[Q] Brightness mod. - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot

So after reading a review article on the display of the S4 I found out that the screen can get 34% brighter on auto-brightness than manual. This is depending on how bright the ambient light is. Samsung does this to save battery as you usually are not in situation where the ambient light is that bright for long periods of time.
So my question is can this be modified somewhere to force the higher brightness in manual. I know there is no setting so this is most likely a kernel thing? Not sure myself how that works. This would be nice to have. Some people complain about the S4 brightness and don't turn off screen tone in display setting. Even then brighter is better.
So can this be done? Let's get some discussion going.
Sent from my SGS4. Go Blue!! Buck the Fuc keyes!!

No one has any input on this? Seems it would be possible.
Sent from my SGS4. Go Blue!! Buck the Fuc keyes!!

I would like to see this too. I have mine on full brightness all the time. In the sun, I can see it less well than I could my last phone - a 2 year old Frankenstein of a sprint/verizon palm pre2 monster. A little more brightness would be very nice

eskomo said:
So after reading a review article on the display of the S4 I found out that the screen can get 34% brighter on auto-brightness than manual. This is depending on how bright the ambient light is. Samsung does this to save battery as you usually are not in situation where the ambient light is that bright for long periods of time.
So my question is can this be modified somewhere to force the higher brightness in manual. I know there is no setting so this is most likely a kernel thing? Not sure myself how that works. This would be nice to have. Some people complain about the S4 brightness and don't turn off screen tone in display setting. Even then brighter is better.
So can this be done? Let's get some discussion going.
Sent from my SGS4. Go Blue!! Buck the Fuc keyes!!
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Click to collapse
I was wondering the same thing, but forgot about it.

This is why I was hoping to get this posted in the Dev section or maybe in General but it is sort of a question. More of a request than anything really. But either way I hope this gets seen by someone with the knowledge to gets this rolling.
Sent from my SGS4. Go Blue!! Buck the Fuc keyes!!

eskomo said:
This is why I was hoping to get this posted in the Dev section or maybe in General but it is sort of a question. More of a request than anything really. But either way I hope this gets seen by someone with the knowledge to gets this rolling.
Sent from my SGS4. Go Blue!! Buck the Fuc keyes!!
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Click to collapse
Might want to be careful with this one. I'm not an expert but to me there may be a reason why auto can achieve a higher setting than manual. Might be to keep excessive burn-in from happening. Auto mode would only keep the brightness up to that level for a limited amount of time as opposed to someone leaving it there for the life of the phone. This is just my theory on it.

Related

Screen dimmer in general after update?

I feel like the screen brightness is trending significantly lower with the auto brightness sensor enabled. I could swear that the screen would bump up the brightness more in certain settings that now appear too dim. Is anyone else seeing this, or am I imagining it?
Actually, I didn't really notice at first, but my girlfriend's Epic has been updated already and mine has not (still waiting for the update message). After i read this post I put them side by side to check...in the same lighting conditions her Epic is definitely dimmer now.
Sigh... why'd the break it! Screen brightness was perfect! Now I find myself pointing the screen at a light source from time to time because it goes too dim too fast. Sure, it may give the OLED matrix a slightly longer life, but most of us don't use this thing for hours outdoors anyway - in addition to the fact that we'll (probably) be replacing the phone after 1-2 years for the next best thing anyway. Any fixes anyone?
It seems like the screen can get dimmer now but I could be wrong.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
i was thinkin that before and also while web browsing i used to be able to adjust brightness even with my general brightness on auto .. but now i cant ....
I just leave mine at either 50% or 100%
They lowered the minimum brightness, which affects the auto scaler at all levels. I noticed that the EVO could get much duller than the Epic and that when indoors, the lowest setting was still quite bright. It should help save battery.
I use manual, so I don't care.
i really love the dimmer screen, i always have it very low because at work i really dont need a brighter screen and of course save battery, love that change.
I like the lower setting because it was hard to look at in the morning after waking up before. You can easily adjusting the brightness by swiping left or right on the status bar.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Autobrightness increases max brightness?

