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Does anyone know how backlight is suppose to work for Home, Menu, Back and Search keys? Is it suppose to stay on as long as the screen backlight stays on or is it certain amount of time? What triggers them to come on- key press, screen touch, trackpad touch or all of the above? Mine don't seem to follow any rhyme or reason, at least I couldn't trace a pattern. I know that I was messing around with the phone last night in the dark and they would come on and go off as they pleased. Does light sensor have anything to do with it? Please sound off your findings and ideas.
Thanks!
Mine don't seem to follow any rhyme or reason either - it's a bit maddening. And the same goes for the backlight of the physical keyboard (sometimes it comes on, sometimes it doesn't - no telling why), and also the automatic adjustment of brightness (i use the phone for a minute and suddenly it gets super-bright).
Hopefully these are all just bugs that will be fixed with an OTA update, but it is weird and I'm glad to know it's not just my unit since I don't want to replace it (I got a solid hinge - good stuff!).
I think I figured it out. Backlight for touch keys is controlled by light sensor and also has a timer (few seconds), so if it's bright enough outside - they will not even come on. If it's dark - they come on and stay on for certain time then go off untill you press one of them again.
Now, the other thing that I'm noticing is that my haptic feedback is not working when pressing one of those buttons or long-pressing the screen. Anyone else has that problem?
I have used my phone primarily in the dark. All my lights are always on (when the screen is) and the auto-brightness is too bright. If I turn brightness to minimum, the always on lights are way too bright compared to the screen. I really wish the designers had tried to use this phone in the dark (laying in bed) and realized the auto-brightness and lights are too bright in pitch-dark!
Also I am getting real sick of rotation. On my G1 I could disable it completely unless the keyboard was out. I like to lay in bed or on a couch and use my phone sideways, but not rotated. This seems impossible to do on the G2. Disabling rotation doesn't do anything for 3rd party apps or even GMail for that matter. For some reason this was not the case on the G1.
It will be hard to go back to the G1's one-second+ lag after every press and the incredibly slow loading webpages now that I have experienced the G2, but there are too many really annoying problems, so I think it is getting sent back.
if you have your backlight set to automatic... it will cut on only if the room is dark... check your backlight settings
It's an issue with the way android uses the light sensor. It's very poorly coded.
Ever since as long as I can remember, my phones brightness will dim to a brightness so dark you just can't see it. Even if you manually set the brightness, once you lock and wake the screen, it's fine then suddenly switches to dark.
I've used multiple ROMs and they all do it. Is it a device issue, or could it be a kernel issue? I've not screwed with kernels so I don't know if it could be it. If it's a device issue, I'll be getting a replacement ASAP.
Any help is appreciated!
Now that I'm able to Google, I realize it's a common problem with the S4.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
Serfma said:
Ever since as long as I can remember, my phones brightness will dim to a brightness so dark you just can't see it. Even if you manually set the brightness, once you lock and wake the screen, it's fine then suddenly switches to dark.
I've used multiple ROMs and they all do it. Is it a device issue, or could it be a kernel issue? I've not screwed with kernels so I don't know if it could be it. If it's a device issue, I'll be getting a replacement ASAP.
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only time I had the screen go dim like you describe is I remember once following a phone call. It goes dark when you put the handset to your ear like it's supposed to, and lights back up when I pull it away from my head. I was stepping out of a truck into the broad daylight when I tried to hang up my phone, I couldn't see the screen very well. The other party ended the call, and my screen timed out while I was squinting at it. I pushed the home button and it lit right back up nice.
You got something going on, and if you tried all those different roms, say... can you nandroid back to stock? Did you try that?
I'd try everything I could on the outside chance of repair instead of replacement. If you get a replacement you might be stuck with that MF3 where you cannot install a custom recovery.
fukenbiker said:
The only time I had the screen go dim like you describe is I remember once following a phone call. It goes dark when you put the handset to your ear like it's supposed to, and lights back up when I pull it away from my head. I was stepping out of a truck into the broad daylight when I tried to hang up my phone, I couldn't see the screen very well. The other party ended the call, and my screen timed out while I was squinting at it. I pushed the home button and it lit right back up nice.
