I went from an iWork8 Super Edition to iWork8 air and notice the screen on the latter was making my eyes hurt but didn’t know why… Until I found out that some LCD screens were using Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) to dim the display.
Basically, what PWM does is… Say you’ve set the brightness to 50%. The PWM will give out blasts of 100% brightness every other millisec to trick your eyes into thinking the screen is set at 50% brightness. This is why they hurt my eyes as I’m seeing a 100% bright screen every other millisec.
How to test a screen for PWM:
Wave a pen or your hand over the screen set at 25% or less brightness. If the motion blur looks smooth, NO PWM.
But, if the motion blur looks like multiple “robotic” repeating patterns, the screen is using PWM to dim the display.
What to do if you’ve already bought a device with PWM screen:
Apply self-adhesive 5% VLT tint over the screen. Increase the brightness to 100%. Sure, this will drain the battery faster, but it’s good for your eyesight!