Case Study: Brightness, Widgets and Live Wallpaper Battery Usage, for rooted and unrooted alike 
Serious time taken. Please be real serious and leave a deadly serious reply in all seriousness... I need sleep
Mission: Test mA power draw of brightness, widgets and live wallpapers on panels.
How was it done?
Tests:
*Test #01A is our baseline test. Handy for comparison.
________________________
WIFI
Test #01A (WiFi On): WiFi is On. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -160mA
1:00; -160mA
1:30; -152mA
2:00; -152mA
2:30; -150mA
3:00; -150mA
3:30; -154mA
4:00; -154mA
4:30; -154mA
5:00; -154mA
Result #01A: -154mA average
---
Test #01B (WiFi Off): WiFi is Off. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -148mA
1:00; -150mA
1:30; -152mA
2:00; -154mA
2:30; -160mA
3:00; -162mA
3:30; -158mA
4:00; -156mA
4:30; -158mA
5:00; -166mA
Result #01B: -156.4mA average (strange result. I'm sitting 1m from wireless router though... and I noticed Google Drive and Root App Delete restarted after the completion)
________________________
BRIGHTNESS
Test #02A (Brightness Minimum): Brightness is Minimum. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -128mA
1:00; -128mA
1:30; -120mA
2:00; -120mA
2:30; -126mA
3:00; -126mA
3:30; -140mA
4:00; -140mA
4:30; -128mA
5:00; -128mA
Result #02A: -128.4mA average
---
Test #02B (Brightness Medium): Brightness is Medium. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -158mA
1:00; -158mA
1:30; -160mA
2:00; -154mA
2:30; -154mA
3:00; -152mA
3:30; -150mA
4:00; -158mA
4:30; -152mA
5:00; -162mA
Result #02B: -155.8mA average (this test matches WIFI Test #01A. There is only 1.8mA variance. -155mA can be a baseline to compare the other tests)
---
Test #02C (Brightness Maximum): Brightness is Maximum. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -214mA
1:00; -220mA
1:30; -228mA
2:00; -222mA
2:30; -232mA
3:00; -218mA
3:30; -216mA
4:00; -222mA
4:30; -222mA
5:00; -220mA
Result #02C: -221.4mA average ([221.4-155.8 = 65.6mA from Medium] that's a multiple of 2.4 compared to the difference between minimum and medium. That's huge!)
________________________
PANELS added
Test #03A: All seven screen panels are added. All panels are clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
... Test aborted. There is no difference having multiple panels to only one. My first mA read told me that, and I had thought it would be the case beforehand.
________________________
WIDGETS
Test #04A (HTC Weather Clock 4x1): Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts, except HTC Clock. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -158mA
1:00; -156mA
1:30; -160mA
2:00; -162mA
2:30; -150mA
3:00; -152mA
3:30; -148mA
4:00; -154mA
4:30; -152mA
5:00; -156mA
Result #04A: -154.8mA average (that's basically no battery hit)
---
Test #04B (HTC Weather Clock 4x2): Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts, except HTC Clock. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -150mA
1:00; -152mA
1:30; -154mA
2:00; -158mA
2:30; -182mA
3:00; -170mA
3:30; -158mA
4:00; -162mA
4:30; -160mA
5:00; -162mA
Result #04B: -160.8mA average (the jump at 2:30? probably something else. Basically no battery hit)
---
Test #04C (Stocks 4x1, HTC Weather Clock 4x1, Data Dashboard 4x1 and Power Dashboard 4x1): Home is full of widgets. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -400mA
1:00; -396mA
1:30; -390mA
2:00; -156mA
2:30; -154mA
3:00; -154mA
3:30; -160mA
4:00; -160mA
4:30; -168mA
5:00; -168mA
Result #04C: -230.6mA average (holy stocks batman!, yes that was stock widget chewing an extra 230 or so milliamps over 1min and 30secs)
________________________
LIVE WALLPAPERS
Test #05A (Live Wallpaper HTC Sense): Wallpaper is live 'HTC Sense (1/12)'. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -286mA
1:00; -288mA
1:30; -286mA
2:00; -290mA
2:30; -292mA
3:00; -278mA
3:30; -282mA
4:00; -278mA
4:30; -280mA
5:00; -282mA
Result #05A: -284.2mA average (yep... very live)
---
Test #05B (Live Wallpaper Ice Galaxy): Wallpaper is live 'Ice Galaxy [maxelus.net]'. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -354mA
1:00; -340mA
1:30; -334mA
2:00; -326mA
2:30; -334mA
3:00; -334mA
3:30; -342mA
4:00; -324mA
4:30; -348mA
5:00; -340mA
Result #05B: -337.6mA average (beauty can be hungry!)
