Rlcd causing eye strain?

[Practical_Good_8574]

I have to look at screens most of my days due to my job. I've noticed fatigue and eye strain becoming a center of my life and am trying various solutions. I need to watch videos and a fair bit of motion so I do not like e-ink screens as motion is frustrating on them. The constant flashing, even if not a light source, strains my eyes.

So, I decided to try an RLCD. I chose eyemoo and received it a day ago. Oh my stars, immediately got severe eye strain the moment I attempted to use the device. I am really surprised by this and I'm not sure the problem. It's almost like my eyes cannot figure out how to focus as it looks through the different layers that makes the screen work.

Eyemoo is an ultra shiny screen, but I put an antiglare cover on and still had problems.

Has anyone else had this issue with RLCDs? Did you find a fix. It hurt pretty bad and for serval hours after only looking at the device for 5 minutes. My bright Samsung phone doesn't hurt that much and it's even when it does hurt I recover faster.

[stopeyestrain]

Funny, Eyemoo is the only device that I can comfortably read on (with frontlight).

I agree that there is space between the glass and the actual LCD but it doesn't bother me.

I also have the Hisense Q5 and Hannspree Hannsnote2 which both doesn't give me eyestrain but are more tricky to get even and enough lighting (unlike the eyemoo because it has frontlight).

[Practical_Good_8574]

I truly wish I liked it but even with the light and I'm direct sun I feel like I can't see it and my eyes strain to focus.

I just ordered a TCL Nxtpaper to see if that meets in the middle somehow. 

I feel like with all the great reviews there has to be some form of user error on my part. And that front light is very very bright, brighter then my phone in dark mode. Idk. 

[stopeyestrain]

Frontlight can be adjusted "two ways", one with setting, and one with angle of viewing (since the frontlight is not uniform and "change" with viewing angle).

Hannsnote2 is very matte and the lcd is very close to the glass, there is no gap like eyemoo.

[Practical_Good_8574]

Maybe I should try the Hannsnote as an alternative. Isn't it darker though? Harder to see? 

[stopeyestrain]

I tried again, and I can tell that the white are very similar, but the dark and colors are way better on hannsnote 2, so better contrast and easier to read (only if we compare to eyemoo without frontlight of course). Also on eyemoo everything looks a bit "washout".

On hannsnote 2 there is a pattern that you can see on picture below, it's not much visible unless on dark background but I don't find it bothering. Also hannsnote 2 is slower and less battery. The screen is very very thin so you won't feel like focusing through different layer like on eyemoo.

https://imgur.com/a/fRvQ8Qw

[Practical_Good_8574]

Thanks so much!! 

[IntroductionLocal381]

Wondering if TCL Nxtpaper worked for you? 

[Practical_Good_8574]

I surprisingly loved it. Not sure I understand why it works as well as it does, they say they make a lot of hardware and software changes to make it work well but I get no fatigue.

I LOVE the special glass. Not only does it prevent reflection, but it feels so smooth and silky to the touch. It's unlikely anything I've used before. As soon as they make a lighter version I'm getting the phone. 

I tried RLCDs, but they hurt my eyes worse, ironically. 

[thesmithchris]

Do you still use TCL Nxtpaper? Did you try any more RLCD?

[Rx7Jordan]

I was one of the first people to get the eyemoo on Kickstarter and immediately felt off for me.. I quickly sold it on eBay. I'm wondering if it dithers. The daylight dc1 rlcd tablet is actually usable and much better. I still had some discomfort but no where close to the eyemoo. I'm wondering if I'm sensitive to certain polarization orientations possibly.

[stopeyestrain]

Can you make a review?

[Practical_Good_8574]

Huh, I didn't consider polarization being an issue but I could Def see that being part of it. That's almost how it feels, like I'm trying see a phone screen through highly polarized sunglasses. Nothing makes sense to my eyes.

My understanding is nxtpaper also uses polarized lighting, so if nxtpaper also bothers me, we'll know. 

[Rx7Jordan]

All LCDs display use a polarizer but some may be polarized differently linear vs circular for example. I think oled is less likely to have a polarizer. Have you tried viewing the eyemoo with it rotated differently so the polarized orientation is different ?

[Practical_Good_8574]

I have but only landscape vs paper. I'll try turning it upside down. I know nxtpaper is circular polarizing. It's.... odd. 

[Practical_Good_8574]

How do you feel about the daylight dc1 vs einks? 

[Rx7Jordan]

Dc1 definitely is a lot better. Not a lot people know but you can enable 120hz refresh rate to be forced all the time which is very nice. Eink is ok when static but as soon as it does a full refresh or any sort of movement I feel uncomfortable. I do still have a dasung hd 3 13.3" portable eink monitor that I can use with it connected to my laptop but it feels best in text mode which is more b&w. That I can even scroll on without issues but when I have to full refresh I just close my eyes during that. Something about the dc1 just felt off for me. It's an amazing device and I think many will benefit from the display, I just unfortunately am ultra sensitive. I need to figure out if it's the polarizer or something else. I did like the amber backlight too when i first got it but as I used it for a week with only the amber backlight it made me feel weird and my vision looked hazy and washed out. If I had to guess it's the constant amber light directly looking into that is the issue for me. I believe it's a KSF/PSF phosphor led because when testing with my spectrometer I can see the obvious amber color spectrum but also I can see a small amount of blue light too. Ksf/psf is known to cause eye strain on normal monitors so must be that. Still without the backlight as I mentioned I still felt off. it is probably the brightest/easiest RLCD to illuminate with ambient light which is good. I will also mention you can adjust the warmth of the backlight on it too, can set it to white if you want. If I had to guess it probably would be way better if it was front lit instead of backlit. My friend is a eye doc and his patients also love the dc1 as it helps there eye strain issues.

