Hi,
I rooted my N1 and installed a flashlight app (N1 Torch) that uses the phone's LED flash. It warns you that continuously using the flash might break it, though.
What has been your experience? Does "continuous use" mean "hours", "minutes" or just "more than the 0.5 seconds the flash is supposed to turn on when you make a photo"?
frandavid100 said:
Hi,
I rooted my N1 and installed a flashlight app (N1 Torch) that uses the phone's LED flash. It warns you that continuously using the flash might break it, though.
What has been your experience? Does "continuous use" mean "hours", "minutes" or just "more than the 0.5 seconds the flash is supposed to turn on when you make a photo"?
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I think that using it for a couple of minutes would be fine, the problem is that if it gets too hot it could damage the the phone especially the camera. I remember that I installed a similar program on my nokia n70 and several times happened that by accident i turned on the led while the phone was in my pocket, I only noticed that when i started to feel something burning in my pocket Now my n70's led and camera doesn't work anymore... so just be carefull not to turn on the led by accident
I had read that the LED flash was designed for quick bursts. If that is true than constantly running it could - at least - burn out the LED bulb. I doubt is it user replacable, so that is not a good thing.
I have hoped to use Torch too, but have decided its just not worth it. I will just use the lit up screen as a flashlight.
Yeah.. I'm thinking about uninstalling torch I get random clicking after I turn the app off
It's an LED.. by default LEDs are low-power, have low-heat emission and super long lifetimes. They also tolerate turning on/off repeatedly for extended periods of time.
I somehow doubt you could do any damage to the phone/LED.
Has anyone even heard of doing damage this way, or is this just speculation and ass-covering in case something goes wrong?
my old sony erricson w810i LED flash lasted for atleast an hour of continuous use with no ill effect.
LEDs don't get that bright either, not the ones you are thinking of. The LED in the nexus one is much brighter than "usual", and it's also much smaller.
High power LEDs (HPLED) can be driven at currents from hundreds of mA to more than an ampere, compared with the tens of mA for other LEDs. They produce up to over a thousand lumens. Since overheating is destructive, the HPLEDs must be mounted on a heat sink to allow for heat dissipation. If the heat from a HPLED is not removed, the device will burn out in seconds.
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(bold for emphasis)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led#High_power_LEDs
Obviously the LED in the N1 is designed to deal with its heat under "normal usage" for a camera flash, and it probably can handle longer usages than the stock camera, but I wouldn't push it too far.
Edit:
If anyone wants to use some debug tools to find how many mA the phone pulls when the flash is on vs when its off, they could probably look up the usual heat generation for an LED of that size and see how 'safe' it is to run.
I just contacted the developer on google wave, waiting for his reply now. Please give me your address if you want to be added to the wave.
DarkLord7854 said:
It's an LED.. by default LEDs are low-power, have low-heat emission and super long lifetimes. They also tolerate turning on/off repeatedly for extended periods of time.
I somehow doubt you could do any damage to the phone/LED.
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High power LEDs do get hot (i have an LED flashlight that gets quite hot after prolonged useage. it chews up batteries as well) and, ill bet that continued useage at high output can damage it.. and the camera... theres a reason that its not enabled stock
A way around heat and power is the cycle the LED at 30-60hz. I am unsure if the developer of N1 Torch could make it happen with software alone though.
Not sure if this helps but I have shot several videos and even changed a flat tire with my BB Storm LED. Besides draining battery, the only thing I worried about was space on mr MicoSd because I could only leave it on continuously in video mode.
I used mine this morning for about 5 mins and no problems.
Still works and so does the camera.
Wait, so the Nexus One uses the High Power LED, not a regular LED?
NexusDro said:
Wait, so the Nexus One uses the High Power LED, not a regular LED?
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no he was just using that quote to prove that some leds do produce heat. judging by the brightness i would say its relatively high power, and because htc might not have mounted the led on a heatsink big enough to keep it cool after prolonged use because they designed it for a camera flash, not a flashlight. so better safe than sorry.
britoso said:
my old sony erricson w810i LED flash lasted for atleast an hour of continuous use with no ill effect.
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Ya! I had a K750 (flashed with the W800i firmware) that had as one of it's features, used the flash as a torch and a SOS beacon.
SonyEricsson's XPERIA X1 (Win Mo device, HTC manufactured) has an app for the flash too. The app has two options.
First (dimmer) is mostly OK (not recommended for hours of use either).
Second (brighter) caused a meltdown of the LED's plastic holder if used for long enough. The holder melted over the vibrator motor, thus shutting it stiff and ruining it.
aad4321 said:
exactly. led's dont get hot.... someone should email the developer of the app. i know he has done some extensive testing. post what you get
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Folks should stick to things they know. There are many VERY high power LEDs, such as those used as a flash. Depending on the application they end design may be to be used in short bursts because they create so much heat. LEDs waste LESS power through heat dispersion than a conventional lamp, but they do indeed create heat. I've seen LEDs that need a heatsink 10x their size to keep them cool. In the interest of size I would be willing to bet there is not enough heatsink on the LED flash to be able to use it for extended periods of time without burning it out.
comparing light sources from different phones as others have done here is silly. Unless you are positive that they are the same LEDs and that they have proper cooling behind them, then don't compare.
