It’s not enjoyable to be blinded by your phone in a dimly lit room. Samsung introduced several new features with the Galaxy S26 Ultra that will enhance that experience significantly.
Have you ever been immersed in a film, playing a game, or merely scrolling through Instagram videos, when suddenly, your pleasure is interrupted by flashing lights on the screen?
Whether it’s a nightclub scene from the latest John Wick film or an energizing scene in an anime, flashing lights can be quite painful, and they might even pose the risk of inducing seizures in vulnerable individuals. Luckily, Samsung’s newest phones come equipped with a feature that dims the display when it detects flashing lights on the screen.
Activating this new “dim strobing” option is an excellent approach to minimize discomfort when watching a video, particularly if you’re using your phone at night or in a darker environment. I evaluated the new feature across multiple video applications, including YouTube, Netflix, Instagram, and Peacock, to illustrate how it functions, what apps it supports, and whether it’s necessary.
Halting the strobe
Flashing lights can be exceedingly uncomfortable even for those not susceptible to epileptic seizures. Samsung does not promote this “dim strobing” feature as a preventative measure against epilepsy; rather, it is mainly intended to provide comfort enhancements instead of addressing a medical issue.
The “dim strobing” setting does not modify or address the phone’s relatively low-frequency PWM dimming in any capacity. If you are sensitive to PWM dimming or LED flicker, you will need to opt for a phone with a higher PWM rate, such as the OnePlus 15.
It’s also crucial to mention that Samsung’s “dim strobing” feature operates only within a limited selection of apps. There is no list from Samsung regarding supported apps, and through my testing, only YouTube seems to dim when the phone identifies strobing. Instagram and TikTok did not dim when I accessed a strongly strobing video, and I couldn’t find any films with sufficient strobing to activate the feature on Netflix, Peacock, or the Google TV app.
Despite the small number of compatible apps, this feature can prove immensely beneficial in easing discomfort associated with flashing lights. Here’s how to enable it:
1. Access system settings by choosing settings from the app drawer, or by pulling down on the right side of the status bar and tapping the gear icon at the top right.
2. Scroll down and select Accessibility.
3. Choose Vision Enhancements from the list.
4. Scroll about halfway down the list and tap the toggle slider next to Dim strobing.
Additional accessibility settings to consider
While still in accessibility options, there are a few more settings worth enabling to make the display as comfortable as possible. If you, like me, typically find the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s (or any Samsung phones’) display too bright, enabling “Extra dim” can make a significant impact.
Extra dim was improved in Android 16 to incorporate a customizable strength slider, allowing you to maintain a brighter setting during the day and reduce it considerably at night for increased comfort. This feature lowers the peak brightness of the display without changing the pulse width of the dimming cycle, ensuring it dims properly without worsening the strobing.
In my trials, activating Extra Dim decreased the peak brightness by 80%, and activating Privacy Display further diminished that by another 74%. These two features alone can render the phone significantly more comfortable for anyone who finds the brightness excessive, and they are very simple to enable!
1. Access system settings by choosing settings from the app drawer, or by pulling down on the right side of the status bar and tapping the gear icon at the top right.
2. Scroll down and select Accessibility.
3. Choose Vision Enhancements from the list.
4. Scroll about halfway down and tap the words Extra Dim.
5. Tap the toggle next to On, then adjust the slider to your preference.
6. Tap the toggle next to Extra Dim Shortcut to add the Extra Dim toggle to your quick settings.
Now that both Extra Dim and the shortcut have been activated, it’s time to personalize your quick settings toggles for easy access.
1. Swipe down on the right side of your status bar to open the Quick Toggles menu, located at the top and containing icons and the clock.
2. Tap the pencil icon to modify the buttons.
3. Tap Add a control at the bottom of the screen.
4. Scroll down to display and ensure the Privacy Display button is activated.
5. Scroll all the way down to Accessibility and tap the Extra Dim icon to enable the button.
6. Navigate back and drag the Extra Dim and Privacy Display buttons to your preferred locations in your quick toggles menu.