Database Users

Annoying brightness issue

Has anyone noticed the brightness changing when accessing the camera application.
It annoys the hell out of me, I've tried loads of custom roms in the hope one would not have this issue.
Is there anyway to solve it.
In general use I don't use auto brightness and set the brightness on low, and it's annoying when going into the camera and the brightness shoots up and makes everything slightly washed out.
The only rom that doesn't do this is the miui rom but I want something more stable for everyday use.

Is your camera app set on outdoor visibility mode?

[SMAN] said:
Is your camera app set on outdoor visibility mode?
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Click to collapse
No.
The transition looks really bad when going into the camera app and then going back to home screen or app drawer.
At first I thought it was a bug in a custom rom, but it even does it on the stock rom.

I fear for you this is how Samsung wanted it to be: Starting the cam app sets the screen brightness to max! After closing the app it reverts to initial...
Was the same on all my HTC devices!
Samsung counts this as a feature, not a bug...
Maybe potatoman can "fix" this,
although I think it's ok for most of us!
Either way, this means that you would have to replace your camera.apk with a modified one, and someone has to modify it for you!
Hope this helps, our at least clarify this issue!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Thanks for the info.
I'm new to android and samsung phones really.
I was hoping it was a setting that could be disabled.
Not sure why samsung felt the need to crank the brightness when in camera mode.

I've run into the brightness chaning in other apps too.
I know that on the stock browser you can adjust brightness.
But what I want is just ONE brightness setting for the whole phone, is this too much to ask for?!

I am using stock KF3 uk unbranded firmware, and my brightness does not change when I enter the camera app. I do not believe I have altered any settings.
Hope this helps.

I wish the "auto-brightness" on all devices worked like it does on the Note 10.1!

I wish the "auto-brightness" on all devices worked like it does on the Note 10.1!
Like most other Android devices, the Note 10.1 has an "Auto Brightness" option. However, unlike most other Android devices (in my experience so-far), you can further tweak the brightness even when "Auto Brightness" is enabled, effectively adjusting the sensitivity of the auto-brightness mechanism.
Try it in a very dark room. With "Auto brightness" ticked in the pop-up notification panel, the screen should be relatively dark. Move the slider all the way to the right, and it will add a little bit of extra brightness, but still be quite dark. Move it all the way to the left, and it will subtract a bit of brightness, making it even more dark - even though Auto Brightness is still selected and operational.
Some have said suggested before that doing this adjusts a "maximum brightness". This is not the case (as illustrated by what happened in a darkened room). Instead, this adds a little or subtracts a little from the brightness that would be determined by the auto brightness setting.

i have a note10.1 and galaxy s3, auto brightness both work as you say with the newest firmware.
though the s3 was like other android devices, in recent jb stock roms it changed.
so i guess all samsung devices will have such autobrightness,if a new stock rom comes.actually it just works as what ios autobrightness do.
Sent from my GT-I9300

yep, I love the "Manual Auto-Brightness" feature!! ALL ROMS should have this!!

MercuryStar said:
Like most other Android devices, the Note 10.1 has an "Auto Brightness" option. However, unlike most other Android devices (in my experience so-far), you can further tweak the brightness even when "Auto Brightness" is enabled, effectively adjusting the sensitivity of the auto-brightness mechanism.
Try it in a very dark room. With "Auto brightness" ticked in the pop-up notification panel, the screen should be relatively dark. Move the slider all the way to the right, and it will add a little bit of extra brightness, but still be quite dark. Move it all the way to the left, and it will subtract a bit of brightness, making it even more dark - even though Auto Brightness is still selected and operational.
Some have said suggested before that doing this adjusts a "maximum brightness". This is not the case (as illustrated by what happened in a darkened room). Instead, this adds a little or subtracts a little from the brightness that would be determined by the auto brightness setting.
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Click to collapse
When i move the brightness slider, auto brightness gets unchecked!
How are u guys doing it?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

Smrsxn - I get the same as you. As soon as I touch ut, auto is unchecked. ???
Sent from my GT-N8013 using XDA Premium HD app

It's a superb feature (I have it on my note 10.1). Looking forward to getting it on my s3 too
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Well, my experience is the same as others -- it's either auto or manual. I don't know how the "auto-manual" can be enabled. I am assuming they are describing something similar to iOS where you adjust the brightness slider, and the auto-adjustment is relative to that. I find the auto-brightness a bit too dark for my taste, but don't want to keep it at top brightness non-stop. So I use Lux Auto Brightness (I opted for the free app) and have been happy with the results.