Source - Me. almost 20 years in the semiconductor design and test industry
Seconded. It's possible the LED is being driven at peak currents, or beyond too, which is fine for a short burst but not for prolonged use.
I'm the developer of N1 Torch, and was pointed towards this thread. So I can offer some answers and insight...
Standard brightness is supported 'naturally' by the LED kernel driver. I tell it to come on, and it comes on until I give it a command to turn off.
High brightness is only enabled by the kernel for ~0.5 seconds before the kernel turns it off automatically. I simply send the command repeatedly to keep it on.
I had the app tested on a sacrificial N1, and the following were the results:
- On standard brightness mode, the torch ran for over 1/2hr continuously with no problems or heat issues detected.
- On high brightness mode, the torch was noticeably warm after 1/2hr, and there was a bit of a 'heat' smell coming from it. After a further 18 minutes (total 48 minutes) the LED started flickering of its own accord and was hot. After cooling, it resumed working normally (no idea how the lifetime was affected).
You can use your own judgement based on these results (and of course, YMMV due to manufacturing differences). I would be happy to say that standard brightness is fine for extended use (1/2hr at least), but try to limit high brightness to a few minutes at a time.
Is there a way to disable the pulsing red led notification when the battery is low? I have a 2300mAh battery with the phone reading it 500mAh, and it drains to 1% in an hour, and the phone still can be used for about 1.5 days. So basically with this battery the red led always pulses. Im using CM7.2-RC1.
is there no way to disable it? :/
sent from my cm7 defy...
Not sure if it can be disabled completely but "Th3bill" came up with a patch for aftermarket batteries for us Photon users http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25494725
Extended Battery. Maybe he can help!
Sent not from your device!
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Moving to Q&A
so i got my nexus 4 which is AMAZING
BUT
i have a few questions..
1.can i make the LED light stronger ? i can barely notice it ..
2.HOW CAN I CONTROL VIBRATION STRENGTH ?
i mean ffs it doesnt vibrate when i get my whatsapp msg..
i have xylon rom..latest .
THANKS
DrakeSlayer said:
so i got my nexus 4 which is AMAZING
BUT
i have a few questions..
1.can i make the LED light stronger ? i can barely notice it ..
2.HOW CAN I CONTROL VIBRATION STRENGTH ?
i mean ffs it doesnt vibrate when i get my whatsapp msg..
i have xylon rom..latest .
THANKS
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1. Not sure about this.
2. You can use fauxclock to set the vibration motor percentage, but I bet there are other apps that allow you to do this too.
Not sure about the LED, but you can change the strength of the vibration motor with Franco kernel. It's at 100% by default with the kernel.
MSI Afterburner said:
Not sure about the LED, but you can change the strength of the vibration motor with Franco kernel. It's at 100% by default with the kernel.
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You don't have to be on his kernel. You can use fauxclock and change the vibration using any kernel.
i actually heard great things about his kernel so its btw lol
and about the led , dont u think its rlly weak ?
i mean in the pics google published at first it looked A LOT stronger and noticble but now its like lets check if i have a msg oh the led is on so i probably do lol
I've had better battery life with motley's kernel. And yeah the LED is definitely not as bright as the one the Galaxy Nexus had. I think it's perfect though because the GNex one would wake me up at night it was so bright.
I have been enjoying my root running OptimalROM for the last two weeks now (OK3 newer root method). However, I was surprised to find I still experience what is dubbed the "heart rate bug" where S-Health will freeze in the middle of taking a heart rate measurement keeping the heart rate sensor light on, and becoming fully unresponsive (infinite loop) until it runs out of memory and just reboots the phone.
I was under the impression the top ROMs for this phone would have this fixed. What do I need to do to prevent the "heart rate bug"?
Hey there forum,
Background: I purchased a cheap smartband from Wish, it uses the Yoho app to gather data. The actual watch itself is not that bad for the price. Accuracy is questionable, but I really am just wanting an estimate heart rate.
The issue: The watch will take heart rate or blood pressure only when you either activate this on the watch or on the Yoho app. I want to take heart rate and blood pressure 30 times an hour (but at least 15 times) including when I am asleep.
The question: I can not seem to find another app that will connect my cheap Wish watch to do this, but there must be a way to mod the Yoho app to "press" the "take a reading now" button in the app. I would get it to take heart rate once every 2 minutes and blood pressure on the alternative every 2 minutes.
Is this possible? If so, how so?
Thanks in advance.