Database Users

n1 in a sunlight

This is a big concern of mine. I love the specs of the n1 but I've read that nothing can be seen on the screen in direct sunlight. I'd buy an HTC HD2 because I can even read books in sunlight with it but they stick with the win mobile and I like to have an android phone. So what do you say about n1 screen quality in comparison to the htc hd2 screen?

NB2 said:
This is a big concern of mine. I love the specs of the n1 but I've read that nothing can be seen on the screen in direct sun light. I'd buy an HTC HD2 because I can even read books in sunlight with it but they stick with the win mobile and I like to have an android phone. So what do you say about n1 screen quality?
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The only people who say this are people who don't know how to use the phone. Basically there is an automatic brightness option that changes the brightness based on how bright it is around the phone. Unfortunately, it seems like this feature always keeps the screen fairly dim, so I don't like it.
I have this feature disabled at all times and keep my phone at maximum brightness. It looks perfectly fine in sunlight.
People who say the screen doesn't work in sunlight don't know how to disable this feature (ie don't know how to use Android / change simple settings).

Paul22000 said:
I have this feature disabled at all times and keep my phone at maximum brightness. It looks perfectly fine in sunlight.
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I've seen an app on an htc hd2 that changes the brightness automatically but one can adjust the brightness for specific surround conditions (i.e it looks like a graphical equalizer). I do not own the phone but I was told that this app works quite good. Is there something similar for the n1?

I can attest the screen pretty much sucks in sunligh at full brightness. The beaming sun in south florida is relentless.

Yeah, the N1 is hard to read in the bright sun and its not just pooping on stupid people that dont understand computerz or a simple setting that fixes it, it just gives glare in the sun.

Most phones/screens, regardless of their technology, are difficult to see in direct sunlight. But then, why are you trying to read the screen in direct sunlight? Just turn the other way, or shield it with your hand. Not that hard to figure out, really.
I use the automatic light sensor all the time. The only time is gets confused is is in a dim room, bright source (window, lamp) directly in front of the sensor. You have to realize what the sensor is seeing. Often times it's seeing light reflected off your face, hence the up/down/up/down of the screen brightness.
I honestly don't see either as issues with the phone, but the users rather.

I've had no problems using my Nexus One in direct sunlight.

Raymond77 said:
I've had no problems using my Nexus One in direct sunlight.
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really? i will be honest, i cannot see **** in direct sunlight unless i have the brightness all the way up... and that screen on full brightness is a battery hog...

I have no major probs with mine in direct sunlight, it's not that much different to the G1. I'm sure there are phones with better screens for direct sunlight but it's far from unusable.
The auto brightness feature works fine, you just have to wait a couple of seconds for it to adjust. Only people who don't know how to use the phone disable it and waste all their battery.

JHaste said:
really? i will be honest, i cannot see **** in direct sunlight unless i have the brightness all the way up... and that screen on full brightness is a battery hog...
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Really. I usually leave the screen set to auto, on the odd occasion I've had to turn it up to the brightest setting, but as the last poster said usually it'll catch up and turn the brightness up itself.

snoopstah said:
I have no major probs with mine in direct sunlight, it's not that much different to the G1. I'm sure there are phones with better screens for direct sunlight but it's far from unusable.
The auto brightness feature works fine, you just have to wait a couple of seconds for it to adjust. Only people who don't know how to use the phone disable it and waste all their battery.
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Or people who don't have any problem with the battery? With my use the battery lasts for 20+ hours, which is more than enough time for me to get to a charger again.
I always have the brightness at max and have had it that way for all the phones I've had (where you can set the brightness). If I'm gonna be more than a day without charging it I'll of course turn it down, but it's far from a neccesity for day to day use.
Just checked my phone and it's been off the charger for 16 hours and I still have 53% left on the battery.

Brightness in the direct Thai sunlight is fully adequate. The only problem I've had is that in direct sunlight, everything else is well lit, and so reflects off the screen.
Brightness: no problem
Reflection off the screen: annoying.