Hmm.... I'm on the leaked JB rom (Dr. Akrim version). I never spent time with stock ICS so not sure if this is the difference.
On this ROM, the Auto check box stays on as you move the slider.

oohyeah said:
Hmm.... I'm on the leaked JB rom (Dr. Akrim version). I never spent time with stock ICS so not sure if this is the difference.
On this ROM, the Auto check box stays on as you move the slider.
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Click to collapse
This probably works only on JB.
It does not work on stock ICS for me
And ditto about auto brightness being too dark.
I usually have to turn it off.

blud7 said:
This probably works only on JB.
It does not work on stock ICS for me
And ditto about auto brightness being too dark.
I usually have to turn it off.
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Click to collapse
Hey I am on ics, on the very first build, didn't do any updates. For me the brightness thing works like a charm. Maybe check your settings or something
Sent from my GT-N8010 using xda app-developers app

Xperia phones work exactly the same way. AFAIK its only HTC phones who have crappy auto britghtness.

I have auto -manual mode but I'am on an old firmware from july even before the tab is released
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda app-developers app

I can adjust the slider while auto is on, but there is no difference when i slide it.
I´m on ICS, and Samsung had better named it: Auto Darkness
The way it is, it is completely useless.

hamma said:
I can adjust the slider while auto is on, but there is no difference when i slide it.
I´m on ICS, and Samsung had better named it: Auto Darkness
The way it is, it is completely useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it i a dark room and you will notice it,
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda app-developers app

Very true. It is undoubtedly the best implementation of auto brightness. I'm loving it.

I think I might now know what issue you might have.
Maybe you covered the the top bezel, the one opposite of the samsung logo. If you do this then the light sensor thinks you're in a dark room and reduces the brightness to almost the lowest level.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using xda app-developers app

i think the auto brightness is ALWAYS just a teeny bit too dark, even if its slided all the way to the right. I would love it if i could "slide it a little more to the right", that the slider was a little more sensitive, allowing more tweaking on the auto levels.

sysl0rd said:
I think I might now know what issue you might have.
Maybe you covered the the top bezel, the one opposite of the samsung logo. If you do this then the light sensor thinks you're in a dark room and reduces the brightness to almost the lowest level.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven´t covered the sensor.

Auto is ALWAYS too dark for me.
When I drag slider, auto gets turned off

I found out why it was always too dark. I had energy mode switched on.

[Q] Galaxy S4 Screen dimming.

I got my Galaxy S4 yesterday and noticed even after i turned auto brightness off, Set my screen to dynamic, the screen still changes brightness levels when entering the Chrome web browser (gets dimmer), playing some video games (screen get brighter) and other various tasks.
I am not a noob, I've gone through the phones settings for each app and cannot find a fix, do you guys notice your phones doing the same thing?? I might be a slight change in brightness level but non the less i like my screen extremely bright this is just my preference.
Any thoughts, ideas, tweaks or feedback on how to resolve this issue??

