Eye strain while using surface go

[John Newby1]

Has anyone had any problems with eyestrain/headaches while using Surface GO?

I bought one to replace an aging Ipad. Used the Ipad for many years and have never had an issue with eyestrain or headaches. Since buying the surface, I find that i can only go a few minutes reading on it before I start feeling eyestrain. Tried changing the scaling size but that does not help.

Disappointing because I love my Surface Book but wanted something a little more portable to carry between the office and home and for holding when marking up documents, etc. Thinking about taking the Go back and getting a Surface Pro 5 or 6 instead.

 

[HeyCori]

Was your iPad about the same size as the Go or was it an iPad Pro?

And if only a few inches smaller is causing that much eye strain then it may be time to head to an optometrist.

 

[John Newby1]

Same size, not the pro. till have the Ipad and went back to reading with that today to review and don't have the issue. Seems strange. Appreciate the suggestion but I had Lasik a few years ago and have not had any problem with my vision. Apple really frustrates me with some of the things they do so I was hoping to move away from the IPad.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Same size, not the pro. till have the Ipad and went back to reading with that today to review and don't have the issue. Seems strange. Appreciate the suggestion but I had Lasik a few years ago and have not had any problem with my vision. Apple really frustrates me with some of the things they do so I was hoping to move away from the IPad.

Just a thought, but I wonder if refresh rate has anything to do with your headaches. I haven't checked the specs, but does the iPad have a higher rate than the Go?

Never mind. Looks like they both have 60Hz if you were using an older iPad.

 

[HeyCori]

The only two things I can think of is lowering the screen brightness or adjusting Windows Night Light settings to give the screen a softer, warmer look.

 

[John Newby1]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It appears it has to do with something called pulse with modulation. I had never heard of this before but it is apparently it is affecting me:

"What we did find, unfortunately, was PWM for brightness levels of 99% and below. At least the frequency of 1,020 Hz was relatively high, which should reduce the probability of causing eye strain and headaches for sensitive users.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Microsoft-Surface-Go-Pentium-64GB-eMMC-Tablet-Review.336420.0.html

Seems like it is a problem on the new Iphone X also due to the type of display used."

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7uv6m3/iphone_x_uses_pulse_width_modulation_which_is_a/

So i think my option is to also have it at 100 % brightness or return it.