r/PWM_Sensitive

I wanted a tv that didn’t destroy my eyes and forced me to watch it diagonally and 4 meters away like my old LG Nanocell.

Long story short: after a lot of research I risked and shot towards the Sony BRAVIA KD75X85L, 75 inches, without that much hope because of mixed reviews regarding PWM and obscure information available from Sony regarding PWM Hz. But it was and “old” tech panel and some users reported no issues at all after some minor tweaking.

I don’t know the exact refresh rate PWM wise but I can watch tv without issues, and wanted to share with you guys. It’s not the best panel but good enough for me since I just wanted to enjoy TV without eye strain, migraines, etc.

For reference, I can’t use any OLED, QLED, AMOLED etc screens, smartphones, tablets etc. Phones I’ve using without issues are iPhone 11 & SE 2022.

so have an asus tuf a14 wich is lcd ips and really powerfull small laptop but after using mac mini i figured i need to try out a macbook for the battery and needed to upgrade ram , i got this macbook pro m4 and i installed still color at the very start , using 60fps and no pro motion i havent tried it , and it seems that i can handle it just fine !
now i am thinking about getting an ipad pro since it's the same tech that i can handle ^(?)

also weird that i can tolerate iphone 13 pro more and more ..is this curse going out..?
i have to be clear that it's not like 100% comfortable i still feel blurry eye sight after some time

So, until recently I have already gathered around 5 android smartphones in the hope to get rid of PWM sensitivity. Among them, the most comfortable option I was having was Redmi K50i with a custom TFT Display (which costed me 1100inr) and surprisingly even 120fps worked. I was using this combination but the major problem was the camera. For that I had to carry my OnePlus 12 as the primary device.

But I guess I have found the best possible combo now. I also have Pixel 8 Pro of which the display broke down recently. I looked for a TFT display for the same in local market and to my surprise, I found a working TFT display for my pixel 8 Pro and that too costed only 2k inr. For that budget I have already grabbed two of them, to cater for emergencies if one shatters.

The touch is smooth without any latency issues and yes no PWM flicker. People can give it a try!

I can't use my recently purchased Lenovo Legion 7 Pro for more than 30 minutes without getting immediate eye strain and fatigue.

I have been using my MacBook Pro M1 Max for 4 years, 8 to 10 hours every day, till this day, with zero issues.

Not sure what is wrong. Could the OLED screen be faulty?

Should I sell the laptop and get a mini-LED Scar, or will an external screen like the Gigabyte 27UP suffice?

Guys I am hopeless stuck on my moto g04 but if he die I have nothing it's very low end phone for social media but I am scare for the future o.. Any suggestions please 🥺

Two phones I've tried this year that genuinely feel like silk on my eyes.

- Honor 600/600 Pro

- Motorola Edge 2026

Both of these phones genuinely feel like I'm using a regular LCD screen with no gimmicks. If you're in the USA, and don't feel like importing a phone, get the Motorola. If you're anywhere else, get the Honor 600 or 600 Pro.

Obviously the Honor 600 Pro will be the best, hardware wise, but unfortunately for us in the USA, our device accessibility is limited.

I currently have the Motorola Signature shipping in, and should be here within the next week - week and a half. Hoping this phone feels the same as the Edge 2026, since the hardware is substantially better, and only $100 more.

I, like many here, am sensitive to pwm and choosing a smartphone is now quite a difficult matter. I have reread many topics here where people can't find the real problem why their eyes hurt. Many people are really led to marketing like "PWM 2000 Hz" and don't understand where eye fatigue comes from. The fact is that AMOLED screens have the so-called phase PWM, or a natural brightness drop, which is tightly tied to the refresh rate (the same 90 or 120 Hz). When the matrix updates the image, the transistors drop the voltage for a microsecond to record a new frame. That is, even if you turn the brightness to 100% and naively think that the classic PWM is turned off, the screen still continues to micro-flicker in time with its hertz simply due to the peculiarities of the OLED architecture. And it is this low-frequency drop at 120 Hz that is the worst enemy for the eyes, which is usually not taken into account. Our brain still somehow filters the high frequency of PWM, but the constant fluctuations of the light flux at a low scanning frequency are perceived by the body as a heavy load, which then suddenly causes a headache or stinging in the eyes after half an hour of scrolling. Manufacturers are attempting to mitigate these dips at the hardware level in new LTPO panels, but completely eliminating the effect is currently physically impossible—it is a fundamental drawback of the pixel-addressing technology that simply has to be accepted. In other words, it is a deeply flawed technology with numerous downsides, and the quest to find the "perfect" display will never yield a result.

