Database Users

Automatic backlight broken or just badly designed?

As far as the automatic backlight setting goes, it is my understanding that the phone should check how bright (or dark) it is, and adjust the display brightness accordingly (brighter when out in the sun, darker when sitting indoors / dark rooms).
However, it seems to me it just sets the backlight at ~40% and that's it. I went out into the sun with my HD2, and the brightness didn't change and I had trouble seeing what was on the screen.
Is there some kind of way I could test, if the light sensor is working? Or is this setting simply badly designed and I should set the brightness myself?
I'm currently running latest Energy ROM (23569 Cookie May 09) but it was the same with the stock ROM, so I don't think it's related.
PS. A little side question, if I may; if I perform task 29 before flashing... do I still need to do a hard reset after flashing a new ROM?

...in the very least... are there any apps that make use of the light sensor?

Well I know the acctualy percentage in the settings never changes when its on auto (atleast not for me)
But I can clearly tell a difference between being in a dark room and the backlight being on low
to being in the sun and it on max.
Ive also never had trouble reading the screen, the screen is always plenty bright enough.
Prehaps you've got a bad one?

Shaamaan said:
...in the very least... are there any apps that make use of the light sensor?
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I know an app that can measure the amount of light in lumers.

lonelykatana said:
I know an app that can measure the amount of light in lumers.
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Click to collapse
Care to share the name of that app?
Also, it's difficult for me to say if the screen is busted or not. On max brightness (as opposed to the automatic setting) it's a lot more comfortable to look at in the sun, albeit indoors it's OK on any setting really.
EDIT: I don't suppose the automatic setting can be tweaked for better performance via some registry changes?

Shaamaan said:
Care to share the name of that app?
Also, it's difficult for me to say if the screen is busted or not. On max brightness (as opposed to the automatic setting) it's a lot more comfortable to look at in the sun, albeit indoors it's OK on any setting really.
EDIT: I don't suppose the automatic setting can be tweaked for better performance via some registry changes?
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Click to collapse
I think it's called Lumos.
Try searching for it.

You certainly can test it. Just cover the light sensor (upper left corner above the screen) with something. I don't recommend thumb, as you might press 'start' button. You will also need any application with white background.
The brightness should clearly drop.
Auto only sets the brightness from 20% to 60% (or so it seems). But the effect is clearly visible.

Dr.Sid said:
You certainly can test it. Just cover the light sensor (upper left corner above the screen) with something. I don't recommend thumb, as you might press 'start' button. You will also need any application with white background.
The brightness should clearly drop.
Auto only sets the brightness from 20% to 60% (or so it seems). But the effect is clearly visible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No change at all.
I'll restore the stock ROM to see if it's a firmware issue, and I'll check that Lumos application.
EDIT: Lumos clearly detects light changes and works well. Seems it's either something to do with Energy ROM after all or possibly I'm just blind and I can't see any changes. I'm still going to check the stock ROM, just to be safe.
BTW, once more, can someone tell me quickly if hard resets are needed after task 29?
EDIT 2: OK, it DOES work after all, I'm just blind; the change however, on the automatic settings, is minimal. I actually had to put the phone under a light-bulb, as covering the sensor didn't really work. I wonder if it should be calibrated like the g-sensor...

night time
i think the day time brightness is fine but the night time setting is far to bright. i would love for this to be customizable as well

rdbthrgnaRDg

Dr.Sid said:
Auto only sets the brightness from 20% to 60% (or so it seems).
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Click to collapse
Can this range be increased?
For indoor use the auto-adjust works fine for day/evening/night, but outside I always need to turn off the auto-adjust, so it can go to 100%. When back indoor again, then switch to auto again and so on ... and so on ... and ...

