Migraines from Galaxy Tab A?

[userSlkapuvsYa]

Hi,

I recently bought a Galaxy Tab A7, to read pdf files. I keep getting awful migraines though. Bright lights, flashing, and certain animation all trigger my migraines.

So far I've minimized brightness, and disabled adaptive brightness, in Settings > Display, and tried various dimming and screen-filtering apps. These help some places, but not others.

I've also set remove animations in Settings > Accessibility > Visibility enhancement. This doesn't stop blinking cursors. Using Night Mode greatly reduces the contrast of blinking cursors, though, so that's something.

I've tried Orion Viewer for minimal animation, as well as Moon+ and Librera.

I've noticed that (a) it's a lot harder to focus on text than with e-ink displays, and (b) it's a lot worse looking at text with lighter backgrounds than text with darker backgrounds on the glowing display.

Any idea if this is something inherent in the glowing displays, or specific to the Galaxy Tab A series? I've looked, and it's supposed to have low minimum brightness, no pulse-width modulation, etc. so it should be better than others.

Any idea what could help, short of returning the device and trying to find an e-ink alternative with suitable screen size, pdf support, etc.?

[SHADOWGATE]

maybe a Vision check from your Eye Doctor. Could be underlying symptoms of something much worse

[userSlkapuvsYa]

I have had trouble with bright lights, flourescent lights, and flashing lights since childhood. Also with loud noises, among other migraine triggers. I have seen eye doctors, including earlier this year, without any sign of eye trouble.

(P.S. I mean besides the usual focus issues which I can't quite accommodate.)

[SHADOWGATE]

Dang. yeah might be the screen but I would be nervous using anything if you've been having troubles since you were a child. That has Seizures written all over it.

[userSlkapuvsYa]

Yes, I have had a few probable seizures.

I was and am looking for an accessible way to read pdfs.

I have an old Kindle Dx, but it can't read newer pdfs, so I have to pre-process them. I have a couple different scripts, using Ghostscript, Willus's k2pdfopt, or a combination of Quartz, Ghostscript, k2pdfopt, cpdf, and qpdf. That last one puts images and text on alternate pages, so it's not a good choice with labelled maps or labelled diagrams. The pre-processing also means more time in front of the computer, before reading the books and articles elsewhere.

One good thing is that the pdf readers I've tried on the Samsung Galaxy Tab do *not* require me to pre-process everything.

[SHADOWGATE]

I know you had said you tried the Dark Mode feature but did you try the Blue Light filter setting built especially for reading ??

[userSlkapuvsYa]

I tried using Color Screen Filter to further dim both blue and red light. Blue can cause more eyestrain, yes, but red can cause more seizures.

Just starting the Tab to check the name of the app left me with another wave of pain and nausea, not good at all.

I probably do need to return this.

[SHADOWGATE]

well best of luck to you and I'd definitely see a doctor again. eye problems when you have correct vision are usually underlying symptoms of pressure on your frontal lobe caused by fluid or some kind of mass or by sinus cavity blockages. not trying to freak you out I've just lost someone close to me who kept writing off their eye problems and migraines and so did the doctors. Gotta Keep Your Noggin Healthy

[userSlkapuvsYa]

Thanks. I just clarified that post. I do have the usual focus problems, and I can't quite accommodate them. Which explains some of the eye strain, and why I can't settle for smaller screens. But it doesn't explain the rest.

[userSlkapuvsYa]

I ended up returning the tablet.