Database Users

App Suggestion: Auto Brightness Control Using 3g Camera

Hi folks, today I was lamenting the fact that my Hermes (and many other HTC phones for that matter) has no automatic brightness control. This results in me using it on max brightness all the time, which of course eats through the battery and is mostly unnecessary (except in bright sunlight). Then the thought occurred to me that an app could be written that used the 3g camera in order to detect brightness.
While I have an IT background (including a large amount of programming), I have no experience with Windows mobile, and think this is probably not the place to start doing WM apps. However, I thought that perhaps someone else would think this is a good idea, so thought I would make the suggestion. Reading the camera would of course use some battery, but not nearly so much as running the screen at high brightness to avoid having to adjust it manually all the time...I also read the other day that MS is planning to use the camera for orientation control (instead of an accelerometer) in WM7, so I guess this would indicate that they don't suck batteries that badly...at any rate, you wouldn't need to read it constantly...once every second or two would no doubt be sufficient...
To extend the idea further, you could also use differences in brightness between the main and 3g camera to do things like proximity sensing to switch off the screen when the phone is next to your head or in a pocket automatically.
Any thoughts?

Nice idea, but I think that the amount of battery saved will be much less than the amount consumed be having the camera on all the time plus CPU processing power required for the camera.
Now a dedicated light sensor would of course be a different story.....last time I enjoyed one on a WM device was on the good old Ipaq 3970.....brilliant device at the time (hardware wise, at least)

I did have a think about this, is there a way we can test battery consumption with camera on? Remember that nothing would be drawn to the screen by the app, and you wouldn't actually have to run the camera constantly necessarily, just long enough to get an image (you wouldn't even have to do all the auto adjustment it does when you're trying to take a picture like gaining up the sensor in the dark etc...you'd wanna open it up with constant settings each time). I'm pretty sure that the camera can write directly to memory without accessing the CPU (DMA)...and you wouldn't need to actually process the image at all...

Very off-topic...but are you "est in horto"????

haha took me a minute but LOL been years since I took the course...sadly my idea isn't getting the kinda interest i'd hoped though...maybe one of these days i'll have to learn wm6 development after all :-(

I suspect with anything using the camera will be the power-drain. For it to be responsive enought it will have to have the camera on either constantly or very frequently. The kaiser battery is bad enough as it is.
Yeah, good old caecillius. Shame that vesuvius got him. shed a tear I did. ;D

It needn't constantly test the camera...
I have such an application on my palm OS treo 600.
It's called BrightCam and you can assign a hotkey to run it.
It only runs on command,
checks the ambient light using the camera (regular not 3G in this instance),
adjusts the screen brightness accordingly - et voila...
could be nice to have this functionality in WM too.

would u be kind enough to share it

http://mytreo.net/downloads/brightcam,236.html

RunEveryDay
Maybe it can be done by RunEveryDay.
Not as elegant as the camera solution....but maybe easier to realize.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2558219#post2558219

HD2 wifi power adjustment option

hi everyone,
the title clearly explains what is needed. does wifi drivers for HD2 be modified in kernel so we can avail advantage of reducing the wifi power to conserve battery when the wifi is actively being used, just like an option present in winmo. i know it can be done, only needs hard work and recoding the driver and kernel for android
since the android development has reached almost to final, we should also consider the options of reduced power consumption while mobile is being used and not in standby..... there is an app in market i forgot its name that uses g-sensor to control power of CPU and screen brightness. at first run this app asks you to adjust ur mobile the way u hold it for use and it records the g-sensor readings for that orientation and will switch to battery saving mode while mobile is running if the orientation is not as what was set to default earlier, hence conserves battery while using mobile
anybody who knows the name of this app, let me know too

great idea. where can you do this power adjustment in windows? are you talking about windows mobile 6.5/6.5/6.3, or are you talking about windows on a pc? I didn't know that winmo could adjust the wifi power level - i'd love to try it.

in winmo 6.5 which i m using goto settings>wireless controls>wifi>advanced ( this option in right lower corner of screen)>power mode( bottom of screen)
need to see the same in android too