Paul22000 said:
The only people who say this are people who don't know how to use the phone. Basically there is an automatic brightness option that changes the brightness based on how bright it is around the phone. Unfortunately, it seems like this feature always keeps the screen fairly dim, so I don't like it.
I have this feature disabled at all times and keep my phone at maximum brightness. It looks perfectly fine in sunlight.
People who say the screen doesn't work in sunlight don't know how to disable this feature (ie don't know how to use Android / change simple settings).
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False. I know this phone well and disabled the auto brightness within 20 minutes of owning the phone. As much as I love my N1, and would not trade it for any phone, the amazing OMLED screen is one of the worst screens I've used as far as clarity in direct sunlight. This is not an N1 problem, but a problem with OLED screens in general. Assuming the new iPhone that should be released in June will have an OLED screen, it will have the same problem in direct sunlight.
You can buy anti-glare screen protectors that help this problem, but you do sacrifice some of the stunning brightness and clarity of the N1 screen in regular viewing conditions.
There is no way I would trade the N1 screen for the likes of the iPhone screen as the benefits of the OLED screen in non-direct sunlight viewing far outweighs the difficulty seeing the screen in direct sunlight. In fact, the N1 screen is probably its most impressive feature (aside from its blazing speed).

irishrally said:
the amazing OMLED screen is one of the worst screens I've used as far as clarity in direct sunlight. This is not an N1 problem, but a problem with OLED screens in general. Assuming the new iPhone that should be released in June will have an OLED screen, it will have the same problem in direct sunlight.
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of cause this is the n1 problem and yours in the end! How are you suppose to take pictures with the n1 if you see nothing on the screen? How you suppose to dial a number if you see nothing on the screen? Saying this is not the phone to blame but the screen manufacturing process sounds stupid to me.

I have never in my life encountered an electronic device with a screen that was perfectly readable in direct sunlight, that is to say, as readable as indoors (not even my laptop plugged in the mains and set to full brightness). Reason: no screen technology can provide as much brightness as the sun. Solution: accept it, and cover the screen with one hand while you use the device with the other....
NB2 said:
of cause this is the n1 problem and yours in the end! How are you suppose to take pictures with the n1 if you see nothing on the screen? How you suppose to dial a number if you see nothing on the screen? Saying this is not the phone to blame but the screen manufacturing process sounds stupid to me.
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take pictures: look over the device and hit the shutter button..
input: open you jacket and form the number while providing shadow with it, or provide shadow with one hand while forming the number with the other. It's a fact that you need to accept, period.

Video sunlight test
Here is a video I found, it basically compares the N1's screen in sunlight to the Droid's screen at three different brightness levels. Enjoy.
youtube. com/watch?v=YwyJq6oF4wE
note, since I'm new I can't post links... just remove the space

The screen is really nice in normal light but yeah it sucks in the sunlight LOL Probably depends where you live but in sunny South Florida it's a pain sometimes. Doesn't matter which direction you turn definitely have to shield it with your hand and it's still pretty hard to read. I'm looking into getting an anti glare screen protector for it to see how that helps. The display is absolutely beautiful but i'm starting to think maybe oled isn't the best technology for cell phone screens

Oled
The main difference between the screen technology in the N1 and most other phones is that on the N1, as I understand it, each pixel emits its own light (OLED = Organic Light Emitting Diode) as opposed to a 'liquid' film lighted from the back (LCD = Liquid Crystal Display). The only technology that I know of that will work well in direct sunlight is e-ink.
It is not likely that a pixel or a backlight could ever reasonably compete with direct sunlight, but on an LCD screen it is possible for the sunlight to reflect off the back layer or to hold the device is a certain angle to 'perhap's see the image better in sunlight then on the OLED type display.
However, having the N1 myself, I have found that I am able to shade the display in full Southern California Sunlight well enough to function with the device. The OLED display is much too gorgious to give up for LCD in my opinion.

Screen Brightness

What do you guys keep the brightness at for your screen? Also hows the battery life? Thanks, personally I keep mine at the lowest and am really tempted to raise it!

I keep mine at the lowest also, only time I change it is if im outside and its sunny out. Otherwise the lowest is bright enough for me.

around 60% i love how the screen looks when its bright

McFroger3 said:
I keep mine at the lowest also, only time I change it is if im outside and its sunny out. Otherwise the lowest is bright enough for me.
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Ironic...I change mine when I'm outside too, AMOLED is horrible in the sun light but its great otherwise..

TFJ4 said:
Ironic...I change mine when I'm outside too, AMOLED is horrible in the sun light but its great otherwise..
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Yea I have to agree there. I have to do the same crap with my ZuneHD when im outside. but this screen is to amazing to be bothered by it.

