Thinking of buying - backlight question...

[dsvilko]

Hi,
I am trying to decide whether to buy this phone or the Samsung Galaxy S, as my first android smartphone.
I love the form factor and the pixel density on the Ray but have a few reservations. I read a lot of ebooks on my phone, mostly at night so to me it's very important that the backlight can be decreased to a comfortable level. I have quickly compared the lowest backlight level of a few models (in a shop) and Ray seems better than most but still MUCH brighter than my current phone (a Nokia 6124 with a 2" screen so even the 3.3" will be a big step up). For illustration my current backlight level on my Nokia for night book reading is so low that after turning off the lights I have to wait a few seconds before I can see that the backlight is actually ON and maybe 10 seconds before I can read comfortably

I understand that there is a nice (free) app called "Screen Filter" that is able to dim the screen further by lowering the actual image intensity. This works wonderfully with a AMOLED screens but for it to be really effective with a LCD screen, contrast has to be quite high.

Is there any possibility someone would test this app for me and see if the screen brightness can be reduced to a level where it poses no eye-strain even in complete darkness? Ideally, test it with a white on black text.
That would be great! How black is the black colour in very dark environment? Is there much backlight bleeding through/around the screen? I know that this can be quite subjective.
What about the home button LED? Can it be turned off as I am guessing it's quite bright. Does it even turn ON while reading an ebook, for example?
I am new to this forum but looking around it seems the people here are very nice so hopefully I'll get a reply

 

[dsvilko]

Almost 200 views but no reply?
Here, I have made it even simpler.... No need to install the Screen Filter. Lower the backlight to the minimum and open this test webpage:
http://domjan.fizika.org/b.html
It should be observed in complete darkness. How does it look? How's the contrast (how black is the black background)? What about the Home button?
Please? This is something I really can't test in a well lit shop.

 

[iamviveksri]

done wat u ask
its quite easy to read --long time since i read the opening lines of Alice in W


however i use opera browser which may have helped in the formatting... this u will have to install after buying

personally this is hardly the only criteria for buying Ray..... but i hope my answer helps u

 

[dsvilko]

Thanks! Could you only be a bit more specific? The point is not whether you can read it or not - I would be very surprised if you couldn't - but how is the contrast in a very dark environment. Easy to read does not tell me a lot. I guess you wouldn't happen to have a digital camera and be willing to photograph the linked page in complete darkness? I could then photograph my phone with the same settings and compare.

 

[iamviveksri]

here u r

 

[sturiellet]

I tried it too
opened the web page in the standard browser, turned the brightness off with the apposite widget and went in a room with shutters down.
the background black seems as black as the phone itself and I could read easly but the screen still has some low emission (I could light my hand a bit). The home-button led doesn't turn on spontaneously unless you set it (i.e. notifications) but the status bar is brighter than the whole page, maybe that's where most of that extra light comes from. also I had to zoom a bit the text in order to read it and so every time I drag down the page to scroll, the zoom control [+ -] appears causing the brightness to increase a bit...

 

[dsvilko]

Thank you but I have a feeling you missed the point. I can't do anything with a screenshot (other than see that the Opera didnt render the page correctly - the text should be dark gray). I need an actual photo of the screen taken with a real digital camera, without a flash and saved as a jpeg with a full EXIF. I can then use the same ISO, shutter and aperture to photograph my phone, find the backlight level that matches yours and see how bright it is. Complicated, I know but I don't see a simpler way to objectively judge the backlight level. Alternatively someone could try to honestly answer my questions. Considering the popularity of the Screen Filter app a lot of people are not happy with the minimal backlight of their phones. On the other hand, most are, especially if they are not in a habit of reading at night. That is why "looks fine to me" replies are unfortunatelly not very informative.

 

[sturiellet]

here you go:

EXIF info:
Exposure Bias: 0/3
Metering Mode: Pattern
Chrominance Table: 0
Equip Make: Canon
Thumbnail ResolutionY: 180/1
Thumbnail ResolutionX: 180/1
YCbCr Positioning: 1
Thumbnail Compression: 6
FileSource: DSC
DTDigitized: 2012:05:27 19:11:23
FocalLength: 7.7
Y Resolution: 180/1
FocalXRes: 768000/71
Orientation: 1
FocalYRes: 768000/71
MaxAperture: 95/32
Resolution Unit: 2
Shutter Speed: 1/1
DTOrig: 2012:05:27 19:11:23
Sensing Method: One-chip color area sensor
CompBPP: 5/1
Flash: reserved
FocalResUnit: 2
JPEG InterFormat: 5108
X Resolution:180/1
Equip Model: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 750
PixXDim: 3072
FPXVer: -
Maker Note: -
JPEG InterLength: 1641
ColorSpace: 1
F-Number: F/2.8
PixYDim: 2304
Thumbnail Data: 255
Luminance Table: 0
Date Time: 2012:05:27 19:11:23
Exposure Time: 1
Aperture: F/2.8
(ISO was set to 50)

 

[iamviveksri]

this is AWESOME

 

[dsvilko]

That's what I am talking about! Thank you!

 

[iamviveksri]

please thank the sender by pressing the thanks button!