[FIX] Yoga tablet 2 10" display sharpness fix (UPDATE for Lollipop)

Why Yoga tablet 2 screen looks so blurred and sharpened at the same time
Have you been wondering why your screen on the 10" Yoga tablet 2 with KitKat doesn't look really crisp even with some obvious sharpening applied? Here is why!
Lenovo screwed up twice!
1. Blur filter is applied. (KitKat ONLY) The BIOS/bootloader defines wrong display resolution. The Intel graphics driver (i915) gets confused and switches on panel fitting which includes a blur filter (fuzzy filter). Normally this is used if the display resolution is different from the frame buffer resolution to scale the image. Here the device just scales 1:1 and applies the filter. Luckily the driver is open source and it turns out there is a way to overwrite this feature No longer true for Lollipop. Thanks Lenovo
2. Sharpen filter is applied. (KitKat and Lollipop) The panel is not programmed correctly. When disabling the CABC feature (/sys/lcd_panel/cabc_onoff) the sharpening effect is gone. But CABC should have nothing to do with sharpen. Unfortunately the specs of the display (AUO B101UAN01.E) are not public so I cannot verify if the correct MIPI DSI commands are sent to the panel.
So our display is softened then sharpened again! What a waste!
Both workarounds are only temporary. After each screen off/screen on sequence the old values are restored by the system. So we need an app which sets the values after the screen is switched on. Or a new kernel. Or Lenovo cares to fix it in a future release
Fix (Root partially required)
I wrote an app which can disable CABC / sharpness filter (requires ROOT) and can disable the blur filter (KitKat, no root required) . Of course I am not held responsible if you brick or burn your tablet. I tested this on my 1050F with rooted firmware S000143_150105.
1. Copy app to device and install
2. Start app and select your setting
3. The settings may apply only after switching screen off and on again.
Source on Github:
http://github.com/Matshias/yoga2sharpness
Bugs / issues
- may not work directly after reboot, only after screen on/off
- fullscreen video may switch on CABC/sharpness filter again
Any suggestions? I'd be really happy if you could test and report
Cheers!
Matt
Update Jan 21
make more reliable and add complete source
Update Jan 26
Reliable implementation as app which automates this process.
Update Jan 30
new version 1.1 (please uninstall old version!):
- add option to start at boot and enable/disable applying the settings at screen on for manual operation
- add little delay after screen on for more reliable operation
- app should be harder to kill by the system
Update Feb 2
new version 1.1.1:
- Fix occasional reboot issue when using the setting on display on. Turns out Android sends screen on broadcasts sometimes even if the display is off. This causes a crash if the filter settings are applied.
Update Feb 11
new version 1.1.2 (please uninstall old version):
- hopefully ultimately fix reboot issues by using different method to start on boot
Update Apr 30
tested with new firmware S000198_150422. Same as before. Lenovo has not fixed the issue, but the app works like before
Update June 3
New version 1.1.3:
- fix full screen video playback re-enabling CABC/sharpness filter. As for CABC itself root is required.
Update June 17
Update for Lollipop version 1.2.0:
- blur filter disable no longer needed
- sharpness filter is still present. If root becomes available for Lollipop this should work there too
Update June 19
Fix for rooted Lollipop - version 1.2.1:
- the mechanism for sharpness filter disable from 1.2.0 didn't work, probably due to SE Linux restrictions

Matshias, you are a legend!
I bought a Yoga 2 10" a couple of weeks ago and the odd blurred and sharpened effect ruins what is otherwise a great little tablet. I'd always suspected it was some kind of odd scaling issue, but I haven't had time or sufficient Android knowledge (or root access on my device) to properly investigate it, beyond making up some test images with alternate 1 pixel wide black/white lines - which were rendering as grey on the Yoga 2.
I had a support ticket raised with Lenovo about the issue, so I've referred them to this post and one on the Lenovo Community forums.
Thanks for your hard work, hopefully Lenovo will implement the fix in a software update soon!
Cheers,
Richard

Thank you!
matshias: Thank you.
The blur filter disable makes a HUGE difference. I really appreciate you taking the time to post your results, hopefully Lenovo will take note and implement a permanent fix.

workes
Hi!
I have just started using your app with the latest firmware on a 1050L.
0) Unrooted device
1) installed your app and applied the non-root part of the fix - worked after screen on/off
2) rooted device with temporary cwm solution from this parent thread (- which worked as well)
3) applied the root-required part of the fix from your app - works as well
Thank you for this!

