Poco X8 Pro Max: Can an invisible display technology strain your eyes?

The Poco X8 Pro Max boasts a state-of-the-art AMOLED display featuring a 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 12-bit color depth, and PWM dimming of up to 3,840 Hz. On paper, this places it among the most advanced smartphone displays in its class. However, a technology unfamiliar to most users is increasingly coming into focus with devices like this: temporal dithering.

Temporal dithering is used to simulate additional color shades. Instead of displaying a specific color directly, the display - or the mechanism controlling a pixel - rapidly toggles between two similar color values. The human eye perceives this as an intermediate color. This method allows for the creation of exceptionally fine color gradients and an increase in the advertised color depth without requiring the panel to natively render every single gradation.

For most people, this process is completely imperceptible. However, a small group of users reports symptoms such as burning eyes, headaches, dizziness, or unusually rapid fatigue when using certain displays. Temporal changes in brightness and color - potentially including temporal dithering alongside PWM flicker - are discussed as possible causes. While there is no scientific consensus on the matter yet, the number of anecdotal reports is rising.

This distinction is particularly relevant for the Poco X8 Pro Max. The device employs very high-frequency PWM dimming, which is considered relatively easy on the eyes. Nevertheless, this does not rule out the additional use of temporal color modulation. Manufacturers generally do not disclose details regarding this practice. Our testing reveals whether the advertised 12-bit display is achieved entirely natively or is partially supported by Frame Rate Control (FRC) - a form of temporal dithering: it is highly likely that temporal dithering is being used. The effect is difficult to discern in the YouTube video, which is due to the platform's compression or post-processing. The original footage shows the alternating flickering of the individual subpixels more clearly.