Quote:
Originally Posted by s4nder
Forma has a flickering PWM backlight so I'll stay away for that reason alone.
|
If your eyes can distinguish between a 1 kiloHertz PWM modulated light source and a steady light source, your eyes are better than human. The maximum rate at which there is some evidence that human eyes can detect flicker is less than that and that involved content with high frequency spatial edges and saccades. That is almost the opposite of what is displayed on an ereader screen which tends to have relatively static content with relatively few edges and smooth eye movement across the page.
OTOH, one test found that that using 120 to 840 Hertz modulation rates and RGB LEDs driven by a rectangular wave power source to reduce the effects of the phosphors used in most white light LED light sources, the participants were unable to distinguish between the light generated by the PWM LED source and light generated by LEDs driven by a variable current. Oddly most of the participants who reported they were suffering from the effects of PWM popularized in the media, did so regardless of which method of controlling the LED brightness was in use at the time.
An inversion of the placebo effect? Nocebo? I will admit to suffering from some dubiousness about claims about the effects (beneficial or deleterious) of anything for years. One study on the placebo effect found that a sugar pill was as effective as Rizatriptan in treating migraine headaches and one hell of a lot cheaper.