Great great great! Like the others here I was looking for a solution to this Problem since I bought the tablet.
I am really satisfied with your APP, now everything is way sharper.
BUT: When I test the screens resolution with a screen test APP, only the horizontal ( long sides) resolution seems to be right now. The vertical resolution (short sides) is still just grey, when testing single pixel lines.
Do you have the same Problem, what could cause this?

fanatictentacle said:
Great great great! Like the others here I was looking for a solution to this Problem since I bought the tablet.
I am really satisfied with your APP, now everything is way sharper.
BUT: When I test the screens resolution with a screen test APP, only the horizontal ( long sides) resolution seems to be right now. The vertical resolution (short sides) is still just grey, when testing single pixel lines.
Do you have the same Problem, what could cause this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see the same if the sharpness filter/CABC is still switched on. If you have root then try disabling the sharpness filter as well and then the screen test look fine. Obviously the sharpness filter in the panel is not uniform in all directions and seems to prefer horizontal resolution (in landscape mode).

Thanks again for the advice!
I just had to enable root, really cant look at that horrid screen anymore! But now it really looks as sharp as an 240ppi Display should look like!

problem
After installing the app I have problems.
In 10 minutes my tablet rebooted 3 times . Android not asked to reboot.
It was crash of sistem. My system is rooted.
After uninstalling I had no problems.
Regurds

Yosef said:
After installing the app I have problems.
In 10 minutes my tablet rebooted 3 times . Android not asked to reboot.
It was crash of sistem. My system is rooted.
After uninstalling I had no problems.
Regurds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you use the start on boot feature? This might cause it. I uploaded new version 1.1.2 which should fix that problem. Let me know if it works for you.

this is a fantastic fix, one that Lenovo should have implemented themselves
actually when i just got the tablet over christmas, it was running older firmware in which the blur filter was actually not enabled. yes i now realize the text was "over sharp" but it was clear, and what i expected for the price (i.e. not double the price for a galaxy tab S) but i was fine with the sharpness, it looked good, and the tablet otherwise suits my needs perfectly, and gotta love that built in stand. i didn't even know what people meant about the image quality, considering the mid-range target audience of the tablet.
anyway, i recently got the OTA firmware update to the current S000143_150105 and that's when it messed everything up. it enabled the blur filter, and it looked HORRIBLE. i tried to accept it because at 1 ft from the tablet, the text actually looked all right, perhaps even a slight improvement because it was slightly softer. but the blur filter is applied to EVERYTHING, so all the images and everything on the screen was blurred....it was like looking at an HD monitor with a state of the art GeForce video card but using the standard windows video drivers...everything stretched and totally blurry.
this is a great fix, i don't have my tablet rooted and don't want to take the potential battery hit to disable the sharpening filter (since i think it looks good just with the blur filter disabled). it might be in my head though, but i feel like the system is a little more sluggish...maybe due to the update, maybe because of this (great) app...i wish lenovo would fix this, seems easy enough. sours me to an otherwise great tablet for the price.
speaking of battery, i noticed in the last day after installing the fix that my tablet powered off sometime during the day, and when i restarted, the battery had drained about 30%. and it continued to drain faster than before. i previously got well over 10 hours of usage time playing movies and web browsing, in addition to up to several days of standby....today i had to charge it within 24 hours and only got about 7 hours use time and 13 hours standby...any chance it's related to the fix, or has anyone experienced it after the firmware update?

