Honor 90 Promises to Reduce Eye Fatigue and Promote Healthier Sleep

Research shows that the average global internet user now spends nearly 7 hours per day looking at screens. This extensive screen time has led to recent research highlighting potential negative effects on eye health, such as digital eye strain and compromised sleep quality, which may result in adverse physical and psychological manifestations.

As a response to growing concerns, smartphone manufacturers have started considering ways to address these potential health issues.

Smartphone brand Honor has taken steps in this direction with its latest smartphone models. The soon-to-launch Honor 90 in Nepal features several display features to reduce eye fatigue, including 3840Hz high-frequency PWM dimming technology, Dynamic Dimming, and Circadian Night Display technology.

What is PWM Dimming?

To begin, let’s quickly explain how the brightness level works on modern smartphones’ OLED displays. The brightness of these displays is controlled by PWM technology.

In the context of displays, PWM is a technique that adjusts brightness by rapidly turning the pixels on and off at a high frequency.

The shorter the duration the pixel is on, the dimmer the display appears. Conversely, the longer the pixel is on, the brighter the display appears.

For instance, if the pixel is turned on for 80% of the time and off for 20% of the time during each cycle, the display would appear at around 80% brightness.

The rapid switching of pixels happens at a frequency that is typically not noticeable to the human eye.

However, even though it may not be noticeable, some people may be sensitive to this flickering, which could lead to discomfort, eyestrain, and headaches, especially when the display brightness is set to low.

Honor 90’s 3840Hz PWM Dimming

Manufacturers are aware of the screen flickering issue and are taking steps to minimize it. One approach is to increase the frequency at which pixels are switched on and off, measured in hertz (Hz).

Phones like the Realme 11 Pro+ and Honor Magic 5 Pro have a high PWM dimming frequency of up to 2160Hz at low brightness, which is significantly higher than what a typical smartphone offers.

But Honor took it a step further this time by introducing PWM dimming of up to 3840Hz at low brightness with the Honor 90.

It meets the IEEE Std 1789-2015 standard, which defines a flicker-free level when the dimming frequency is higher than 3125Hz, earning the Honor 90 the TÜV Rheinland Flicker-Free Certification. However, this effect only takes place when the refresh rate is 120Hz and in low-brightness scenarios.

What this means is that when using the Honor 90’s AMOLED display at night with brightness set to low, its display will be easy on the eyes.

Dynamic Dimming and Circadian Night Display

Honor recently released a video showcasing Dr. Glen Jeffery, Professor of Neuroscience at University College London (UCL), conducting tests on Honor’s eye-comfort solutions including the Honor 90 series and Magic 5 Pro smartphones.

Dr. Jeffery emphasized the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to blue light, including eyestrain, and its potential impact on blood pressure and heart rate.

Late-day exposure to blue light disrupts our natural circadian pattern, leading to poor sleep quality. To address this, the Honor 90 and Honor Magic 5 Pro feature Dynamic Dimming and Circadian Night Display modes. These modes adjust the blue light output according to the time of day.

The results of Dr. Jeffery’s tests showed that these features effectively reduced blue light output by 40 percent toward the end of the day. As a result, he concluded that these advancements promote healthier sleep patterns and reduce eyestrain caused by blue light exposure.