Just installed .NET CF + Lumos and will see how it works out.
.NET CF for laptop and automatic install to HD2 via ActiveSync:
microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E3821449-3C6B-42F1-9FD9-0041345B3385&displaylang=en
Latest Lumos v10 RC2:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=450318

Screen Brightness Keeps Changing

I took off the automation for the screen brightness and I manually set it. However, after about a day and a half it changes by itself. I can not figure out what is changing it. I use Dolphin browser...but I don't think that is changing it. Does anyone why the screen brightness is not static?

for web browsing the brightness setting can be different then the phone itself .. idk if thats what u mean but just a little fyi ... since the update however if its set to auto ive found the web browsers brightness is not adjustable

dman777 said:
I took off the automation for the screen brightness and I manually set it. However, after about a day and a half it changes by itself. I can not figure out what is changing it. I use Dolphin browser...but I don't think that is changing it. Does anyone why the screen brightness is not static?
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Click to collapse
For me it was doing the same thing till I noticed that the drop down curtain at the top of the screen is a manual brightness adjuster as well. If you happen to drop it down just enough to see the date and move your fringer to the right it brightens, if you move it to the left it dims. I found myself pulling it down and accidentally changing it alot until I figured out why. Since then it never changes now that I know to pull the curtain straight down and don't move left or right with it.

Another setting that I noticed would randomly adjust the backlight brightness is Settings -> Sound & Display -> Power Saving Mode. I've disabled this and my backlight no longer changes an I have noticed no difference in power consumption (with it checked or not, the display consumes a lot of power ;-)

TheMostToys said:
Another setting that I noticed would randomly adjust the backlight brightness is Settings -> Sound & Display -> Power Saving Mode. I've disabled this and my backlight no longer changes an I have noticed no difference in power consumption (with it checked or not, the display consumes a lot of power ;-)
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Click to collapse
This was sooooo frustrating for me until I found that setting and unchecked it. When I turn off auto-brightness, I don't want the brightness changing unless I change it lol.

jaygraffix said:
For me it was doing the same thing till I noticed that the drop down curtain at the top of the screen is a manual brightness adjuster as well. If you happen to drop it down just enough to see the date and move your fringer to the right it brightens, if you move it to the left it dims. I found myself pulling it down and accidentally changing it alot until I figured out why. Since then it never changes now that I know to pull the curtain straight down and don't move left or right with it.
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That's gotta be it! Is there anyway to disable that?

dman777 said:
That's gotta be it! Is there anyway to disable that?
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setting it to auto brightness will

This sounds kind of funny when I had autobrightness and the powersaver automation on the battery would drain faster. When I turned it off the battery lasted longer.

Have you ever accidentally swiped on your notification bar? This will change the brightness and it's supposed to be some shortcut to change the brightness.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

dman777 said:
This sounds kind of funny when I had autobrightness and the powersaver automation on the battery would drain faster. When I turned it off the battery lasted longer.
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Click to collapse
Same experience here. The auto-brightness really keeps the screen pretty bright at all times, it just dims it a little bit in dim lighting. If you set it manually, you can keep it dimmer than the auto-brightness will ever dim it.

[Q] Light Sensor disable

who knows how to turn off the light sensor? should that be always at maximum

Is it that thing that make my screen going dark sometimes and then bright again ?
I thought it was a bug in Android about the screen light management...
I'm very interested in turning it off me too.

I didn't look very hard, but from what I can see, you can't.

Is it that thing that make my screen going dark sometimes and then bright again ?
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Yes, it does just that hinders and tired eyes!

The above sentence makes absolutely no sense.

sorry,I mean ,that light sensor kills my eyes

Still it makes no sense at all!
N.

Ok guys, we all agree that his english is horrible, but it is understandable that he is saying that the changing / blinking of light, all the time, is not confortable for eyes.
I admit... for once, I understand his words...

huliqan said:
sorry,I mean ,that light sensor kills my eyes
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Click to collapse
Turn the brightness down if it is uncomfortable? The reason why it changes automatically is to adjust to the amount of light in a given place. Otherwise, you'd have to constantly change the brightness yourself in order for the screen to be visible in all conditions.