@digitalatlas: Thanks for testing the app.
Regarding your observations, I don't think sluggishness can be attributed to the app. After all it doesn't do much. Only when the screen is switched on or you manually start the app it changes the kernel setting. So it really shouldn't have any impact on performance.
The battery life should also not be affected by the app itself. It does not have any background tasks other than the kernel setting mentioned above and it shouldn't wake up the device as well. Although I saw occasionally that my app gets informed that the screen was switched on even though the screen was not switched on. That caused some reboot issues. But that was fixed with version 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 and I didn't see a reboot since I use 1.1.2. Also there are reports of hangs/reboots by other users unrelated to my app. Anyways it might be the case that changing the kernel setting has some other effect on the hardware, kernel and battery life. According to Intel documentation the filter is not meant to be switched on or off while the display is active. However, it is the only time it is possible to change it in our system. So to be sure we have to test and disable/uninstall the app and see if the battery life improves.
Hopefully Lenovo fixes this with an upcoming update!

Thanks!
Just got this tablet in the mail today and was disappointed by its display. So grateful for your fix, its like night and day with the blur gone. Guess I have a good reason to root now to get rid of the sharpness too. Mind me asking what method you used to root for this firmware?

Falv said:
Just got this tablet in the mail today and was disappointed by its display. So grateful for your fix, its like night and day with the blur gone. Guess I have a good reason to root now to get rid of the sharpness too. Mind me asking what method you used to root for this firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the temporary CWM method [GUIDE] CWM & Root Lenovo Yoga 2 (8/10/13)
It is easy enough and works fine, but keep in mind that there might be issues with OTAs.

I'll keep track of the battery over the next little while, hopefully it was just an aberration that first charge. I'm getting better results with this second charge since the update and your fix.
Could you or someone post a picture shoeing the effect of turning the sharpening filter off? Might help some of us decide it rooting is in fact worthwhile. Thanks!

digitalatlas said:
I'll keep track of the battery over the next little while, hopefully it was just an aberration that first charge. I'm getting better results with this second charge since the update and your fix.
Could you or someone post a picture shoeing the effect of turning the sharpening filter off? Might help some of us decide it rooting is in fact worthwhile. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried taking pictures but it doesn't really show the effect. Instead I made two screenshots and recreated the filter with GIMP. It should be very close to what the panel does.

Does anybody have any info from Lenovo? I think that this is preposterous! How can someone do that and have it go through testing? Unless there were no tests at all.
Buying Lenovo was a mistake.

v1.2 tested on my new 1050F. Awesome. I was disapointed by the screen but now it's perfect. Thank you so much to have done this patch!

+1
AMAZING PICTURE QUALITY!!.
Without blur picture is good, but witchout blur and sharpness image quality is FU…NG AWSOME!!
THANKS!!!!!

saupiquet said:
v1.2 tested on my new 1050F. Awesome. I was disapointed by the screen but now it's perfect. Thank you so much to have done this patch!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Great app, thank you

Are you all running this with rooted devices? Mine is not yet rooted but notice a big difference with this app. How much better is it if I was to root the device? Thank you so much for this fix. I recieved my tablet today and was very disappointed with the display.

New Update Bugs

I saw the new Android 9.0 update has been released for a little while now. I have been confident in Google's software updates while owning this phone until they broke the multi-touch on 8.1 and did not provide a downgrade or alternative solution. I like to play Pubg a lot on my phone while on my bus rides around my city so performance, battery, multi-touch and the very small day to day things are very important to me.
I looked on the comments section of the Android update forum for 9.0 and it seems the only small reported bugs were related to the pixel launcher. I use Nova Launcher so I don't think this will be an issue. I wanted to hear back from pixel 2 users and see if any of the OLD features on the previous 8.x release were made unstable or broken in any way.
Also how's the camera and battery life? Those are the main selling points of the phone I believe (for me at least)..

See this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2/how-to/androids-windows-vista-moment-t3830480

aspen1135 said:
I saw the new Android 9.0 update has been released for a little while now. I have been confident in Google's software updates while owning this phone until they broke the multi-touch on 8.1 and did not provide a downgrade or alternative solution. I like to play Pubg a lot on my phone while on my bus rides around my city so performance, battery, multi-touch and the very small day to day things are very important to me.
I looked on the comments section of the Android update forum for 9.0 and it seems the only small reported bugs were related to the pixel launcher. I use Nova Launcher so I don't think this will be an issue. I wanted to hear back from pixel 2 users and see if any of the OLD features on the previous 8.x release were made unstable or broken in any way.
Also how's the camera and battery life? Those are the main selling points of the phone I believe (for me at least)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera and battery are both fantastic.
I don't get the hatred by some here. It's a divided opinion for sure, though as with anything else the ones displeased make the most noise.
Long story short, I think it's an awesome upgrade and have not experienced any bugs.