________________________
Serious time taken. Please be real serious and leave a deadly serious reply in all seriousness... I need sleep
Mission: Test mA power draw of brightness, widgets and live wallpapers on panels.
How was it done?
Test device setup; Desire S ICS 4.0.4, Sense 3.6, 14.01.401.2 710RD. HTCdev with 4EXT Recovery & SuperSU. A few system apps had been removed.
Cool Tool v3.45; Enable Battery mA Label and CPU Frequency Label, disable other labels, disable all Gauges and Draw Chart set to 'None'.
Default baseline; Auto-Sync is 'Off'. Sleep is 'Never turn off'. Mobile Network is 'Off'. WiFi is 'On'. Brightness is 'Medium' (set via widget).
CPU is set to '1.024GHz' for min and max, using No-frills CPU Control. Governor 'ondemand\default' and I/O scheduler 'deadline\default'.
*Remove previous test (clear panels etc.)
Cache cleared with ES Task Manager.
All tasks, excluding No-frills CPU Control and Cool Tool, were killed with ATK ('Build Recommended Ignore List' was executed before this). To prevent unforeseen CPU usage, I wanted to clear the playing field as much as possible.
*The following apps in memory restarted after the kill, some instantly, others overtime. Added these to ignore list to prevent auto-start after their kill and possible CPU usage due to that (this is why task killers aren't always a good thing):
CPU Memory Monitor was used to check if any apps beyond system were using CPU Cycles. If they were, they were hunted down and killed.
ATK run again to kill the above CPU Memory Monitor and itself.
Hopefully Cool Tool and No-frills CPU Control are the only apps running that may use CPU cycles. Hopefully they don't impact on the tests with variance in CPU usage.
Line up the test.
Once test is lined up, one minute is given before proceeding. A reading is taken every 30 seconds over 5 minutes.
Battery level was kept above 40%, recharging between tests if needed.
Cool Tool v3.45; Enable Battery mA Label and CPU Frequency Label, disable other labels, disable all Gauges and Draw Chart set to 'None'.
Default baseline; Auto-Sync is 'Off'. Sleep is 'Never turn off'. Mobile Network is 'Off'. WiFi is 'On'. Brightness is 'Medium' (set via widget).
CPU is set to '1.024GHz' for min and max, using No-frills CPU Control. Governor 'ondemand\default' and I/O scheduler 'deadline\default'.
*Remove previous test (clear panels etc.)
Cache cleared with ES Task Manager.
All tasks, excluding No-frills CPU Control and Cool Tool, were killed with ATK ('Build Recommended Ignore List' was executed before this). To prevent unforeseen CPU usage, I wanted to clear the playing field as much as possible.
*The following apps in memory restarted after the kill, some instantly, others overtime. Added these to ignore list to prevent auto-start after their kill and possible CPU usage due to that (this is why task killers aren't always a good thing):
- AntiVirus (AVG)
- Calendar
- Clock
- Dock Mode
- Google Search
- Maps
- My Tracks
- News
- Personalize
- Talk
- Tasks
CPU Memory Monitor was used to check if any apps beyond system were using CPU Cycles. If they were, they were hunted down and killed.
ATK run again to kill the above CPU Memory Monitor and itself.
Hopefully Cool Tool and No-frills CPU Control are the only apps running that may use CPU cycles. Hopefully they don't impact on the tests with variance in CPU usage.
Line up the test.
Once test is lined up, one minute is given before proceeding. A reading is taken every 30 seconds over 5 minutes.
Battery level was kept above 40%, recharging between tests if needed.
*Test #01A is our baseline test. Handy for comparison.
