The Pixel 10 is a noteworthy release for a few reasons, but while Google wants to claim its displays are the best on the market, it only achieves that goal by its own metrics. That’s because, according to Sien Chang, product manager for Pixel Display, Google believes that most of its users are looking for a display that tops the charts for brightness and color accuracy.
It’s a goal I surmised was at the root of the problems I started experiencing three years ago, after the Galaxy Z Fold 4 was released. After months of increasingly painful headaches and eye pain, I learned the display was the root of the problem.
Since then, I’ve learned a lot about PWM sensitivity and spoken with companies like OnePlus and Honor who are working towards making ultrabright modern displays more comfortable for people who are, effectively, allergic to them. It’s a goal I had hoped Google would also adopt when the company launched a new ‘sensitive eyes’ feature on the Pixel 10 Pro series, but it turns out the new feature simply doesn’t do enough.
Still stuck in the mud
Not long ago, Samsung debuted a new 480Hz PWM rate on its phones, slightly exceeding that of the iPhone. This was followed by companies like OnePlus, Honor, Nothing, Xiaomi, and others that have launched phones with PWM rates in the thousands of hertz or eliminated PWM dimming altogether.
So imagine my surprise when the Pixel 10 Pro launched with a feature that would “adjust the dimming rate for sensitive eyes” like mine. I hoped that Google would join the ranks of the aforementioned companies and show Samsung and Apple a new way forward for display excellence, but my hope was misplaced.
I asked Google’s display team why the company used 240Hz dimming for so long, only to settle on 480Hz for this new accessibility feature. After all, this is just catching up to the competition, not getting ahead. The response was, unfortunately, exactly what I expected.
“We always aim to deliver the best overall display experience of our users,” Chang told me. “To us, this means delivering the best image quality that is comfortable to view in any condition. The EM (PWM) frequency, along with other specs, are driven by this comprehensive goal and therefore is not determined by any single factor.”
Essentially, this means that Google’s reason for choosing any specific display spec was entirely reliant on its goal of achieving “display excellence,” as the company refers to it. In a way, it’s similar to what we saw happen on the Nothing Phone 3 when the company lowered its PWM rate after launch to “prioritize screen quality.”
While I respect the desire to top the charts and differentiate your product from a benchmark-worthy perspective, it doesn’t make sense here. Google regularly discourages the use of benchmarks when assessing its Tensor processor performance. Why does the company care so much about display benchmarks? Shouldn’t it focus on something that’s better for the overall user experience?
Additionally, developing an accessibility setting should be based on the disability rather than following the same logic that led to Google’s displays to this point. Several studies on flicker show that Google should use at least 3000Hz PWM dimming based on brightness level and modulation rate. Even the IEEE standards for flicker, established back in 2008, prove this point.
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Chang told me the Pixel team “investigated a solution for flicker-sensitive users and determined that enabling this new feature to adjust the EM frequency to 480 Hz would deliver an improvement for most people.” I’m not sure where this idea originated, but it wasn’t based on scientific evidence.
There’s another option
PWM dimming isn’t the only option for OLED displays. DC-like dimming helps many flicker-sensitive users and has become a standard on nearly every smartphone except those made by Apple, Samsung, or Google.
I asked about the possibility of future updates (or even Pixels) delivering a similar dimming mode, but I was again disappointed with the answer.
“We’re always exploring new tech to make our products even better,” Chang told me. “We also believe that new technologies should only be used when they’re actually helpful and meet our high quality standards.
In this case, Pixel’s display already uses a combination of different dimming methods, and we’re always looking for opportunities to improve our approach with each new generation based on our users’ feedback and as technology evolves.”
That last part gives me hope that Google isn’t done listening to users like me. I wanted to be excited about finally using a Pixel full-time again without worrying that it would worsen my flicker sensitivity, but it looks like I’ll have to wait for that to become a reality.
Chang also told me that “the Pixel display driver utilizes dithering in various places in our display pipeline.” While I’m thankfully not negatively affected by dithering, a technique that alters colors on a display by rapidly flickering pixels on and off, many users are and have filed grievances with Google over the process.
The real goal
For me, a good display isn’t defined by its brightness level, color accuracy, or how far over 100% a display can reproduce a color spectrum. It’s defined by comfort, with any other metrics and wins as secondary. If I can’t use a display, I don’t care about other specs; they’re simply a nonstarter if I get a headache the moment I look at it.
No normal customer is going to look at any modern smartphone and see an image quality difference. It simply isn’t reality, and the silly metrics these companies chase with their displays aren’t just unrealistic, they’re legitimately painful for those of us who can’t look at them.
This is where the Pixel display team — in addition to both Samsung and Apple’s display teams — seems to fully misunderstand the goal at hand. Sure, making it to the top of the charts at DXOMARK is cute, but it ultimately amounts to nothing.
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