Yes, I think we all know what is that function for, that's not the point.
The problem is that, in the same place with the same light, if, for example, your head make a shadow over or if you put your finger on the little hole up right the phone, the light of the screen will change as if you where in a place darker.
So according how you move the phone or hold it, your eyes will have to accomodate very often and it's very uncomfortable.
Maybe covering permanently that little hole will be the solution... but I would prefer just to turn it off.

Covering it permanently will also permanently place the backlight in the darkest mode. Personally I like this feature, once you know it's there it doesn't give a 'wth is happening'-feeling anymore and I believe it saves battery (no need for full brightness in dark places). Also for me it kinda gives that viewing-on-paper feeling, the device is quite okay in maintaining a balance between minimum visibility and overlighted eye-blasting power
Though yes an off-feature would be welcome sometimes ^_^

I would also Love to Disable this sensor.. More Brightness! MORE more more i tell ya! lol

Is there a mod to lower the auto brightness levels?

I really like the auto brightness feature, but it's consistently too bright for my taste.
Is there a mod or tweak out there that will allow me to lower/adjust my automatic brightness levels to save some battery life?

(Currently running Blackhole 3.0 / DL09, will go to Blackhole 4.0 once it's out tomorrow)

anybody have any ideas

Unless you know how to modify the kernel source (which I believe is written in C, correct me if I'm wrong devs) or modify some file that is the delegate for the ambient light sensor, you're SOL buddy.
Its probably hardwired into the kernel, would be my guess.

Hmmm, I thought automatic meant automatic. My bad. J/K
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Yes, automatically too bright in most situations. Yet not bright enough in sunlight.
I almost need to cover the light sensor some to fool it.
This is where Samsung fumbles. Their software is poor. Whomever is writing the code, set the light sensor to brightness conversion wrong. At least on DL30 they fixed one mess up. On the original rom, when you plugged in external power, the brightness would go to a fixxed level. If you were outside in a car and plug in power, it would dim the display. Indoors at night, plug in power, and it would BRIGHTEN the display. What's up with that.

worwig said:
Yes, automatically too bright in most situations. Yet not bright enough in sunlight.
I almost need to cover the light sensor some to fool it.
This is where Samsung fumbles. Their software is poor. Whomever is writing the code, set the light sensor to brightness conversion wrong. At least on DL30 they fixed one mess up. On the original rom, when you plugged in external power, the brightness would go to a fixxed level. If you were outside in a car and plug in power, it would dim the display. Indoors at night, plug in power, and it would BRIGHTEN the display. What's up with that.
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Whats wrong with manually changing it? It doesnt even take 5 seconds to change the level.

Kaze105 said:
Whats wrong with manually changing it? It doesnt even take 5 seconds to change the level.
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Exactly. Why would you expect your phone to automatically make your life easier or function at an optimum level?

Kaze105 said:
Whats wrong with manually changing it? It doesnt even take 5 seconds to change the level.
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Click to collapse
What's the purpose of having a light sensor if it never works?
Often when I pop my phone open to do a specific task, '5 seconds' is about as long as it would have taken to do that whole task. And it's just annoying to unlock the screen, begin to attempt doing something, and then notice 'oh hey, the screen is basically unseeable!' and have to interrupt whatever you're doing. Or, even worse, when you're going from place to place and go through areas that are lighter and darker, forcing you to keep interrupting your work.

worwig said:
Yes, automatically too bright in most situations. Yet not bright enough in sunlight.
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Click to collapse
KitsuneKnight said:
What's the purpose of having a light sensor if it never works?
Often when I pop my phone open to do a specific task, '5 seconds' is about as long as it would have taken to do that whole task.
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Click to collapse
You guys nailed it. The screen is far brighter than I need while indoors at the office, but step outside and it just doesn't keep up with the bright Colorado sun (I can adjust it manually to a level that can be seen in sunlight just fine).
I could spend 5 secs adjusting the backlight each time the light environment changes, but why not spend 30 min optimizing the auto brightness levels and then never have to worry about it...

