PWM Ranking - Notebooks, Smartphones, and Tablets with PWM

[Essere]

Motorola one vision is the best phone I've used that doesn't cause migraines but night light needs to be on at a level around 60% to reduce the blue tint and eliminate eyestrain.

Motorola one action uses the same screen.

[Anastasia Dee]

Fellow flicker sensitive users, please let us know which new tablets work for you! I've bought 2 that are listed as zero PWM on this list, and am still getting migraines. 

[Anastasia Dee]

iPhone XR works great for me. 

Fellow PWM and flicker sensitive users who get headaches and eyestrain please let us know what new phones work for you.

It is getting harder to find ones that do, even some listed as 0 PWM seem to cause problems so please add ones that work for you in the comments list.

Thanks

[Ser]

Dear Team!

Samsung Galaxy A20S  (32GB, 3GB RAM).   a20S. End S.
Screen flickering / PWM ???

The phone is sold in the European market, for example: amazon.

Best wishes!

[Joe]

Do you have PWM information about SHARP AQUOS R3?
Thank you

[Korrekturleser]

There are other sincere Websites like Laptopmedia which has a PWM ranking [...] I think such dishonest rankings are actually much worse than no rankings at all, becasue without trasnparency no change in the production will come.

Thanks for mentioning the other ranking!

[Korrekturleser]

I would like to ask if the display resolution can affect the PWM frequency. [...] I lowered the display resolution to 1024 x 768, and I could comfortably use the laptop, staring at the display for 15 hours a day without any collateral effect.

Please compare the refresh rates used at the different display resolutions. Maybe higher refresh rates are easier on your eyes?

[Korrekturleser]

Fellow flicker sensitive users, please let us know which new tablets work for you! I've bought 2 that are listed as zero PWM on this list, and am still getting migraines.

Get this one as long as it is sold! "Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 (SM-T590N)" was released in 2018: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-A-10-5-SM-T590N-Tablet-Review.338520.0.html

No joke: I'm still using my Nexus 7 2013 to write this comment and really like the feeling and look of it (without a case around). Get a used LTE version in good condition and install an Custom ROM if you want to have Android 10. I'm running the stock Android 6 and like it.

[Korrekturleser]

"OLED Saver offered by MrJS is available in the Google Play Store and you don't need a rooted phone to use it."

[Irish]

Just tried a Samsung Galaxy M20. I don't know if it has PWM but it hurts my eyes. It feels like something is drawing them close together. Both my spouse and I feel it. It is worse than the LG V20 I have now.

[TallSean]

I'm very sensitive to PWM and would like to learn how to detect and measure it myself.  Can any recommend a good oscilloscope and light sensor that can be used for this purpose? 

[AlexL]

Can anyone explain why OnePlus 8 pro has a worse display than one of OnePlus 8 in terms of flickering (258 vs 373 he)? I Want to pick the phone with better ratio and be sure there is no mistake

[Korrekturleser]

I'm very sensitive to PWM and would like to learn how to detect and measure it myself.  Can any recommend a good oscilloscope and light sensor that can be used for this purpose?

You can easily get a qualified first impression if you use a camera (smartphone or standalone) which allows to set the parameters via manual mode: https://youtu.be/v0nizVGnWXc

[Gary]

I'm super sensitive to pwm (within 5min migraines headaches eyes hurt) and with lazer eye surgery I have to watch everything in dim since getting it a decade ago. Off topic: they need to ban ultra bright led headlights on cars. It's blinding.

Owner:
No issue with pwm:
iPhone 5s and 7 (lcd)
Microsoft surface 3 laptop (lcd)

Issue with pwm:
Android Samsung A70 (oled)
iPhone X (oled)
Samsung 24" ips lcd (my head hurts, and yet it's not oled, maybe I can't do IPS).

Recommendation:
I love my Microsoft surface 3 laptop (clam style old school, the non detachable). Gorgeous lcd colours super high resolution touchscreen. Quality is on par to MacBook, id say Microsoft surface is even better in quality. The rating though on here says 21700 response (This has to be based on lcd technology voltage and not pwm, as there's no way this thing is doing that on off thing). Either I'm looking at the wrong one or this response time has nothing to do with pwm. This laptop is lcd (highest quality that money can buy in a laptop by Microsoft, its used by graphics designers). So was surprised. I'll work on it for hours on end in low lighting, no issue. I kid you not the second I grab my Android oled phone I'll get headaches within a minute. So clearly this response time isn't indicative of whether you'll get a headache.

The culprit is OLED. The minute I learn it's oLED, run from it like the plague.

Here's stats if anyone is looking for high quality laptop with zero and pwm issues and it's lcd.

" 13.5" 2256 x 1504 PixelSense touchscreen is big, bright, and easy to use
PixelSense LCD display uses high-quality components and factory-calibrated sRGB colour reproduction for stunning brightness levels and colour"

Microsoft Surface 3 13.5" Touchscreen Laptop - Platinum (Intel Core i5-1035G7/128GB SSD/8GB RAM) - English
Model Number: VGY-00001

iPhones, as long as it's lcd. I can stare at them for hours and hours in low dim.

Solution for the Samsung oled phone. I had to download "oled saver". It will keep brightness at 100%, but use software to dim it, zero pwm. But what sucks is that the auto Brightness is not subtle, walk from one room to next and it darkens instant of gradual. It solves the pwm issue, so at least your $1000 phone isn't vaporware going in the trash. But that auto dimming is kinda sucky, but I can't complain least it solved my headaches. It's a work phone. But for personal use, I stick with iPhone lcd only. Oled is overrated. MicroLCD is the next big thing.

Anyone recommend any lcd based 2020+ androids?

[Jimstar]

Upon seeing here that an iPhone 7 Plus has "0" PWM I ordered a refurbished one from the on-line Apple store. I am very disappointed that I still get migraines from it. I must be making a mistake some where -- any thoughts?

It's late reply, but I have iPhone 7 regular. No pwm issue. I think the culprit is the refurbished screen. Unless iPhone 7 Plus is using different screen from regular iPhone 7.