The blame game
soklean said:
I got my Galaxy S4 yesterday and noticed even after i turned auto brightness off, Set my screen to dynamic, the screen still changes brightness levels when entering the Chrome web browser (gets dimmer), playing some video games (screen get brighter) and other various tasks.
I am not a noob, I've gone through the phones settings for each app and cannot find a fix, do you guys notice your phones doing the same thing?? I might be a slight change in brightness level but non the less i like my screen extremely bright this is just my preference.
Any thoughts, ideas, tweaks or feedback on how to resolve this issue??
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Click to collapse
The only time I've seen this happen since I've gotten the device is when the battery dropped below 5%, and it automatically adjusted the brightness to seemingly the lowest it could go, and stuck until I charged it to full again.
I blame it on Samsung's stockware.

maybe this is why i couldnt get the phone to look as bright as my note 2. i was using the browser and cnn.com to compare.. my note 2 screen was brighter with both phones brightness on max.

soklean said:
I got my Galaxy S4 yesterday and noticed even after i turned auto brightness off, Set my screen to dynamic, the screen still changes brightness levels when entering the Chrome web browser (gets dimmer), playing some video games (screen get brighter) and other various tasks.
I am not a noob, I've gone through the phones settings for each app and cannot find a fix, do you guys notice your phones doing the same thing?? I might be a slight change in brightness level but non the less i like my screen extremely bright this is just my preference.
Any thoughts, ideas, tweaks or feedback on how to resolve this issue??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just throwing this out there...the screen does dim about 10 seconds before the screen times out and turns off...even if you have automatic brightness disabled.
Let's say you have a 1 minute timeout:
Screen on
50 seconds later screen dims
10 seconds later screen turns off
Just putting that out there in case - it is confusing to some.

Dude I'm having the same problem, yeah it's a small dim but it's freaking annoying cuz I have mine at full brightness all the time. I have the tmobile galaxy s4. I tried changing the screen mode and it still happens
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

elflip88 said:
Dude I'm having the same problem, yeah it's a small dim but it's freaking annoying cuz I have mine at full brightness all the time. I have the tmobile galaxy s4. I tried changing the screen mode and it still happens
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
I've noticed it too. Just seems like typical dynamic contrast behavior. Though I don't understand why on earth you'd need it on a screen with perfect blacks.

ttnuagmada said:
I've noticed it too. Just seems like typical dynamic contrast behavior. Though I don't understand why on earth you'd need it on a screen with perfect blacks.
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Well this never happened on my S2 or S3. And i just saw a thread like this open in the tmobile forums. It really annoys the hell out of me
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

elflip88 said:
Well this never happened on my S2 or S3. And i just saw a thread like this open in the tmobile forums. It really annoys the hell out of me
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2
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I'm sure it has to do with preventing burn in. You probably already know this, but in the right conditions, the Auto brightness setting can get over 30% brighter than manually maxing the slider. Hopefully, it's something that can be unlocked at some point.

soklean said:
I got my Galaxy S4 yesterday and noticed even after i turned auto brightness off, Set my screen to dynamic, the screen still changes brightness levels when entering the Chrome web browser (gets dimmer), playing some video games (screen get brighter) and other various tasks.
I am not a noob, I've gone through the phones settings for each app and cannot find a fix, do you guys notice your phones doing the same thing?? I might be a slight change in brightness level but non the less i like my screen extremely bright this is just my preference.
Any thoughts, ideas, tweaks or feedback on how to resolve this issue??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don;t know if this helps or not....i notice the same thing earlier.....what i did was go to Settings--> Display, uncheck Auto Adjust ScreenTone
at least that is what worked for me

Maybe the power saving mode is manipulating it?
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Its the power saving option. Its the same in s3. Go to powrr saving settjngs and uncheck the auto dim or auto brightness or something like that. It happens when power saving is on. I cant remember the exact optin coz im using custom rom on my s3.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

This happened in the S4s I used in the store as well. Manual brightness, and auto screen adjust disabled, power save off. Opening certain apps like chrome and the stock browser causes the screen to dim a bit. Nothing I found prevented this behavior. It's annoying since I already find the screen to be a bit dim.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Notice this as well, super annoying. I've disabled power saving, auto screen adjust, etc. and even non-dynamic modes do it.
Hopefully this gets fixed by kernel mods in the future

