[Google Pixel 8 Pro] ko3st:
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谷歌 Pixel 8 Pro 屏幕频闪之谜：解密隐藏问题的原因

你是否对某些事物产生过敏反应？多数人都至少有一种过敏会让他们无法享受特定事物。但如果有一天，你的过敏反应突然消失，却没有任何解释呢？更奇怪的是，你仍然在大多数时间受到过敏影响，只是在某些情境下，过敏似乎神奇般消失了。 目前，我正陷入这样的困扰，谷歌 Pixel 8 Pro 的情况令人费解。这款手机本该让我感到不适。自从…

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User light rain wrote this article January 16, 2024 20:00:00 • Android • Reading 365

Google Pixel 8 Pro screen flickering mystery: Deciphering the cause of the hidden problem

Are you allergic to something? Most people have at least one allergy that prevents them from enjoying certain things. But what if one day, your allergic reaction suddenly disappears without any explanation? What's even weirder is that you're still affected by the allergy most of the time, but in certain situations, the allergy seems to magically disappear.

Google 8 Pro screen flickering mystery: Deciphering the cause of the hidden problem

https://img.tephone.com/2024/01/image-883-1024x577.png

I'm currently stuck with this, the puzzling situation with the Google Pixel 8 Pro. This phone is supposed to make me uncomfortable. Google has been using Samsung AMOLED displays on its phones since the launch of the Pixel series, and every phone uses pulse-width modulation (PWM). This technology tricks the human brain into thinking the display is brighter or dimmer by flashing the display multiple times per second.

But surprisingly, the screen flickering on the Pixel 8 Pro didn’t have any negative impact on me.

While this may no longer be an issue once the issue is resolved, Google declined to comment in an emailed response. I also wrote to Samsung multiple times, but the company's responses were mostly vague.

Samsung's most detailed response is that the company is "evaluating this issue internally and working with our manufacturing partners to consider potential future updates."

This may be good news for users, but will it lead to substantial action to ensure that users who are sensitive to PWM can continue to buy high-end phones, or to try to make displays that do not make more people sensitive to screen flicker light? ? It's unclear, and judging from the responses from Google, Samsung, and even Apple, it seems that none of these companies are willing to discuss it in depth.

Secrets and lies in the decryption process

Like nearly all Samsung phones, the displays Samsung makes for Google's Pixel phones flicker at a dangerously low 240Hz, or 240 times per second. I call it "low hazard" because these displays do not meet the recommendations of the IEEE flicker safety specification. There are also newly released research papers supporting the data, suggesting that even the IEEE's safety ratings may not be enough.

Google Pixel 8 Pro screen flickering mystery: Deciphering the cause of the hidden problem

Meanwhile, display makers like BOE are building displays that push the limits of PWM dimming, using refresh rates ten times what Samsung uses. This further ensures that users who are sensitive to PWM can actually use high-end phones. Otherwise, only entry-level phones today use non-flash displays, forcing users into a very bad situation.

Companies like BOE and CSOT are working hard to help alleviate such issues and prevent more users from falling into the "flicker-sensitive" category that I'm in right now.

Samsung, on the other hand, continues to release displays with lower PWM frequency, which makes me feel like they don't care at all.

I asked Samsung about BOE's ongoing work and whether the company would join the PWM effort, and the company said in an email: "Samsung has no comment at this time."

Google Pixel 8 Pro screen flickering mystery: Deciphering the cause of the hidden problem

To make matters worse, we once had a Pixel 8 Pro with almost the same 480Hz PWM frequency as the iPhone , but Google quietly changed everything in an update. When I asked Google about the phone's PWM frequency and what different things might be going on, the company told me it had no information to share.

The Pixel 8 Pro's PWM frequency has been halved from its higher frequency with the October security patch update.

When you turn on a Pixel 8 Pro, you'll find that it's using the September 2023 Android 14 update. This is not actually the final version of Android 14, as that version was only released in October, which means that the Pixel 8 Pro comes with an early version of the operating system.

https://img.tephone.com/2024/01/image-886.png

(Google Pixel 8 Pro screen flickering mystery: Deciphering the cause of the hidden problem)

A user in the PWM Sensitive community dug deeper and discovered that the September update actually uses a different PWM frequency on the Pixel 8 Pro's display. In fact, Google appears to have originally set the Pixel 8 Pro's PWM frequency to 485Hz. This matches the PWM frequency of most iPhones and is much safer than the 240Hz it dropped to after updating to the October patch.

So why did Google tweak this spec after shipping it in a different spec? I'm certainly not advocating that Google or Samsung are intentionally hurting their users, but this strange change raises a lot of questions. It also makes me wonder why neither company is willing to discuss the real issues.

Again, this display has no issues for me even when running at 240Hz. Based on feedback from the PWM sensitive community, I seem to be one of the lucky few who can use the Pixel 8 Pro without negative effects.

As of now, for PWM-sensitive users who want to buy a Pixel 8 Pro, you can keep it on the September 2023 update and try the 485Hz frequency. This may be helpful to some users, as this is the same frequency found on most iPhones that use OLED.

If you have already updated the system, you can restore the higher frequency by flashing the September 2023 factory image on your phone. But be aware that this will cause all data on your phone to be wiped, so make sure you have a backup of all your data before proceeding.

Of course, this isn't a long-term solution, as it means you'll miss out on important security updates and Pixel feature updates. If you're lucky like me, maybe the updated 240Hz frequency won't have a negative impact on you.

For now, putting some pressure on Google might push them back to the original 485Hz PWM frequency, but I don't hold out much hope.

Overall, the Pixel 8 Pro's display isn't good for my eyes on paper. Yet, for some strange reason, it didn't make me sick. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy about this, especially considering the camera on this phone is excellent. But in the long run, this doesn't help me as a PWM-sensitive user much, and it doesn't explain why things have changed so that the Pixel 8 Pro is no longer a problem for users like me.

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The article was written by user light rain