesn’t utilize PWM (it can be forgiven if they implement it at very low brightness levels). The benefits greatly outweigh the cons. I’m surprised they released iPhone X in the state they did.