Same problem, even with brightness max with auto off, decent charge, and off power saver. Very annoying
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Its built into the Snapdragon, its called BRITE and seems works independantly of the auto screen tuning that the S4 has. The HTC One has it and its much more intrusive. I wrote a long winded post about it in the HTC One forums. You have to wait for devs to come out with kernels to disable it, much like they did for the Tegra 3

The HTC screen is bright enough that it doesn't matter. Samsung phones need to be at max brightness to be any good.

vinuneuro said:
The HTC screen is bright enough that it doesn't matter. Samsung phones need to be at max brightness to be any good.
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Click to collapse
Just an FYI, if you put the screen on auto brightness, it reaches a higher maximum brightness outdoors as apposed to the slider. Samsung did this to keep the screen from overheating when set to max all the time.

I want full brightness indoors too.

vinuneuro said:
I want full brightness indoors too.
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Click to collapse
I see. If you have the slider on max all the time, i think the screen will just dim eventually because of heat. Might want to stay away from the S4 then cus you might have screen problems down the line :/

If you havent go to settings display screen mode and use something other than adapt display. No more adjusting.
ATT S4 Rooted. Beastin.
4.2.2

Dimming the display to reduce over heating?

Alright so I just got my Note 3 here in Canada (SM-N900W8) and whenever I download an app from the Play store, or do anything I would normally do on a S4 or HTC One, the phone lowers the screen brightness (usually keep it on full brightness). When I go into Settings > Display > Brightness, it says something along the lines of to ensure your phone doesn't over heat, your phone's brightness has been lowered. Now, I've noticed this happen a handful of times, and I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem?

I don't think the phone should be doing that over simple task like downloading apps. Might want to take it back asap and exchange for a new one.

danv28 said:
Alright so I just got my Note 3 here in Canada (SM-N900W8) and whenever I download an app from the Play store, or do anything I would normally do on a S4 or HTC One, the phone lowers the screen brightness (usually keep it on full brightness). When I go into Settings > Display > Brightness, it says something along the lines of to ensure your phone doesn't over heat, your phone's brightness has been lowered. Now, I've noticed this happen a handful of times, and I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, mine is doing the same exact thing. When it first started happening, I thought there was something wrong with this particular phone but then I saw that same message. It's annoying have the screen change brightness like that.

I notice when browsing web page it does it too.. can anyone else confirm? Test by turning your brightness all the way, then download a few apps and browse the web. Let me know.

same experience
Hi! Very new at this forum. Just searched the net because of the same problem. The screen keeps dimming even if im using it. I thought it was a problem so I had my unit replaced. I have a new one now but it still does the same thing. It still dims randomly. Now I dont know if I should have another replacement or if this is normal.
danv28 said:
Alright so I just got my Note 3 here in Canada (SM-N900W8) and whenever I download an app from the Play store, or do anything I would normally do on a S4 or HTC One, the phone lowers the screen brightness (usually keep it on full brightness). When I go into Settings > Display > Brightness, it says something along the lines of to ensure your phone doesn't over heat, your phone's brightness has been lowered. Now, I've noticed this happen a handful of times, and I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I think the dimming may be caused by settings>device>display>auto adjust screen tones. And/or screen mode check anything but adapt mode. .. That solved it for me.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

c-mack said:
I think the dimming may be caused by settings>device>display>auto adjust screen tones. And/or screen mode check anything but adapt mode. .. That solved it for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This fix it for everyone? Kinda nervous about this....

It won't hurt anything, it's just a device setting. You can always change it back. ..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

I was having this same issue so I turned off the smart view eye thing and so far no change to the brightness at all so im hopeing thats what it was .
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

This is kind of scaring - because the Galaxy MEGA has the very same problem (just google it or check the mega forum here on xda).
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9505 mit Tapatalk 4

brooon said:
This is kind of scaring - because the Galaxy MEGA has the very same problem (just google it or check the mega forum here on xda).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And here's the link to that thread... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2382134