Around 50%+ mostly, unless I'm using it outside.

Keep mine on whatever the middle setting on the power control widget is (~40% I believe) most of the time unless I am outside or if I wake up and look at my phone in the dark, then I cut the brightness all the way or go blind from the whites on the screen

So I take it that everyone else has the same problem with auto-brightness: that it fluctuates up and down too quickly?

auto works great for me... *shrug*

I use auto and it has been working fine for me.

I keep mine on auto, but it does fluctuate from time to time. For example, when I hold the phone sideways with the light sensor shaded, it will dim of course, which can be really annoying because it should only dim when I'm in a dimly lit environment.

gunnner said:
So I take it that everyone else has the same problem with auto-brightness: that it fluctuates up and down too quickly?
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Yea I actually have this problem too. Its pretty annoying, and well I guess I don't want to use the manual brightness, because there is a sensor on the phone for a reason. I want to use ALL the features.

I use an app called "Brightness Level" by CurveFish. I like it better than the power widget since it has more levels (default switches between 0, 36 & 100). I keep mine at 25% but it still looks better than most phones at 15%. Reducing brightness from 36 to 25 means the screen is eating 70% of my battery by days end instead of 78%. 15 reduces it further to around 65%.
The problem with auto is that A) It jumps around too much. 2) it turns the screen down whenever I use the horizontal keyboard. And d) the sensor really sucks. I turn the phone 10 degrees and it ups the setting by 3 notches.

It's hard to tell whether the screen brightness versus battery life is worth it ya know? I wanna show off the screen but have enough juice at the end of the day.. so.. what do you all suggest besides auto?

I keep mine at full brightness. Haven't seen an issue with battery life, but then again, I don't play games on it or anything.

EarthsiegeTA said:
I keep mine at full brightness. Haven't seen an issue with battery life, but then again, I don't play games on it or anything.
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I need sunglasses to use the phone with the screen brightness to full! You better be careful or you'll burn your retinas.

Ya man no joke this is one bright ass screen. Ill try tomorrow a day at half then full the next and see if there's a difference in battery life. Thanks

[Q] Auto-brightness

There has been a lot said about the screen being dim on this phone, and it's the one and only thing that's holding me back from committing to getting it. Summer's coming and I want to be able to play it outside without having to sit in a dark corner.
I've also read that the auto-brightness feature is mandatory, and that it doesn't work particularly well, so I was wondering if this was the main reason for the reportedly dim screen. My current phone - an AMOLED HTC Desire - is VERY dim with the auto brightness enabled, but thankfully I can turn it off.
For anyone with the phone who is able to test, do you think the screen is bright enough if you cover the light sensor altogether? I'm sure that once the phone is rooted, we'll be able to disable the light sensor altogether, and I'm hoping the screen brightness is purely a software limitation (i.e. fixable) and not a hardware problem (i.e. NOT fixable)
Thanks.

If someone that has theirs already were to check the brightness on boot before the sensors even initialize that might give you a good idea of what it is capable of.
Most android phones i've played with in the past boot at full brightness. Your mileage may varry

Mine arrive tomorrow... dont know until tuesday

I got a slider for the birhgtness, haven't noticed any dimming/brightening automatically, seems just fine to me.

I think that if this problem keeps appearing SE will do something about it, and else the community will

I had mine for a day and sent it back...the auto brightness very temperamental. I would play Gboid emulator (great with new controls btw) and the screen would literally get dim and lighten up constantly every few seconds - under same lighting condition, it became very annoying throughout the day as you end up anticipating it..seems the sensor tries too hard under certain lighting conditions and not having the option to disable auto lighting is just dumb.
The screen is also a terrible fingerprint magnet, and definitely not the best on a cloudy day (Could not test in direct sunlight, this is a rare occurring phenomena here in UK) ...Also dust tends to get into the very fine spacings around the screen.
After an hour of use the phone looked like my kids and dog had played with it for few weeks....Not for me.
But maybe thats just me being spoilt with Nexus S and Ipone4 smudge free, brighter screens.

I dont use the auto-brightness. Ive just manually set it a little lower.

