Help Auto-brightness is a little... wacky.

Ni Dieu Ni Maitre · Dec 6, 2011

I prefer to use auto-brightness rather than mess with brightness settings manually (I'm lazy, forgive me). Generally it works well, but frequently I'll be sitting there doing something on my phone and the brightness will adjust itself, despite no change in the surrounding light. It just randomly gets brighter or darker. I haven't noticed any pattern to it.

I had read about this in a Galaxy S2 review online (Slashgear maybe?), so I don't think it's just my phone. Does anyone else have this issue, and/or know if there will be an update to fix it any time soon?

Not a huge issue or anything, but kind of annoying from time to time.

SGS2 · Dec 6, 2011

i have noticed this when using my phone in bed, and it picks up light from a window across the room. even if you do not think this could cause it, play with it, and see if it happens when you move the phone and it picks up more ambient light, even if across the room you are in. just a thought..

believe it or not, the light sensor is very sensitive, in my observations.

xwing · Dec 6, 2011

Mine has that problem...I'll be in a setting at it will just get brighter and darker. I do have the auto setting in place and I keep my hands away from the sensor but it still does it.

lunatic59 · Dec 6, 2011

Also note that there is a delay and and an averaging algorithm so that the screen doesn't adjust itself to every shadow or light pulse, otherwise it would almost appear to flicker.

CrimsonPride · Dec 6, 2011

you can turn off auto brightness and then adjust it by sliding your finger across the notification bar

droidrobot · Dec 7, 2011

where is the light sensor?

Xphyle · Dec 7, 2011

CrimsonPride said:
you can turn off auto brightness and then adjust it by sliding your finger across the notification bar

Learn something new every day. Thanks! NEVER would have figured this out. I wonder how many other tricks I don't know about. LOL.

X

SGS2 · Dec 7, 2011

droidrobot said:
where is the light sensor?

there are 3 total"holes", all left of the top ear screen. the large far left is the 2 gb front camera, with 2 other super small sensors to the right of the camera, both with slightly different colored sensors.

hold your phone at an angle to see them. one of the super small ones is the light sensor, and the other i don't know.. the xda developer site may know.. maybe it is the new CIA sensor?? i think you may be naked right now.

for amusement, when trping this, i used a magnifying glass to check out the 2 super small sensors next to the big camera sensor, and one super small one is redish, the other is blueish.

pkoutoul · Dec 7, 2011

CrimsonPride said:
you can turn off auto brightness and then adjust it by sliding your finger across the notification bar

Great tip but it doesn't seem to work for me. I'm probably doing it wrong. Is this documented anywhere? I didn't see it in the PDF manual.

SGS2 · Dec 7, 2011

pkoutoul said:
Great tip but it doesn't seem to work for me. I'm probably doing it wrong. Is this documented anywhere? I didn't see it in the PDF manual.

also go into settings, then display, then brightness.

strange, i could swipe the top info tray in my captivate and adjust brightness, but i can't with the sgs2.

Ni Dieu Ni Maitre · Dec 7, 2011

I think you have to hold your finger on the notification bar for a second before it will recognize that you're purposefully trying to adjust the brightness. Works for me anyway.

CrimsonPride · Dec 7, 2011

SGS2 said:
also go into settings, then display, then brightness.

strange, i could swipe the top info tray in my captivate and adjust brightness, but i can't with the sgs2.

it should work the same, i learned about if from my captivate and i am able to swipe it to adjust brightness. just be sure you have auto brightness off and dont pull down on the notification bar, just place your finger on it and then move left or right

pkoutoul · Dec 8, 2011

That worked. I was not holding it before trying to swipe. This is great because I hate the auto brightness setting but it is better than drilling down into the settings every time I want to make an adjustment. Now with this method, I can turn off the auto setting and make quick on the fly adjustments as needed.

enojy · Dec 14, 2011

I leave mine on maximum brightness at all times, since I'm frequently using my phone directly in the sun. For what it's worth, it's had no noticeable effect on battery life. I do charge on a nightly basis, but I could probably go two days without charging at maximum brightness.

Help Auto-brightness is a little... wacky.

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