Pixel 10 Pros new display tackles eye load but it’s not the leap I wanted

Google Pixel 10 rumors Coming thick and fast these days when we end the launch date in just a few months. Last week we learned that the upcoming phone’s pro models are likely to send a 480Hz PWM screen – A first for the Pixel series.

High PWM (heart rate width modulation) speeds are not new on smartphone screens; We have already seen phones with thousands of Hz. Xiaomi 15 Ultra offers a 1 920Hz PWM rate, OnePlus 13 Watches in at 2,160Hz, and Honor Magic 7 Pro tops on the entire 4 320Hz PWM. Even budget -friendly Nothing phone 3a Manages 2,160Hz PWM.

Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL will not match these heavyweights, but a shock to 480Hz will at least put them on a level with the brand’s closest rivals in the US, Apple and Samsung. In that sense, there is a significant move – but what do all these PWM things even mean, and should you actually care?

If you know a little about screens, you probably have come across Hz and update frequency, measuring how many times per second (in Hz) screen updates. For example, 120Hz looks smoother than 60Hz. PWM is also measured in Hz, but it is not related to how quickly your content is refreshed. Instead, the PWM speed controls the brightness of the thousands of individual LEDs that light up your fancy OLED.

Going back to some basic electronics: Using 0 V swings an LED while using the maximum allowable voltage causes it to shine in full brightness. There are two ways to achieve a brightness that is not zero or full. The most intuitive is scaling the tension somewhere between and max.

However, this is not always convenient for mobile screens, due to LED’s temperamental tension on the threshold, the wasted power from maintaining an intermediate DC level, and the complexity of handling precise tension over millions of underpixes. This is not a problem for older screens of the LCD type, where direct current dimming can easily control the entire backlight at once.

Instead, control LED lights show when using fast pulses. Each LED switches hundreds or thousands of times per second, so quickly that your eye perceives a uniform brightness instead of flickering. This is effectively achieved with a watch driver built into the screen controller, and it is far more power-friendly since little energy is wasted-determining for mobile devices. The end result corresponds to a brightness perspective, as the average output of these of -of pulses corresponds to what a constant dimmed level would give.

If you are curious, you can record slow video on your phone camera often reveal PWM fibrillation and appear as rolling bands across the screen.

That said, several phones now use a hybrid approach to dimming. Such as Samsung Galaxy S24 Fe And the XIAOMI 14T Pro offers “DC dimming” at high brightness levels well above the threshold, and then switched back to PWM at lower brightness settings. Here, DC dimming really means dropping the power flow in one shot instead of real scaling per pixel.

OK, so now this question is asking: Why do different smartphones have different PWM prices? Well, each screen panel comes with its own driver -IC. Higher end panels often include driver’s pieces capable of much higher PWM frequencies right out of the factory, but even advanced panels do not always run to the largest possible numbers.

Even with the same viewing driver chip, manufacturers can refine their PWM watch settings in firmware to hit specific goals -to trade by PWM rate for general current features (including switching to top brightness), regulator overhead, boom costs and sometimes the precision of contrast and gambling control. Very high PWM frequencies can, for example, reduce the number of available brightness stages, affecting smooth gradients and tonal transitions. These trade -offs are balanced differently depending on each mark’s battery life priorities, display quality and eye comfort.

Here’s the catch: What if your eyes or brain can actually detect that flickering from a low PWM speed?

Well, this is very a real case, often called PWM sensitivity. It affects everyone differently – some people not at all, others may eventually feel the fatigue of the eye, and the unfortunate can end up with migraine or nausea.

If you are receptive, PWM sensitivity is often noticed when looking at a device in a dark environment at low screen light strength. That’s because at lower brightness levels, PWM dimming runs in a low operating cycle: The LEDs spend most of their time turned off, just vibrant at short moments to give just enough light. Combined with a weakly lit room, these short outbreaks cannot register as visible flicker, but the nerves of your eyes – and eventually your brain can still pick up on them.

There is no exact science on the ideal PWM frequency, partly because there are so many variables in terms of individual sensitivity, environment and how any modulation is implemented. For many people, 480Hz does not cause any noticeable problems, and phones have escaped with 240Hz without triggering a wave of returns. However, a growing research site suggests that these relatively low values ​​can still trigger unwanted physiological responses in a significant part of the population.

As such, choose to choose a 1000Hz or 2000Hz screen usually further away from potential damage, and these phones are obviously the better choice for anyone who has experienced fatigue or worse from their devices. But continues to take advantage of ever -increasing values ​​like 4000Hz? It is less certain, as there is a law to reduce the return. Nevertheless, larger numbers are generally “safer” from an eye health perspective, and there are no real disadvantages from the view of screen quality.

As with most things, there are several shades in the game. PWM screen waves do not have to be sharp on pulses; Advanced Driver -IC -er can shape the modulation to facilitate the eye strain. Gradually ramp up and down (like a saithe or triangular wave) is an effective alternative aimed at reducing PWM’s side effects without just weakening the frequency.

Similarly, most smartphones use multi -phase PWM, ensuring that the entire screen is not at the same time to help get the average of the luminance your eyes detect. Then it is the aforementioned DC dimming firmware tricks that allow brands to advertise “flicker-free” or “low-flicker” mode for improved eye comfort, even though they still depend on PWM at low brightness.

Of course, the best solution is probably to have a bit of everything. Just remember that it is not always a clear case that larger numbers are better-self if it certainly does not hurt to have a higher PWM screen in the next phone. Whether Pixel 10 Pros new display is doing enough here is still very debate.

PWM rates are certainly not all and final and final what makes a great view, but for some consumers it is a hugely important buying factor. While eye-fatigue features are stapler technologies throughout the industry, some major manufacturers still come short when it comes to coping with the specific discomfort caused by low-frequency PWM at weak lightness level.

Historically, Google’s Pixel series has not made any meaningful advances to solve these concerns. Fortunately, Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL appear to offer a small postponement with the jump to 480Hz – a welcome improvement that is finally starting to close the gap. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ignore that this progress just brings Google in line with what has already become a baseline elsewhere, and is still far from the highest standards that are now possible.

Perhaps more frustrating is that this upgraded screen is expected to be exclusive to the Pro-Tier models, which means that anyone watching the standard Pixel 10 or a future Pixel 10a-will be left standing and waiting again. For many, this will not be an agreement. But for those who are sensitive to showing flicker or just hope to minimize long -term eye strain, Google’s gentle steps may feel too small, too late.

Finally, it is a positive feature, but one that highlights how much more can still be done. Here it does not hope it will take another generation or two before these improvements become standard throughout the pixel lineup.