So I've read a bunch of reviews of the S4 and they ding it a fair bit for its screen brightness. Anandtech, AndroidCentral, Engadget, Giz....they all say the screen is dim compared to newer LCD. I'm sure some of you have seen Displaymate's review of the S4 screen. They gave it an excellent review, but what stood out to me is that the screen is MUCH brighter on autobrightness than whats possible by adjusting it with the slider (from 355 nits to 475 nits, iphone being 556 nits). I have not seen any other S4 reviewer point this out, not even Anandtech, who are usually very technical with their reviews and go to great lengths to discover and point out all the caveats of devices. Im wondering, did most reviewers miss this or is Displaymate somehow wrong about there assessment. Those with the S4, or better yet an S4 and a iPhone/HTC One, care to shed some light on this?
sam2c said:
So I've read a bunch of reviews of the S4 and they ding it a fair bit for its screen brightness. Anandtech, AndroidCentral, Engadget, Giz....they all say the screen is dim compared to newer LCD. I'm sure some of you have seen Displaymate's review of the S4 screen. They gave it an excellent review, but what stood out to me is that the screen is MUCH brighter on autobrightness than whats possible by adjusting it with the slider (from 355 nits to 475 nits, iphone being 556 nits). I have not seen any other S4 reviewer point this out, not even Anandtech, who are usually very technical with their reviews and go to great lengths to discover and point out all the caveats of devices. Im wondering, did most reviewers miss this or is Displaymate somehow wrong about there assessment. Those with the S4, or better yet an S4 and a iPhone/HTC One, care to shed some light on this?
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Click to collapse
It is much brighter on autobrightness under very strong environmental light. You can't achieve the full brightness under normal condition.
frensel said:
It is much brighter on autobrightness under very strong environmental light. You can't achieve the full brightness under normal condition.
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Click to collapse
If it reaches maximum brightness only under sunlight, I'm ok with that, and I would imagine most people wouldn't mid as well. What I don't get is why reviewers seemed to have either not noticed this or left it out of their articles. I don't really think Samsung did the right thing here by limiting the brightness level when set manually, but Its also misleading for all the reviews to say that the maximum brightness of the S4 is around 200-250 nits lower than the competition, if its in fact about 100 nits lower under conditions where it truly matters
Subscribed. Also, per the Anandtech review, then screen mode affects display brightness as well.
Currently in auto, adaptive until I learn more.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Overide
Does anyone know if we can tap into the maximum brightness through root or otherwise?
cfn87 said:
Subscribed. Also, per the Anandtech review, then screen mode affects display brightness as well.
Currently in auto, adaptive until I learn more.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Yup, Anandtech pointed out that "Movie" mode is brighter and has the truest colors
The movie mode looks like crap, lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
cfn87 said:
The movie mode looks like crap, lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Personal opinion. I actually prefer movie mode since it makes it look more like an LCD screen. To each their own, though.
Kiserai said:
Personal opinion. I actually prefer movie mode since it makes it look more like an LCD screen. To each their own, though.
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I've always preferred LCDs too, but going from standard to movie is tough.
I'm all for natural colors, too. Either way, even on standard, colors are more natural than my s3.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
did anyone notice a purple/pink ish haze on the bottom portion of the screen? or is it a defect?
Nope. Mine is uniform. Pics?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
If we root the S4, is it possible to reach the same brightness allowed by the auto brightness? Is there a utility to make it so we can get to the Mac brightness without the auto brightness or by modifying it somehow?

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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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 ?
Gesendet von meinem LG-H815 mit Tapatalk
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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Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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