So I got the iPhone 17 pro max, used it for 10 minutes and my eyes are like stinging with a burning feeling. Ugh the Pwm option is on but I feel like that’s such bullshyt. I am coming from iPhone 14 pro max and I have no issues. Anyone with iPhone 17 pro max have similar eye issues. Is the PWM on iPhone 17 pro max really that bad!? I have think I’ll return the iPhone back to the carrier… ugh……

I'm not a spokesperson or influencer, I just want to post and say that these glasses completely changed my life. I have severe sensitivity to LED lights and pulsing screens and stuff, beyond the normal frequency that people notice. I had a whole neurological work up because I thought I had a seizure disorder but I think it's just autism+ haha. With these glasses I can actually live like a normal human pretty much.

They're really expensive but you have 2 months to try them out. My personal experience as a careless person is that they hold up pretty well. F41 does nothing. Since I got avaluxe I can finally go back to college and get my degree, and I can go into businesses and restaurants with LED lighting, and I can go to my friend's houses again.

You can also get the tint added to your normal glasses.

Hope this helps somebody!

I tried a oneplus 15 for the first time. Bought it to test along with many other devices I've purchased to learn more about diagnosing my sensitivities and the causes of my eyes straining and headaches. I've noticed that the OnePlus 15 gives me similar symptoms as my z fold 7. On the other hand, my symptoms are nowhere near as instant when using my Pixel 10 Pro. I seem to have sensitivity to many things like most of us here do. I am sensitive to PWM, blue light, and now whatever it is that triggers immediate headaches and straining when using the OP15. Does anybody have any ideas what it is? I'm wondering if I've been thinking my issue is PWM this whole time when really it's something else and PWM is only a minor issue.

Hi all

I'm starting to think about replacing my TV due to its age its a Samsung UE40JU6445 which was released in Mid 2015 so its 10 or 11 years old so LED's theoriticaly start dying at this age but it's probably still good for a little as its at 40% or so.

I suffer from migraines and I'm at least partially sensitive to flicker, but I get a migraine as a result.
I'll only go for a base model so Samsung Crystal, Hisence or LG LED are the main 3 options. OLED definitely not QLED no point far to bright for me I'd be just turning brightness down even more.

So my question have any of you found a flicker Issue with these, especially at low brightness

I use a number of OLED devices without issue including iPhones up through 17, the Steam Deck OLED, Switch OLED, etc.

Recently I purchased the Onexfly F1 Pro, a handheld gaming PC, and I started having olfactory hallucinations the next day. Now, I've experienced these before in times of great stress or when my nervous system was kind of in overdrive, so I'd also believe this was just a coincidence, but it made me wonder.

Is it possible to have that as a major symptom? I know some people have olfactory hallucinations as a part of having migraines. I don't believe I've ever had a migraine, so I don't know that it's that, but I'm curious what others here think.

I am getting sick of just using phones with LCD screens, and from those, I have to choose the ones with Snapdragon chip because mediatek causes eye strain (My theory is that miravision is the cause) but life would be so much easier if i could just buy a phone with an oled screen that dims the screen in a different way than pwm. Ive tried high refresj (something like 3,800 hz) but it doesnt work for me. Only phones that work so much better are motorola phones with its dc like dimming, but still, “Flicker is flicker” I hope Apple does full dc to their screen somewhat or samsung and then every other company copies them. If they make a good midranger and a flagship, they would have somethin between 5 and 10% of all the population that uses smartphones buying their phone but why is full dc hard to make???

Original post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1q79qxk/pwm_free_lcd_iphone_15_pro_initial_impressions/

One month later follow up post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1qw2q3y/pwm_free_lcd_iphone_15_pro_follow_up/

Quick follow up post here, to recap I swapped an EK Pro brand LCD screen from Aliexpress into an iPhone 15 Pro six months ago as a way to use a newer iPhone without PWM.