You got something going on, and if you tried all those different roms, say... can you nandroid back to stock? Did you try that?
I'd try everything I could on the outside chance of repair instead of replacement. If you get a replacement you might be stuck with that MF3 where you cannot install a custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mf3? Is that something new with the S4s to prevent custom ROMs?
It does not go pitch black. It goes very dim every time I wake the device. If you Google S4 screen dimming it's a wide problem.
Once you wake it, it's fine for 2 seconds and dims quite dark. It is not screen timeout/sleep/etc since I can still see the screen.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
I'm on MDJ and don't get any auto dimming of any sorts. Auto brightness is off, brightness controls about 1/3 brightness (indoors), but Power Saving mode is on with all three options on.
My S4 is MDL. I found out the problem (More than likely) was the Paranoid Android ROM. I was on ver. 3.69 and since switched to CM 10.2 Nightlies, latest as of today, and no screen dimming. I will install my usual apps and use it as normal and if it happens, it's probably an app. However, the only apps I use are ones such as SwiftKey, LightFlow, ASTRO, Chrome, and Dashclock.
I'm on stock MDL. It has only been occurring since I upgraded from MDB 3 days ago, and is a huge PITA because brightness controls are unresponsive during this time - I go into settings to adjust brightness since I have removed all the brightness controls from the notification panel as they've always worked just fine, and turn off auto brightness, scale it all the way to max, and it is still dim as crap.... Only fix I've seen is to reboot, which is obviously not ideal in most situations when I need to wake the device! I'm using STOCK kernel, STOCK ODEXED ROM as well, nothing crazy should be going on to screw with brightness settings being unresponsive either!
KryptosXLayer2 said:
I'm on stock MDL. It has only been occurring since I upgraded from MDB 3 days ago, and is a huge PITA because brightness controls are unresponsive during this time - I go into settings to adjust brightness since I have removed all the brightness controls from the notification panel as they've always worked just fine, and turn off auto brightness, scale it all the way to max, and it is still dim as crap.... Only fix I've seen is to reboot, which is obviously not ideal in most situations when I need to wake the device! I'm using STOCK kernel, STOCK ODEXED ROM as well, nothing crazy should be going on to screw with brightness settings being unresponsive either!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you by chance use Light Flow?
I solved the problem. I had "lcd_backlight" control flipped on in the settings of Light Flow. It fixed it. To tell if it's an app problem, just factory reset and try, once you boot up, to lock and wake the device to see if it happens. If it doesn't, it's an app problem more than likely, or even a general setting. Troubleshoot for the win!
Serfma said:
Do you by chance use Light Flow?
I solved the problem. I had "lcd_backlight" control flipped on in the settings of Light Flow. It fixed it. To tell if it's an app problem, just factory reset and try, once you boot up, to lock and wake the device to see if it happens. If it doesn't, it's an app problem more than likely, or even a general setting. Troubleshoot for the win!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do use Light Flow, but I don't have either one of the LCD Backlight controls enabled, never have and never will, so I don't know how that could be affecting my phone at all.... That's a good start for some, but not for me, unfortunately! Good catch though
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S 4 using the XDA app
Serfma said:
Ever since as long as I can remember, my phones brightness will dim to a brightness so dark you just can't see it. Even if you manually set the brightness, once you lock and wake the screen, it's fine then suddenly switches to dark.
I've used multiple ROMs and they all do it. Is it a device issue, or could it be a kernel issue? I've not screwed with kernels so I don't know if it could be it. If it's a device issue, I'll be getting a replacement ASAP.
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this issue before on my Galaxy S3. I ended up replacing the front glass because of a dead pixel. Come to find out I had a sensor issue and that was causing my brightness auto going to whatever level it wanted.
Perhaps you're experiencing that too. Haven't heard or read of any sensor issues yet with the S4 but you could be the lucky winner!
Does anybody else's 2014 constantly vary the screen brightness? It's subtle and seems to happen constantly at 1 Hz.
Whenever I'm looking at it and the screen is mostly white, you can see this slight pulse. It's driving me mad!
And no, "auto" is not on.