BlueHue/YellowHue/Speakers - Google's Response

I gave Google a call about the pink hue after trying to ignore it all day. I was told that anyone with a pink or yellow hue should return the device as soon as possible and that those units are from an early batch. The engineers are apparently trying to resolve the issue now. The glue curing advice is incorrect and I suggest you don't wait their suggested 10 day wait time.
As for the speakers, they should both be equal. This includes both bass and treble and the sound (including volume) from both speakers should be identical.
For anyone who isn't aware, stock is kept aside and priority is given to replacements. So if that's all that's holding you back, get sending.
MajorCS said:
I gave Google a call about the pink hue after trying to ignore it all day. I was told that anyone with a pink or yellow hue should return the device as soon as possible and that those units are from an early batch. The engineers are apparently trying to resolve the issue now. The glue curing advice is incorrect and I suggest you don't wait their suggested 10 day wait time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the number to get in touch with Google to talk to them about it?
MajorCS said:
I gave Google a call about the pink hue after trying to ignore it all day. I was told that anyone with a pink or yellow hue should return the device as soon as possible and that those units are from an early batch. The engineers are apparently trying to resolve the issue now. The glue curing advice is incorrect and I suggest you don't wait their suggested 10 day wait time.
As for the speakers, they should both be equal. This includes both bass and treble and the sound (including volume) from both speakers should be identical.
For anyone who isn't aware, stock is kept aside and priority is given to replacements. So if that's all that's holding you back, get sending.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you gotten your device replaced? I have a slight link hue and don't want to risk getting a device with a worse screen. I'm just going to RMA it in a month to be extra careful.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Google Nexus Support, then screen, then screen not working. It requests a call for you. I'd link but I'm restricted with less than ten posts.
I had to keep pushing for him to admit it was a defect and that they are working on it. So there's a little bit of tippy toeing happening I think.
Sadly I can't go through Google for my replacement (with an Aussie carrier). I'll be returning it tomorrow.
Yea, I googled it, lol what was I thinking.
Anyway, thanks for post. After talking to my rep (who was awesome about everything, no tip toeing around, he just wanted to make sure I was happy with my phone) he had me test the screen a little and decided that a replacement was required. Just have to tell my bank another charge is coming and it'll be on its way. I highly recommend giving them a call if you're having color issues with the screen. (I never saw pinks, just yellow)
MYxdaUSERNAME said:
Yea, I googled it, lol what was I thinking.
Anyway, thanks for post. After talking to my rep (who was awesome about everything, no tip toeing around, he just wanted to make sure I was happy with my phone) he had me test the screen a little and decided that a replacement was required. Just have to tell my bank another charge is coming and it'll be on its way. I highly recommend giving them a call if you're having color issues with the screen. (I never saw pinks, just yellow)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of test did you do?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA Free mobile app
All he had me do was crank brightness to max, no adaptive or auto brightness, then scale it back to about 1/3 brightness and report what I saw.
Thankfully I'll get to at least check out the two next to each other when the new one gets here. I didn't wanna take one of the replacements if I didn't need to.
For anyone wondering what the best way to identify the fault is, this is what I did:
First turn off Adaptive Brightness and then slide the brightness to the lowest setting possible. Then open up a white page and slide it back and forwards. Then turn on the Adaptive and try again. If it's hugely noticeable, then you have a defective unit.
Generally the pink or yellow hue issue decreases slightly with Adaptive Brightness off + sRBG mode in the developer options. The hue is increased on lower brightness, with Adaptive on.
MajorCS said:
For anyone wondering what the best way to identify the fault is, this is what I did:
First turn off Adaptive Brightness and then slide the brightness to the lowest setting possible. Then open up a white page and slide it back and forwards. Then turn on the Adaptive and try again. If it's hugely noticeable, then you have a defective unit.
Generally the pink or yellow hue issue decreases slightly with Adaptive Brightness off + sRBG mode in the developer options. The hue is increased on lower brightness, with Adaptive on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a defect, AMOLED screens at the lowest possible setting shift more than IPS LCD towards a pinkish/red hue. Yours may just be slightly worse, but if the effect is only noticeable on the lowest brightness setting then this is not a reason to RMA. Your unit is not defective
andreoidb said:
This is not a defect, AMOLED screens at the lowest possible setting shift more than IPS LCD towards a pinkish/red hue. Yours may just be slightly worse, but if the effect is only noticeable on the lowest brightness setting then this is not a reason to RMA. Your unit is not defective
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would agree with that if the pink is even on the entire screen. Mine is coming from the bottom this time. Visible in high and more on low brightness. Top is yellow bottom pink that's not an Amoled feature lol
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA Free mobile app
wazka2 said:
I would agree with that if the pink is even on the entire screen. Mine is coming from the bottom this time. Visible in high and more on low brightness. Top is yellow bottom pink that's not an Amoled feature lol
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's even slightly visible on high it is a defect. My point is a lot of people have said they only see it on low brightness, which isn't a defect.
easy tiger, @andreoidb. it may be defective. Who are you to say what is noticeable or not without witnessing it? I've had lots of amoled displays without this hue.
andreoidb said:
If it's even slightly visible on high it is a defect. My point is a lot of people have said they only see it on low brightness, which isn't a defect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Putting mine to 100% brightness on xda app. Top is still nice warm yellow but bottom very bright white/pink cold white as if someone was pointing the torch from the corner of the screen lol
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA Free mobile app
kboya said:
easy tiger, @andreoidb. it may be defective. Who are you to say what is noticeable or not without witnessing it? I've had lots of amoled displays without this hue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying it isn't defective. I'm saying that that method of testing is flawed. Just turning down the brightness and looking to see if it turns red is not a great way of testing. AMOLED screens, at the lowest brightness a significant amount of color shift to red/pink. Even if it's only in a portion of the screen, if its only visible on the lowest brightness it isn't a defect. I can say that without seeing the screen. If, though, its red/pink on higher brightness its likely defective.
I must have been confused by the statement "Your unit is not defective".
does anyone have any pictures of what the blue/yellow/pink hues look like?
Just wanted say that not all amoled screens have this pink/yellow hue and it's definitely not normal. My Nexus 6 amoled has none of that...so considering the 6P has even a better display it shouldn't have that either.
I have two nexus 6p and there's a difference in screen color for sure
I'm hoping that some of these super-delayed 128GB models (such as mine!) are delayed due to taking steps to minimize issues such as this. I'm probably dreaming, but hey, it could happen!
andreoidb said:
I'm not saying it isn't defective. I'm saying that that method of testing is flawed. Just turning down the brightness and looking to see if it turns red is not a great way of testing. AMOLED screens, at the lowest brightness a significant amount of color shift to red/pink. Even if it's only in a portion of the screen, if its only visible on the lowest brightness it isn't a defect. I can say that without seeing the screen. If, though, its red/pink on higher brightness its likely defective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies, I should have clarified. That method of testing simply helps view the color changes a bit more clearly. You're able to see it increase and decrease, instead of having nothing to compare the current screen with. Doing that gives the numerous color changes.
The pink tint at the lower brightness (at least to the level mine was), is not normal. It's almost a deep purple. It's also there at a higher brightness. Place this phone next to another and it's pretty obvious . You're never going to get a perfect screen with AMOLED , but this is terrible.

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