Agree with crixley... there were some new things to learn, but once learned, I actually appreciate them quite a bit. Android 9 gestures are quicker and more natural, and the wasted space of recents has been reclaimed with helpful stuff like switch orientation. Battery life is better with the Adaptive Battery setting enabled, security has been upgraded. Although I understand that it "feels" like a big change for no reason... a lot of users are going to dislike change if the benefits are not easily apparent. I admit that there have been a few kinks I worked through.. such as having to re-pair bluetooth devices, resetup android auto, and a few other quirks.. but I am a happy Android P user in the end.

The Pie update on VZW broke Android Auto USB connection to my Pioneer AVH-2300NEX. No other issues to report, but it's enough for Verizon to send me a warranty replacement phone.
Yes, I did do all the necessary troubleshooting. Yes, it worked great up to the time of the OTA to Pie. Yes, I even tried different cables. Thanks for your concern lol.

Been running Android 9.0 since the developer previews never had any issues. Battery life is much better than before and camera works just as great as always. I also use Android Auto everyday and haven't had any issues with it that other have described. I used to run a custom roms and always used the the fling nav bar so I'm pretty used to swipe gestures and prefer them more than the standard nav bar.

Battery life has been much better than Oreo as long as you don't configure your phone's IP staticly versus using DHCP when connecting to a Wi-Fi connection. We've been able to replicate it with at least 4 users whom all use different router make and models. See this
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2/help/battery-life-considerably-worse-update-t3827066

No bugs here since update. Only been a few days though. Battery life is definitely better. Good update just need an unlocking route for Verizon and my life will be complete.

i very much miss the ability to mute/vibrate my ringer with hardware buttons. instead of being "smart" and adjusting ringer volume by default, media volume when using some kind of media, it now just adjusts media volume always, and requires extra work/screen touching to mute the ringer

xdaninja said:
i very much miss the ability to mute/vibrate my ringer with hardware buttons. instead of being "smart" and adjusting ringer volume by default, media volume when using some kind of media, it now just adjusts media volume always, and requires extra work/screen touching to mute the ringer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my only complaint as well. But the update other than that is nice.
Edit I dislike that turning location to battery saving/gps / off moved to one switch on or off.

My battery life went from 8hr average SOT on Oreo to about 5.5hr average on Pie. I'm going back once I find the correct OTA update to flash (so I don't lose any data). Battery Saver has been on since Day 1.

greenteg said:
My battery life went from 8hr average SOT on Oreo to about 5.5hr average on Pie. I'm going back once I find the correct OTA update to flash (so I don't lose any data). Battery Saver has been on since Day 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm getting 8+ on pie. You need to go into location /Google location accuracy and turn that off. It's like GPS on constantly. There is no longer battery saving mode on Pie. I've had mine off from the beginning and all is well. 2 days off charger and 7-9 hours screen on time. Hope this helps

mattie_49 said:
I'm getting 8+ on pie. You need to go into location /Google location accuracy and turn that off. It's like GPS on constantly. There is no longer battery saving mode on Pie. I've had mine off from the beginning and all is well. 2 days off charger and 7-9 hours screen on time. Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of that was already off, but I'll go through the entire device today and see if there's something else I can find.
Is it just me or did the overall brightness decrease? I know the whole scaling is logarithmic now, but I'm talking about 100% brightness on Oreo vs. 100% brightness on Pie. Seems to never get as bright as it used to, even when maxed out.

xdaninja said:
i very much miss the ability to mute/vibrate my ringer with hardware buttons. instead of being "smart" and adjusting ringer volume by default, media volume when using some kind of media, it now just adjusts media volume always, and requires extra work/screen touching to mute the ringer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can press the power button and volume up button at the same time to switch to vibrate/mute. That's a nifty feature. ??

