That sounds severe and so unlike what I’ve experienced. But some amount of noise in vision is normal, you just don’t notice it unless you focus on it, or have a background that really makes it apparently. Light is inherently noisy. If you look at a blank sheet of paper and all you see is #FFFFFF, you’re not paying attention.

One theory I've heard is that we normally filter out the noise but in some people that's not happening and thus they experience VSS. Likewise for tinnitus.

Wow, yeah that sounds annoying. I wouldn't characterize mine as 'bad', it's always been like that so it's just what things look like. It's not annoying and doesn't make it hard to function. I do get an interesting number of the listed associated symptoms (in small amounts), though. Photosensitivity, lens flares at night, tinnitus (not the hearing damage type, just a permanent high pitched hiss like an old CRT, basically sounds like what this looks like.)

I think it's common for people who develop this condition at an early age to assume that everyone perceives the world in the same way as they have no objective reference frame - a bit like those stories of people who grow up thinking bananas are spicy when in fact they're mildly allergic to them.

It may be that you have a mild version of VSS, or maybe your vision is atypical in some other way? The comparison with tinnitus is appropriate in the case of VSS, as I understand that it's theorised to be the visual equivalent.