I haven't got the Note 3 yet partly because of this. When I compared my Note 2 to the Note 3 in the At&t store I noticed the Note 3 was definitely not as bright, while being obviously bluer. But I also caught it dimming itself too, very quickly but couldn't get it to reproduce the behavior. Changing the display mode didn't affect any of this. I've wanted to see this amazing improved display everyone talks about but I haven't seen it yet - certainly not when the brightness is set manually.
I wonder if this dimming display thing is a new normal, that they've made the brightness more an automatic control now. I have no idea if this is to save battery (but then why not let the user choose) or if these new screens need to be protected more from overheating.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

What's the point of full brightness if it's going to auto-dim all the time? I ended up returning my Galaxy Mega for this very reason.
Brgds... /Tubgirl

What parts of the phone heats up? Mine is near the camera. But I havent had this message yet on my note but it does get fairly hot alot. I dont even do anything for it to heat up this much. Just browse around and dont play much games.
Sent from my SM-N900T now Free

Make sure that the setting under display called "Auto adjust screen tone" is not selected.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I have auto-tone off, the eye tracker off, adaptive display off, brightness in browser all the way up.. still happens.. the message is displayed when you go to adjust the brightness.. interesting to see i'm not the only one with this issue

Does it only happen after heavy use or what?

Also happen on my s4...verry annoying samsung
Sent from my GT-I9500

riyoshadqi said:
Also happen on my s4...verry annoying samsung
Sent from my GT-I9500
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Click to collapse
I have the same problem, i have started a thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2475017
I have absolutely everything turned off!! It is stupid and annoying and i am returning my phone because of it
BTW this is my second device in 4 days!

Keepingitrealz said:
I have the same problem, i have started a thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2475017
I have absolutely everything turned off!! It is stupid and annoying and i am returning my phone because of it
BTW this is my second device in 4 days!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on my third... and posted already in your thread! for me this throttling happens all the time, gallery indexing for example triggers it a lot!
to clarify:
this throttling has nothing to do with settings a user can adjust, it's logic must be kernel implemented! no auto-contrast setting would help! and it happens even when you are on manual lowest brightness. on my devices the screen would switch even then in a cycle of ca. 20s between a additionally dimmed and the set state...
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] Brightness changing automatically on GPE

I got my GPE yesterday and while setting it up, I noticed that the brightness would change on its own intermittently from the same bright white that I have on the LGE I picked up last weekend to something like what folks are describing as the more yellow-tinted display on other threads. Note that I do *not* have auto-brightness enabled! This is happening when I have the brightness cranked all the way up to 100% without auto-brightness.
If the screen were yellow-tinted all the time, I'd think it's the same issue others are reporting, but since it does vary between the two randomly, I'm thinking/hoping that it's software and not a hardware issue. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? If so, does anyone know of a way to lock it in on the brighter/whiter setting?

My GPE is doing the same. Brightness will either dim or brighten on its own. It's a very subtle change, but definitely noticeable. Also its very intermittent and I've only noticed it in chrome, Google now. I also have auto brightness disabled and brightness at or near 100%.
Sent from my LG-V510 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

havoc999 said:
My GPE is doing the same. Brightness will either dim or brighten on its own. It's a very subtle change, but definitely noticeable. Also its very intermittent and I've only noticed it in chrome, Google now. I also have auto brightness disabled and brightness at or near 100%.
Sent from my LG-V510 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I contacted Google support and they're sending me a replacement. I'll post here as to whether that solves the problem or not.

Just got my replacement for the exact same issue. Unfortunately the new tablet does the exact same thing. I originally had the LG version and never had this problem. Only in the GPE edition.

jeff327 said:
Just got my replacement for the exact same issue. Unfortunately the new tablet does the exact same thing. I originally had the LG version and never had this problem. Only in the GPE edition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same experience here. My Galaxy S4 does something similar. I found one thread the other day saying that Android lowers the brightness automatically when the device temperature hits a certain level (95F, maybe?). I've never seen this on my other Android devices, but I'm kind of resigned to this being the case. It's really my only nit with an otherwise outstanding device, so I guess I'll live with it.