________________________
WIFI
Test #01A (WiFi On): WiFi is On. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -160mA
1:00; -160mA
1:30; -152mA
2:00; -152mA
2:30; -150mA
3:00; -150mA
3:30; -154mA
4:00; -154mA
4:30; -154mA
5:00; -154mA
Result #01A: -154mA average
---
Test #01B (WiFi Off): WiFi is Off. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -148mA
1:00; -150mA
1:30; -152mA
2:00; -154mA
2:30; -160mA
3:00; -162mA
3:30; -158mA
4:00; -156mA
4:30; -158mA
5:00; -166mA
Result #01B: -156.4mA average (strange result. I'm sitting 1m from wireless router though... and I noticed Google Drive and Root App Delete restarted after the completion)
________________________
BRIGHTNESS
Test #02A (Brightness Minimum): Brightness is Minimum. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -128mA
1:00; -128mA
1:30; -120mA
2:00; -120mA
2:30; -126mA
3:00; -126mA
3:30; -140mA
4:00; -140mA
4:30; -128mA
5:00; -128mA
Result #02A: -128.4mA average
---
Test #02B (Brightness Medium): Brightness is Medium. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -158mA
1:00; -158mA
1:30; -160mA
2:00; -154mA
2:30; -154mA
3:00; -152mA
3:30; -150mA
4:00; -158mA
4:30; -152mA
5:00; -162mA
Result #02B: -155.8mA average (this test matches WIFI Test #01A. There is only 1.8mA variance. -155mA can be a baseline to compare the other tests)
---
Test #02C (Brightness Maximum): Brightness is Maximum. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -214mA
1:00; -220mA
1:30; -228mA
2:00; -222mA
2:30; -232mA
3:00; -218mA
3:30; -216mA
4:00; -222mA
4:30; -222mA
5:00; -220mA
Result #02C: -221.4mA average ([221.4-155.8 = 65.6mA from Medium] that's a multiple of 2.4 compared to the difference between minimum and medium. That's huge!)
________________________
PANELS added
Test #03A: All seven screen panels are added. All panels are clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
... Test aborted. There is no difference having multiple panels to only one. My first mA read told me that, and I had thought it would be the case beforehand.
________________________
WIDGETS
Test #04A (HTC Weather Clock 4x1): Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts, except HTC Clock. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -158mA
1:00; -156mA
1:30; -160mA
2:00; -162mA
2:30; -150mA
3:00; -152mA
3:30; -148mA
4:00; -154mA
4:30; -152mA
5:00; -156mA
Result #04A: -154.8mA average (that's basically no battery hit)
---
Test #04B (HTC Weather Clock 4x2): Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts, except HTC Clock. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -150mA
1:00; -152mA
1:30; -154mA
2:00; -158mA
2:30; -182mA
3:00; -170mA
3:30; -158mA
4:00; -162mA
4:30; -160mA
5:00; -162mA
Result #04B: -160.8mA average (the jump at 2:30? probably something else. Basically no battery hit)
---
Test #04C (Stocks 4x1, HTC Weather Clock 4x1, Data Dashboard 4x1 and Power Dashboard 4x1): Home is full of widgets. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -400mA
1:00; -396mA
1:30; -390mA
2:00; -156mA
2:30; -154mA
3:00; -154mA
3:30; -160mA
4:00; -160mA
4:30; -168mA
5:00; -168mA
Result #04C: -230.6mA average (holy stocks batman!, yes that was stock widget chewing an extra 230 or so milliamps over 1min and 30secs)
________________________
LIVE WALLPAPERS
Test #05A (Live Wallpaper HTC Sense): Wallpaper is live 'HTC Sense (1/12)'. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -286mA
1:00; -288mA
1:30; -286mA
2:00; -290mA
2:30; -292mA
3:00; -278mA
3:30; -282mA
4:00; -278mA
4:30; -280mA
5:00; -282mA
Result #05A: -284.2mA average (yep... very live)
---
Test #05B (Live Wallpaper Ice Galaxy): Wallpaper is live 'Ice Galaxy [maxelus.net]'. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -354mA
1:00; -340mA
1:30; -334mA
2:00; -326mA
2:30; -334mA
3:00; -334mA
3:30; -342mA
4:00; -324mA
4:30; -348mA
5:00; -340mA
Result #05B: -337.6mA average (beauty can be hungry!)
________________________
