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seaw

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
92
12
Hi,

whoever gets his new iPhone 11 Pro first... Could you be so kind and check how the new phones handle dimming the OLED display? I would love to buy one of the new phones but I tested the X and the XS and both gave me headaches.

Thanks
 

waquzy

macrumors 68000
Sep 9, 2013
1,579
2,408
Leicestershire, UK
Hi,

whoever gets his new iPhone 11 Pro first... Could you be so kind and check how the new phones handle dimming the OLED display? I would love to buy one of the new phones but I tested the X and the XS and both gave me headaches.

Thanks

Most likely its gonna be the same problem with the PWM as the displays are pretty much the same
 

McTaste

macrumors 6502
Jan 21, 2014
346
602
You can get the display pretty dim using the Accessibility trick, but it is still much brighter than the non oled displays.
 

Matt91uk

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2019
2
0
To be fair this year the story is much better for people sensitive to the PWM on iPhones as the 11 is not far off the pro, from what I can see you sacrifice a telephoto camera and 2gb RAM vs the pro and not a great deal else.
 

madKIR

macrumors 6502a
Feb 2, 2010
849
801
NYC
To be fair this year the story is much better for people sensitive to the PWM on iPhones as the 11 is not far off the pro, from what I can see you sacrifice a telephoto camera and 2gb RAM vs the pro and not a great deal else.
They all have 4 Gigs of RAM. You also sacrifice the data speeds since the 11 is only MIMO2 vs MIMO4 in the Pro models.
 
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Matt91uk

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2019
2
0
They all have 4 Gigs of RAM. You also sacrifice the data speeds since the 11 is only MIMO2 vs MIMO4 in the Pro models.

I thought the pro models had 6gb for some reason! Well even more reason why the 11 is a great option with little compromise for people sensitive to pwm. Just a shame that the screen is not quite full hd!
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
Is there any Amoled that can do brightness control other way than pwm?
Honestly, PWM isn’t necessarily bad. For example, Macbooks have PWM and no one has any issues with it (For the most part). The difference is that the Macbooks have PWM with Hz rates of 100,000+, while most phones seem to hover around 240Hz. I really hope that Apple increases the Hz rate before they switch to an all OLED lineup.
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
Is there any way to keep the flicker above a certain less irritating level and still use the phone without headaches?
Unfortunately, the OLED iPhones always have flicker, even at full brightness.
 

Maven1975

macrumors 65816
Aug 24, 2008
1,013
275
Well... at least we can watch their new show “See”

Great job being ignorant when it comes to eye health Apple.
 
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shinyleaf

macrumors newbie
Nov 7, 2016
28
64
Hi,

whoever gets his new iPhone 11 Pro first... Could you be so kind and check how the new phones handle dimming the OLED display? I would love to buy one of the new phones but I tested the X and the XS and both gave me headaches.

Thanks

There's a bit of mitigation possible to minimize the effect of PWM:

The way Apple use PWM on X, XS, and probably 11 Pro, it only use the flicker between 0-50% brightness. From 51-100% it doesn't use PWM. As long as the display brightness is above 50%, PWM isn't in use.

Now you probably don't want the display that bright all the time. Luckily you can use the Reduce White Point option in Settings -> Accessibility -> Display Accommodation to make the screen less bright. This feature on OLED screens, which doesn't have a backlight, will dim the display by the amount set on the accessibility slider.
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
There's a bit of mitigation possible to minimize the effect of PWM:

The way Apple use PWM on X, XS, and probably 11 Pro, it only use the flicker between 0-50% brightness. From 51-100% it doesn't use PWM. As long as the display brightness is above 50%, PWM isn't in use.

Now you probably don't want the display that bright all the time. Luckily you can use the Reduce White Point option in Settings -> Accessibility -> Display Accommodation to make the screen less bright. This feature on OLED screens, which doesn't have a backlight, will dim the display by the amount set on the accessibility slider.
This doesn't work, iPhones have PWM at all brightness levels.
 

spooky23

macrumors 6502a
Jan 11, 2013
541
330
Epping
Daft question klaxon.

Is this flicker something that some people are able to see or is it a...er...invisible annoyance?

To clarify invisible, I mean it can cause headaches even though the flickering isn't necessarily visible during usage.
 

jonnyb098

macrumors 601
Nov 16, 2010
4,244
6,490
Michigan
Daft question klaxon.

Is this flicker something that some people are able to see or is it a...er...invisible annoyance?

To clarify invisible, I mean it can cause headaches even though the flickering isn't necessarily visible during usage.
Yes it causes headaches even if it isnt "visible". I remember playing with an iPhone X for about 20 minutes in the store and wondered why my head felt funny after.

This issue affect approx. 10 percent of people so its not a HUGE issue but its significant enough that people are now aware of it.
 

newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,153
3,046
East of Eden
It's likely to be the same as the X/XS or so close as not to matter. If it bothers you, you probably need to go with the 11, not the 11 Pro. :(
 

spooky23

macrumors 6502a
Jan 11, 2013
541
330
Epping
Yes it causes headaches even if it isnt "visible". I remember playing with an iPhone X for about 20 minutes in the store and wondered why my head felt funny after.

This issue affect approx. 10 percent of people so its not a HUGE issue but its significant enough that people are now aware of it.

Cheers fella. Not had issues with OLED in tv's but that's a touch different from a handheld device. Here's hoping I'm not part of the 10%.

Never had an issue using the X (family members own it).
 

bsmr

macrumors 65816
Oct 4, 2005
1,129
301
Germany
Mathe the new 11 pro does have a higher refresh rate than 240Hz.

We will know it tomorrow (hope so)
 
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