How can I stop this? It's literally the only thing that is annoying the crap out of me on this device.
Maybe my eyes are too sensitive :-/
not too many people seem to be bothered by it, so we're in the minority. lots of these newer monitors are doing this and it annoys the hell out of me. as far as i can find, there's nothing we can do.
Turn off auto color settings not just auto brightness.
elzeus said:
Turn off auto color settings not just auto brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Fixed the flickering for me.
Maybe you are referring to
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2502964&page=2
In which case turning off auto color and every other auto settings would not solve the slight screen adjustments you are seeing.
I experience the 1hz very slight flickering when typing an email from k9 mail. I believe the blinking cursor is making the device adjust the brightness at the same frequency.
I found the problem of varying screen brightness
Hi All,
This is actually my first post as I've been wandering around xda for a while as a guest and enjoying the hi tech professionalism here. When I saw this thread I HAD to join....
I have a new 10.1 2014 edition LTE T-Mobile version that T-Mobile unlocked for me this week and I am using it on AT&T LTE and it works great!! I have not rooted this device, it is completely stock.
I installed a few different keyboards to try out which were Swiftkey, Google Keyboard, TouchPal X, Swype, and the stock Samsung default keyboard.
I noticed last night in my living room while typing an email that the entire display was faintly pulsing bright/dim in perfect timing with the blinking cursor. After much trial I found out it only happens when using Google Keyboard or TouchPal X. If I use Swiftkey, Samsung, or Swype keyboards the screen does not pulse with the blinking cursor. So needless to say I uninstalled Google Keyboard and TouchPal X. They must be extremely heavy apps in terms of RAM usage maybe?? This is where you guys can take over....
Thanks
Any fix to this issue yet guys? I thought I figured it out but I didn't, it randomly happens in different apps and it is REALLY bumming me out. Very difficult to look at a screen with it pulsing bright/dim. Sadly may have to ditch my Note because of this :crying:
Hi, started this thread to see if anyone had the same problem I'm having with my screen.
I have a Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 (Octa-core variation), it is running 4.4.2, rooted, stock Touchwiz.
The problem is that the screen starts to flicker almost as if it would want to turn off, when in low light conditions and auto-brightness on, it continues to flicker unless I set the brightness between +2 and +5. I can reproduce the issue without auto-brightness setting the brightness to the lowest, one notch above the lowest and there is no flickering. It is noticeable in white backgrounds and also when swiping down the notification center, that's the most noticeable instance but you can see it in the home screen and in any app.
I started noticing it when I had 4.2.2 Jelly bean (rooted), and I updated to Kitkat hoping it would be solved but it is the same, I updated through Kies and rooted, no Factory reset, I want to try that as last resort.
Funny thing I discovered is when I set Juice Defender to control my brightness it does not flicker even in -60% brightness, but when the dimming happens before the screen turns off it does flicker (and the dimming thing is controlled by the OS I think, not Juice Defender).
I wish I could put up a video but I don't have another phone to film it.
Anyone know if this is software or hardware? What can I do?
I'd like to add, that I changed the battery, disabled overlays in developers option, forced GPU rendering, tried Pimp my rom and played with all the settings, checked and unchecked every option in Display settings and it still flickered given the low brightness conditions.
I think I've found the best solution out there for most annoying screen flickering issues... Done a substential amount of digging and finally discovered the app "Twillight" works like a charm by enabling backlight control feature... Try it out first, then thank me and share your experience here ...
Hi,
I have this phone for little over 2 years. For over 1 week now I'm experiencing my phone not being able to wake up when I use the power button/home button. Whenever I push the button, the screen flashes for like 1s blue color, you can also see that the notification panel is blacked out and part of it green and it doesn't wake up. Sometimes it doesn't even flash. It used to take about 10 tries to wake it up but today I couldn't wake it up. I performed soft reset, I couldn't see the booting animation at all but it rebooted, buttons lit up and I was able to get in. It's like the phone is working fine in the background but the screen doesn't light up. I can turn down/up the volume, take a screenshot, get into settings, open apps, write a message but the screen is black. Even my alarm went off this morning but I couldn't dismiss it.