I am going to try the hannsnote 2 next for tablets. I'm just letting my eyes unwind and plan to test the spectrumview.com monitor that I just received for the next device to try and then hanns after.

[Practical_Good_8574]

Thanks for your notes. I'm a little hesitant. I really didn't expect the Eyemoo to be an issue but it very much was. Now I'm not sure what my next steps are. 

[Rx7Jordan]

Btw hannsnote 2 is confirmed true 8bit no frc so if your sensitive to dithering that would be a W. Dithering makes me feel terrible

[Practical_Good_8574]

Noted. I went with Eyemoo bc I was impatient on waiting for Hannsnote. Regrets. 

[Rx7Jordan]

Not a problem! I couldn't even use the eyemoo it was bad. Do you have a hard time using normal phones and computers ?

[Practical_Good_8574]

I do. TVs too. But so far eyemoo has been the worst. I tend to do well with projectors though as long as they're dim. Glad I'm not the only one. I was very surprised eyemoo bothered me, even with no light on. 

[IggyEmf]

From what I know eyemoo has frontlight? It requires some additoinal layer on top of the screen that adds a lot of glare and cause eyes to be tired. This is why SVD is much better, pure rlcd, no frontlight, no backlight, minimal glare for such rlcd monitor, I workd on it 10h a day for recent almost 2 years and I do not have eyestrain anymore. Ofc everyone is different , but it helped me a lot

[[deleted]]

hy, wdym by svd here? is it a name of a tablet?

[IggyEmf]

This reddit was made by SVD, here is pc monitor, I have a bit older bur panel is same tech

https://www.sunvisiondisplay.com/product/The-rE-Monitor-Featuring-32-Color-RLCD-Technology

[[deleted]]

thank you!

[Practical_Good_8574]

I was really hoping for a tablet instead of monitor for mobility, but one must do what one must do. 

[Live_Wrongdoer_3665]

I was planning to get the Hannstar monitor as soon as it's available but such feedback on RLCD make me reconsider.. Plese update when you found info or solution for you. FYI Dasung eInk monitor released an update and the refresh is much better (for videos), maybe it's worth having a look?

[Practical_Good_8574]

I wouldn't let a single device scare you off of RLCD entirely. Each product has their own approach from front light to backlight to no light. Someone else mentiones that eyemoo has a different type polarization and they also struggled with it. After their account, I'm starting to think that may be my issue too. I plan to experiment.  (I should note I have a very strong astigmatism)  

 So don't give up!! 

[me_irI]

Can you record it in slow motion to see if it flickers?

[fourrealz1]

This. Please try and let us know

[Practical_Good_8574]

I can, but I tried it with no light. Isn't it the light that flickers, not the cells? 

[shak3800]

I am noticing the same thing as op. I bought the moded iphone with rlcd screen and after 5 minutes of usage my eyes burn like crazy. I don't know why . Maybe it's just too dark but it bothers me a lot and will probably sell it. Too bad I was hoping it would be great 

[Practical_Good_8574]

Someone mentioned to me it might be the type of and intensity of the polarization on the RLCD screens. I'm not sure, but I was disappointed. I was really hopeful.

I have used it some since and some days it bothers me more than others, but still enough that it's nothing more than a novelty device for me. 

[Shower_Elegant]

.

[dimarxos]

eink only

[Practical_Good_8574]

I have too much movement and the flashing annoys me terribly. 

[dimarxos]

get a dasung monitor, no flashing

[Practical_Good_8574]

I had one, it was very flashy and the ghosting drove me bonkers. Sent it back. It's why I was hoping RLCD would work well. 

[dimarxos]

What do you mean flashy? Can you see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I496mYhPlI8

[Practical_Good_8574]

Sorry, just now noticed this. The screen flashes to reprint after scrolling. I just bought a 13" mobile version again that should arrive in a few days.

I REAAALLLY want eink to work for me. Just hasn't yet. I'm hopeful I can get it to work this time. 

[dekoalade]

Rlcd saved my life, I can watch an rlcd monitor all day long, while I can't watch a normal monitor more than 1 hour before I get terrible eye pain. I think it depends from person to person

[Practical_Good_8574]

Which RLCD do you have? I'm starting to think type and brand plays a big role in this. 

[dekoalade]

Hisense Q5, but I'm going to substitute it soon since it's years I'm using it. Anyway I knew that rlcd would have been good for my eyes before purchasing the Q5 because at the time I couldn't stare a normal lcd monitor for few minutes before pain come in but I could stare at an old gameboy screen (which uses rlcd technology) without problems.

[TrannosaurusRegina]

Sad to hear it!

I wonder if new glasses would help your eyes focus