The new colors in the newest update to Contacts, Dialer, and Messages apps are hideous.
I'm ok with white background but the pastel colors are horrible.

greenteg said:
All of that was already off, but I'll go through the entire device today and see if there's something else I can find.
Is it just me or did the overall brightness decrease? I know the whole scaling is logarithmic now, but I'm talking about 100% brightness on Oreo vs. 100% brightness on Pie. Seems to never get as bright as it used to, even when maxed out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am glad I am not the one. The brightness has gone to dim at 75%.

Battery life is resolved, which was the main thing. I just wish the maximum brightness was fixed, along with a better (full dark) theme for us on AMOLED screens. Anything to get 3 Day usage is always appreciated. I'm at 2.5 Days now, so that's pretty nifty

atlp99 said:
The new colors in the newest update to Contacts, Dialer, and Messages apps are hideous.
I'm ok with white background but the pastel colors are horrible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any way to roll back to previous messages APK without losing all data?

Just wanted to share . Amazing stock results on Android Pie

mattie_49 said:
Just wanted to share . Amazing stock results on Android Pie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rooted?

Auto brightness training

I often have to be very persistent in training the phone for brightness in the auto mode. Especially in the evening, when the brightness slider is to the left of the middle. I set the desired brightness, but it is not fixed. You have to do it 10 times or more, and after a minute the brightness again lives its own life. Has anyone come across this on customs ROMs? Everything was great on stock.

Bookworm Yevgen said:
I often have to be very persistent in training the phone for brightness in the auto mode. Especially in the evening, when the brightness slider is to the left of the middle. I set the desired brightness, but it is not fixed. You have to do it 10 times or more, and after a minute the brightness again lives its own life. Has anyone come across this on customs ROMs? Everything was great on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off auto brightness Its Simple
(I dont understood your issue propperly...)

ai.Sanaul said:
Turn off auto brightness Its Simple
(I dont understood your issue propperly...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you don't know auto-brightness can be trained due to users preferences. At least it works on stock.
Or don't you use auto-brightness at all?
I am accustomed to auto-brightness at any time of a day and I like to use it. I don't want to change it mannualy after each changes of circumstances.
However on the custom ROM the process isn't so easy. I just have doubts if it will be successful at all.

Bookworm Yevgen said:
Maybe you don't know auto-brightness can be trained due to users preferences. At least it works on stock.
Or don't you use auto-brightness at all?
I am accustomed to auto-brightness at any time of a day and I like to use it. I don't want to change it mannualy after each changes of circumstances.
However on the custom ROM the process isn't so easy. I just have doubts if it will be successful at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i,m on Samsung J2 Pro 2018(i use most) with Super Amoled screen and my phone dosent supports auto brightness but i've seen in Redmi 9 Power (second phone i have) that it works according to light around you and cant be trained at all... i think you been talking about another concept, sorry... Tell me about it more if you can so i can learen about it.

ai.Sanaul said:
i,m on Samsung J2 Pro 2018(i use most) with Super Amoled screen and my phone dosent supports auto brightness but i've seen in Redmi 9 Power (second phone i have) that it works according to light around you and cant be trained at all... i think you been talking about another concept, sorry... Tell me about it more if you can so i can learen about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing special to say more here. Just in the auto-brightness mode, the user sets the slider to the desired level at any time. This is repeated a certain number of times and after that the phone remembers the new settings and, depending on this, the new auto-brightness algorithm works. The learning process for brightness is endless. You can adjust it anytime to your preference. In any case, it worked fine on stock and the phone memorized new settings very quickly.

Bookworm Yevgen said:
There is nothing special to say more here. Just in the auto-brightness mode, the user sets the slider to the desired level at any time. This is repeated a certain number of times and after that the phone remembers the new settings and, depending on this, the new auto-brightness algorithm works. The learning process for brightness is endless. You can adjust it anytime to your preference. In any case, it worked fine on stock and the phone memorized new settings very quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh! its a cool thing. Thanks

I tried A11, A12, A13 ROMs, and after that I'm on A10 stock again. I think that's the best way for me to keep my nerve sells. Now the autobrigness doesn't even need additional training.