I downloaded an Always On Display app. Although I don't actually see the screensaver when it's locked, it's still on and it's easy to get in beacuse of it.
It all started with the screen flickering on minimum brightness. In February this year I had the screen replaced for the same issue but this time it's worse because of the blacked out screen.
Any ideas what it could be? Faulty display again?
Thank you
tessicorn said:
Hi,
I have this phone for little over 2 years. For over 1 week now I'm experiencing my phone not being able to wake up when I use the power button/home button. Whenever I push the button, the screen flashes for like 1s blue color, you can also see that the notification panel is blacked out and part of it green and it doesn't wake up. Sometimes it doesn't even flash. It used to take about 10 tries to wake it up but today I couldn't wake it up. I performed soft reset, I couldn't see the booting animation at all but it rebooted, buttons lit up and I was able to get in. It's like the phone is working fine in the background but the screen doesn't light up. I can turn down/up the volume, take a screenshot, get into settings, open apps, write a message but the screen is black. Even my alarm went off this morning but I couldn't dismiss it.
I downloaded an Always On Display app. Although I don't actually see the screensaver when it's locked, it's still on and it's easy to get in beacuse of it.
It all started with the screen flickering on minimum brightness. In February this year I had the screen replaced for the same issue but this time it's worse because of the blacked out screen.
Any ideas what it could be? Faulty display again?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's over to have this phone for little over 2 years now you should have to change
TIP:
Flash a new stock rom of your phone from sammobile via ODIN.
Sophia.xda said:
It's over to have this phone for little over 2 years now you should have to change
TIP:
Flash a new stock rom of your phone from sammobile via ODIN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be great, but I'm not a person that buys new phone every 2 years. I was thinking about it though .
When it comes to flashing. Do you think that would help? I don't want to end up with a black screen unable to set the phone up again. Cause overall it's working great .
Hi, i have the same problem, i'm from Belgium, and I have blinking screen problem and wake up screen problem :s
is it a software issue (nougat???)
before the big update (marshmallow i dont have any problem)
i'm on firmware A510FXXS7CRJ6_A510FLUX7CRJ1_A510FXXU7CRJ6_HOME.tar.md5
Turn screen brightness up abit to stop the blinking of screen. It's an issue of the screen hardware itself at low brightness after wear and tear. As for the hanging issue, maybe it has to do with your AOD app? Try uninstalling the AOD app OR flashing a stock Rom OR custom rom OR factory reset and use your phone at a higher brightness that the screen does not blink and see whether it still persists.
conanDO98 said:
Turn screen brightness up abit to stop the blinking of screen. It's an issue of the screen hardware itself at low brightness after wear and tear. As for the hanging issue, maybe it has to do with your AOD app? Try uninstalling the AOD app OR flashing a stock Rom OR custom rom OR factory reset and use your phone at a higher brightness that the screen does not blink and see whether it still persists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, because of my past experience with the same problem earlier this year I know about that "solution". Unfortunately, it makes the battery die faster as expected. Which is sad because I used it mainly on low brightness. So it's really not a solution at all.
I got rid of the AOD app because I found out that the phone lights up on 2nd try. AOD didn't work at all. I have to wake it up, put it to sleep and wake it up again which is always successful and the screen lights up. The screen flashes white about 3 times in a row now otherwise it works.
I haven't flashed it yet although I wanted to. But I will see what can I do. Thank you though!
I'm having the exact same issue using LineageOS.
It's already been 2 years, but since this thread is one of the first results on Google, I'll gladly add a solution.
Exact same problem for me, went through two screen repairs under warranty, and it would always come back a year later. No difference between Samsung OS and LineageOS, though I haven't tried rooting it.
Found on Ifixit: this issue is related to the AMOLED screen technology used by Samsung (among others). You can look it up, apparently there is a bad (?) voltage management in low brightness which worsen with time.
I could fix it with the "OLED Saver" application on Play Store. It works around this voltage management and allows you to reduce the brightness without the green flickering.
I still got white flashes after the installation, but not anymore the day after. I could even disable this application without the issue coming back.
I don't know what kind of magic cleanup this app performed, but it really is a (screen) life saver.