I know with my Moto Droid, someone had made a code that altered a particular file to change the lowest brightness level, but I have yet to see that for the Fascinate. It's a shame since the Fascinate's screen is so much nicer, but not set up optimally.
I know some dev's had also integrated the ability to change the auto brightness levels within custom ROMs for the Moto Droid. That'd be a great feature on the Fascinate!

KitsuneKnight said:
What's the purpose of having a light sensor if it never works?
Often when I pop my phone open to do a specific task, '5 seconds' is about as long as it would have taken to do that whole task. And it's just annoying to unlock the screen, begin to attempt doing something, and then notice 'oh hey, the screen is basically unseeable!' and have to interrupt whatever you're doing. Or, even worse, when you're going from place to place and go through areas that are lighter and darker, forcing you to keep interrupting your work.
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Click to collapse
That is to peoples own preference. I use auto most of the time and its fine. Doesn't work would indicate it doesn't change the brightness at all.
You can't expect it to auto sense it to every persons liking. Also does power control change it so you can see the screen, cause that doesn't take '5 seconds'
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

spenceuiuc said:
I really like the auto brightness feature, but it's consistently too bright for my taste.
Is there a mod or tweak out there that will allow me to lower/adjust my automatic brightness levels to save some battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Screen Filter - its in the app store. With screen filter applied I keep my phone set to auto and screen filter reduces that more - in my case 50% more.

Well in the DL30 rom you don't have to go to the settings menu to change the brightness, just press and hold on the notification bar and then slide left and right to change the brightness.

Zong00 said:
Try Screen Filter - its in the app store. With screen filter applied I keep my phone set to auto and screen filter reduces that more - in my case 50% more.
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Ill check that out. Thanks!

Auto brightness only brightens, never dims

I noticed that the brightness only brightens but never dims back in automatic brightness display setting. I can reproduce this easy with turning the lamp on my desk on and off. It only goes back to the lower brightness if turning the screen off and on again.

Noticed this too but seems to only occur when I use a widget to toggle between Auto and 100%.
If I leave the setting in Auto from within settings then it seems to work. Brightness widgets seem to break the auto functionality.

Hmm, I don't use a brightness widget. The light of the softbuttons go on if I cover the light sensor, but the screens stays in high brightness.

Strahlenkanone said:
Hmm, I don't use a brightness widget. The light of the softbuttons go on if I cover the light sensor, but the screens stays in high brightness.
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Must be an all around bug then. If you turn the Atrix off and back on then the auto brightness functionality is restored.

Strahlenkanone said:
I noticed that the brightness only brightens but never dims back in automatic brightness display setting. I can reproduce this easy with turning the lamp on my desk on and off. It only goes back to the lower brightness if turning the screen off and on again.
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This must be an Android thing. My Atrix does the same thing, as did the Nexus One I had before. I've had several (high end) Nokia's that dimmed/brightened perfectly. After 5 seconds, they would brighten (or dim) accordingly. I was hoping Motorola was better at making phones than HTC (the KING of bad battery life). We ALL lose here. Our precious battery life is being drained by the poor execution of a simple function.

This is a stock android thing (problem). Custom ROMs can allow it to dim and change brightness smoothly rather than in discrete steps (Cyanogen).

That's what I thought. I found this free app called "esdimmer". It supposed to be for Galaxy phones, but it's somewhat working on my Atrix. Does this function work any better in Gingerbread?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Well it's good to hear that it's a stock android problem and not the actual phone. I did find a way to get around this problem but it's very limited. You can get the screen to dim by first putting the phone into standby and then press the standby button once again (which gets you into the lock screen). You'll notice that the screen then dims (if coming from a well lit area/room to a darker one).