A shortcoming of Pixel displays thus far may be addressed going forward, as Google is teasing better PWM dimming rates in the future, likely starting with the upcoming Pixel 10.
The PWM dimming rate (pulse-width modulation) of your phone’s display is something you’ve likely never thought of before. This aspect of an OLED display is a key part of how the brightness setting works. PWM is essentially a trick on your eyes to make the display look dimmer. It works well, but the “flashing” of the PWM dimming rate can cause eye strain for many, or even sickness for some. The higher the PWM dimming rate, the less common problems become.
Higher PWM dimming rates have started to get more common in recent years, with brands such as Honor implementing dimming rates in the thousands – even the budget-conscious Honor 200 Pro boasts a 3840Hz rate. Meanwhile, Samsung sits at a 492Hz PWM rate on its latest flagships (having started with the Galaxy S24 series). Google’s Pixel 8 Pro sat at just 246Hz, but it sounds like the company wants to improve on this spec going forward.
Speaking to Android Central – specifically Nick Sutrich, who has been covering this topic in-depth – Google is teasing display improvements for Pixels, and it appears we’ll see this first on the Pixel 10 series. While it’s not said outright, Google told Sutrich that its teams are “aware and investigating” how its displays work for PWM sensitive users and added that “you can expect updates later this year.” Again, it’s not very explicit, but that strongly implies the Pixel 10 will make improvements to the PWM rate. Software changes are technically possible, but hardware is the only way to do it right.
It’s hard to know what Google has in mind, and it’ll likely also take some testing once these new devices come to market too – Google has not been particularly forthcoming with this specification in the past. It’s also possible that a software setting could be added to address this, something that Motorola has done as Android Central points out.
We’ll likely find out more in the coming months, as the Pixel 10 series is expected to arrive sometime around August.
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