It's been going great! For the past six months I've been eye pain free and have largely solved my problem.
The only time I still experience PWM related eye pain is when looking at someone else's phone, watching TV at a friend's house and when looking at other screens. When someone hands me their phone I ask them to max out the brightness first, this reduces PWM and usually fine for me for a few minutes usage, though some Google Pixels can still be terrible.

One small thing I did want to mention with my phone is that occasionally I'll wipe the screen with my palm with wet hands while it's lit up, and that that will trigger the screen to randomly swipe and register ghost touches, this is a little annoying but is easily remedied by just putting the phone to sleep and waking it up again.

Other than my HDR fixes in the first follow up post this phone is a great solution for me.

Not sure if I'll ever upgrade to iOS26 or iOS27, iOS18 works fine for me so I'm just sticking to it for now. I might try updating to iOS27 on one of my EK Pro swapped iPhone 11's as a trial, but that's a problem for another day.

Hello!

After purchasing the DLP projector Dangbei Mars Pro 2 (DBOX02), I noticed severe image flickering (both from what seems to be the light source and the color wheel, based on my own observations).

My eyes are extremely sensitive to flicker, and unlike the rest of my family, I simply cannot watch movies on this projector. It causes significant eye strain, and I end up with sore eyes for the rest of the day.

I have read that laser 3LCD projectors (mainly Epson models) don't use PWM and not flicker. However, I have also come across discussions on various forums where this claim is disputed, so I'm no longer sure what to believe.

Unfortunately, I cannot afford to buy a top-of-the-line projector such as Epson EH-LS12000, nor do I have the financial ability to test multiple projectors over an extended period to find one that works for me.

There is very little information online about specific projector models that are truly flicker-free (whether in terms of PWM or any other type of visible flicker). Finding reliable information about current projector models is especially difficult.

Could you please recommend any 3LCD projector models that do not use PWM or have no perceptible flicker? In particular, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me whether the Epson EF-21, which is available for purchase in my country, exhibits any noticeable flicker during normal use.

Thank you very much for your help!

Anyone tested this latest version? (not the pro).

I had sucess using Xiaomi Pad5 but not with Xiaomi Pad 7.

What are the best iphones for pwm sensitive (starting from iphone 14 pro)? I don't know if I am pwm sensitive, but I should act in advance😅

Thank you for answers!!!

Long story short: I had an iPhone 8 until late 2024, when I got an iPhone 16, and suddenly started experiencing intense eye pain and migraines from looking at the phone. The pain lasted for hours after. I researched, learned about PWM, and returned the 16 for an iPhone SE 3rd gen, since that has an LCD screen and I figured it'd be easier on my eyes.

The SE has been painful but doable (I guess) since then, up until the iOS 26 update, when it's become intolerable. I've tried every setting I can think of (and everything recommended here), including:

• Night Shift off
• True Tone off
• Brightness max, Reduce White Point @ 50%
• Low Power Mode on
• Greyscale @ 100%
• "Double invert"
• Reduce Motion
• Bold Text
• Reduce Transparency
• Increase Contrast
• Reduce Bright Effects
• Dim Flashing Lights

I also have both a blue light screen protector and a matte screen protector on the SE. I went to the optometrist, got checked out (nothing "wrong" that she could tell), and got prescription blue light glasses (which helped a bit before the iOS update but no longer do). I have done everything I can think of to do, but if folks here have other ideas, please share; I'll try anything.

Mostly I have been trying to avoid what feels like the enormous chore of migrating off the Apple ecosystem, but the priority is figuring out how to live without eye pain again, so I'll do it if I have to.

Here are my options as I see them:

• Get a different iPhone and exchange the screen (I've seen others mention the EK Pro Incell LCD screen) - I don't know how this would differ from the SE's LCD screen, though
• Try an iPhone 17 and the PWM reduction setting
• Get a non-Apple phone (like Honor, e-ink, etc.)

Does that sound right? Am I missing anything?

Thanks - I have learned so much from this community and appreciate folks sharing their stories.