Aightu said:
I dont use the auto-brightness. Ive just manually set it a little lower.
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I see what people are complaining about and... really it's not that bad.
I can see where it might get annoying if you're looking for it, but the screen is not going off and on like some people make it out to be. At least mine is not.
I keep mine at 50% brightness and I don't notice a brightness change even slightly. It's bright enough to see indoors easily and not noticeably worse outdoors than any other non-amoled phone I've owned.
from my experience people are making a mountain out of a mole hill, and the auto-brightness can be disabled with custom roms in the future, just live with it in the mean time. That or ask SE for an update that allows you to disable it.

johnsongrantr said:
I see what people are complaining about and... really it's not that bad.
I can see where it might get annoying if you're looking for it, but the screen is not going off and on like some people make it out to be. At least mine is not.
I keep mine at 50% brightness and I don't notice a brightness change even slightly. It's bright enough to see indoors easily and not noticeably worse outdoors than any other non-amoled phone I've owned.
from my experience people are making a mountain out of a mole hill, and the auto-brightness can be disabled with custom roms in the future, just live with it in the mean time. That or ask SE for an update that allows you to disable it.
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Yep, I keep mine at 60% and don't notice any screen change or anything.
Regarding the fingerprint magnet, you can easily install third party screen-protector to avoid that
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App

Note 4 super bright mode?

Hey guys, can someone else with the samsung note 4 exynos model try their phone in direct sunlight on auto brightness and tell me if the screen kicks into a super bright mode with high contrast and strange colours? You have to be in direct sunlight with auto brightness turned up. I'm getting paranoid about this and not sure whether to swap mine. I know samsung have just added assertive displays to the exynos models and possibly now snapdragon but not sure if this is whats going on.. it almost makes some colours look fluro.

Yes it does, it is normal.

Lodix said:
Yes it does, it is normal.
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Hope they get rid of this feature soon then.. it triggers so easily.

And it looks terrible, thought my screen had broke first time it did it.

thelestat said:
And it looks terrible, thought my screen had broke first time it did it.
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Glad im not the only one then.. do your colours kind of go fluro?

Hmm just took my samsung tab s outside in bright light and it did the same must just be much more pronounced on the qhd display

At first I didn't like it, comes it makes the phone look all weird, but after a while I've really come to like it, especially when driving, I've reliazed, never once was it hard to view the display. Which IMO is awesome! I've never had a smartphone I could always accurately see the screen, in every type of light

I do outdoor hiking and I use the phone for navigation and taking photos. You do have to set the auto brightness to On for it to boost the screen brightness but it triggers after u turn on the phone screen instead if consistently. Battery is not an issue because I carry spare batteries
Anyway to keep the screen on at its Max brightness consistently? II don't care about color distortions either as long as I can see things!

pafc66 said:
Hope they get rid of this feature soon then.. it triggers so easily.
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I hope they don't, I want to be able to see my screen under sunlight.
Maybe tweak the levels a bit so that it doesn't activate until absolutely necessary, but removing it completely? Why? So people can start threads about how they can't see their screen outdoors?
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

this is a great feature, why should they remove it? if people fine it annoying , just untick the auto brigtness job done

im looking for method how make super brightness constantly... but no luck... anybode know how? using stock rooted mm

Screen issues in SUNLIGHT .A very unhappy LG Fan.

Let me start by telling you that I am a fan of LG screens and lcds and I can't stand the AMOLEDs on cellphones and the unnatural colors. I have an LG TV, LG monitor and had G2 and the G3. I am a new owner of the G4 that I just purchased yesterday.
The reason I switched to this phone is to have better camera and better visibility in sunlight which is where I work. I work outside and need good sunlight visibility and take a lot of photos and videos outside.
The problem I have and I'm sure all the G4 owners will have this, is that the color of the screen fades out especially the greys and the blacks on screen. I'm not having the typical light bleed here. the whole screen fades out almost turning very very grey with texts and other colors fade out in color.
Its doing it on a cloudy day as well. Ive swtiched the phone out to a new G4 because of this problem and the issue is still there with the new phone. I'm really shocked by this because all of the reviews going around the net are raving how its visibility is great in sunlight!
I think LG messed up really bad here, made the display awesome indoors and wasn't fully aware that the lcd is sensitive to sunlight.
I was wondering if anyone else is noticing this problem.
To do the test, go to a random website or some site with text which is more noticeble than other colors(grey texts turn really white so its a better test), hold the phone out for 3-5 seconds then look at the phone. You'll notice that the texts are very grey or even white. It has to be done in natural sunlight. It wont work in indoor lighting.
Then turn the phone upside down for 3-5 seconds then look at the text again to see it come back to dark black or visible color.
Please tell me I'm not the only one noticing this....
I might never come back to LG after this one... At least for my cellphones...

I don't even think it's fixable with firmware updates... oh and my brightness is on 100% when I test it. I've tried it with auto as well and same thing with the first G4 and the new G4 I switched out.
I would hate to pay a restocking fee of $50 just to return the phone.... LG what should I do?!

Yes - I've seen this twice when outdoors at work this week. Hoping it's a software issue they can address? What has been said in the past?

Thanks for the reply. I hope its a software issue as well but I doubt it... I looked all over the internet and not one thing has been said...
I can't believe all the reviews are raving about the visibility outside.... how is this better than G3??? even the G2 had better visibility

I think its like the Note 4 it goes into a high contrast mode, but I use Lux Light for auto brightness and it doesnt do it anymore

Agree on that.
Additional the display isnt as bright as LG made me belive, my G2 is noticable more bright than my G4 ?
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This is a design by LG - to lessen the contrast in direct sunlight, so that you can supposedly can see more. If you cover the light sensor, it'll revert. It only does it at 98% brightness or higher.
It doesn't help me, but it's doing what it's supposed to..

I have lux full version and it still does that...

skym0903 said:
I have lux full version and it still does that...
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Yes, that's because LUX controls brightness, not contrast.
You're talking about the contrast changing to lessen when under bright sunlight, no?
Did I completely misunderstand this thread?

How is that a design... Its not contrast... It doesnt do that indoors... It fades out everything

skym0903 said:
How is that a design... Its not contrast... It doesnt do that indoors... It fades out everything
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You can't replicate this indoors when you have 100% brightness on? That's weird, because I can...
How is it not contrast? Darker colors are not as dark in comparison to the lighter colors...
Does this video work for you:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lgg4/comments/38hfrw/lg_g4_the_little_things_hidden_features_maybe_not/

Yeah it doesn't detect it tell the lux gets really high, but if you take a flashlight to your sensor it will turn on. But either way its still easy enough for me to read I dunno guess I got good eyesight

I just took whole bunch of pictures of my kids at the pool full sun. I have a nexus 5 and 6 and the G4 is almost in another league as far as outdoor visibility imo. At least with the camera app. Haven't had the phone for long so will have to report back if I see this issue

Sfkn2 said:
This is a design by LG - to lessen the contrast in direct sunlight, so that you can supposedly can see more. If you cover the light sensor, it'll revert. It only does it at 98% brightness or higher.
It doesn't help me, but it's doing what it's supposed to..
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LancerV said:
Yeah it doesn't detect it tell the lux gets really high, but if you take a flashlight to your sensor it will turn on. But either way its still easy enough for me to read I dunno guess I got good eyesight
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Wow... How does that help... I dont get how thats a feature..... Is there a way to turn it off???

skym0903 said:
Wow... How does that help... I dont get how thats a feature..... Is there a way to turn it off???
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Sorry, but I don't know. My eyes have gotten used to this, but I'll admit - it was weird in the beginning because I started thinking that my phone had weird viewing angles and thought it was a defect.

skym0903 said:
Wow... How does that help... I dont get how thats a feature..... Is there a way to turn it off???
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It does actually. Most text isn't gray, it's like the note 4 would do the same thing
Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

Good to hear it's by design. Still weird though - came from a note 3 and it didn't do that. Will now relax!

LancerV said:
It does actually. Most text isn't gray, it's like the note 4 would do the same thing
Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
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I use google keep for my main home screen and I hate how it fades out... At least give us an option to turn it on and off...
Is there a hidden settings in the phone where I can change it maybe??
I'm try to find something myself as well.

LancerV said:
It does actually. Most text isn't gray, it's like the note 4 would do the same thing
Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
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pcoulson said:
Good to hear it's by design. Still weird though - came from a note 3 and it didn't do that. Will now relax!
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Yup good to hear that its not a defect. Still annoying me tho since Im outside most of the time...

The funny thing is that when I called LG from the Tmobile store they didnt even know about it. Thats why they swapped out the phone for me. Good CS