[Q] Auto-brightness too sensitive? - Nexus 7 (2013) Q&A

I've noticed on my Nexus 7 that the screen will alter the brightness pretty frequently even when I'm sitting in the same place and the ambient light level around me hasn't changed. It will dim a little bit and then brighten a little bit several times while I'm just sitting there reading. It's most noticeable on a white background but it can be seen at other times too.
I'm pretty sure I'm not blocking the ambient light sensor with my hand unless there is a sensor on the bottom of the device. I've also confirmed that there isn't anything wrong with the screen by turning off auto-brightness and the screen no longer brightens or dims after that.
Anyone else think auto-brightness is too sensitive?

It could be anything. I'm sitting in a room right now where a window is about 3 feet behind me and about a foot to my left. If I rotate my device just a tiny bit it towards the window, it becomes enough to brighten my device. Then if I rotate it back to its normal position, the brightness goes back down. It's pretty sensitive.
Are you in a room with windows? Perhaps the sun is going behind a cloud or something and coming back out.

Yes there is a window but this was at night and I had a lamp on beside me. I was being very careful not to turn the N7. At this point I've just turned off auto brightness because its distracting.

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screen dims/brightens when I scroll

I notice this in opera, and today in the facebook app too, and was really baffled. The effect is quite subtle, but repeatable. When moving my finger around the screen, eg on the bbc news website panning to the top left, my screen dims. It stays dim when I remove my finger, and brightens again when I pan back down to the right.
Weird, huh?
So far it's just a curiosity and not an annoyance. Has anyone else seen this?
So I am not the only one who noticed this. I sometimes find this behaviour a bit annoying, especially in low light.
The phone has an ambient light sensor. It is adjusting because you are causing a shadow over it.
You can probably turn it off
Under the power settings/backlight - auto adjust backlight. Just uncheck it.
Any idea where the sensor is located?
Do you really think it is the ambient/light sensor? I sure don't. Scrolling through different websites I can easily reproduce this:
You scroll from one point to another, this just has to be a couple of pixels, and the screen adjusts the brightness. That is within a room with a fixed source of light and I am keeping my body as constant as possible to avoid the shadowing.
Scrolling from point A to point B makes the backlight adjust itself, even without casting any shadows or similar. Scrolling back from B to A makes the backlight instantly adjust itself back.
It's your finger causing the shadow, not your body. If you introduce an object into an ambient light source, you will find that said object will reduce the ambient light by a percentage due to partial or total obstruction. The light sensor is detecting this percentage and adjusting the screen accordingly.
The sensor itself is somewhere near the speaker.
I'm pretty sure this doen't have anything to do with the light sensor UNLESS it's cause by the screen itself becoming brighter and this registering on the light sensor, eg internal light leak.
My best guess is that it's connected to the presence/absence of certain colours on the screen, and is related to the video driver. Next time I get it I'll see if I can reproduce when scrolling via the kbd, to eliminate the theories about casting shadows on the screen.
This is not FINGER SHADOW!!!
You can notice this same thing when you plaing Solitare cards and using Stylus.
I'm sure i did't do any shadows and anyway when i pick up any card and moving aroud screen u can notice screen brighting up and down.
Using Opera 9.5, on this site http://game-board.blogspot.com/2008/05/alternative-monopoly-rules-and-game.html zoom in with double-click, scroll about half way down to the paragraph beginning "property has too much pollution on it", then scroll up and down and notice the change in screen brightness. please post if you can repeat. it does not work with the keyboard.
btw, does anyone know monopoly "bloodbath" alternative rules?
I've noticed my screen doing this without causing any shadows & without even touching the screen at all, like a 'breathing effect' when it is completely idle. I think it has something to do with light sensor polling interval which is editable via the registry, advance config and HD tweak...but since I flashed NRGZ ROM (21/08/09 build) this issue has gone anyway.

does a100 have a light sensor?

there is an option "auto" for screen brightness. but when i selected it, the screen doesn't dim at all. i looked all over my tab and i didn't find a light sensor. does it mean a100 cannot auto-adjust the brightness?
Yes it has one. In landscape, with volume at the top, it is right above the front camera.
I remember having sluggish dimming when I was on the stock rom, I did a factory reset and it made it better. Try putting it in auto, restart the tab and then take it outside and you should see it brighten up, and then dim when you come inside (if it is working).
It also never goes full dim, its light modes are pretty bright, I think to offset the viewing angle issue it has.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

When going into sleep, screen dims, but then lights back up

I've had the watch since tuesday, but am having a problem with it: when going into ambient, screen visibly dims, but ends up lighting back up... Tried several brightness settings, and it does it with all, except maximum brightness (ie 5).
So basically, when going into ambient, the screen progressively dims, but then brights up and ends up settling at the ambient brightness level it should reach when brightness is set at 5.
Have tried several watch faces, and factory resetting, but it doesn't change a thing.
Anyone experiences that?
Also tried setting brightness with Autowear: only the awake brightness is affected- the ambient brightness always stays the same...
For what is worth, it's particularly obvious with the Dandy default watch face, as it's the same in awake and ambient mode (minus the seconds hand). Set this one up, set brightness at 1, get in a low lit room, and then, I for one see the ambient brightness get dimmer, then get visibly brighter and settle there... Not that obvious in a bright room, but blatant in a dark one.
Also, I realized the watch reports the Android Wear version is 1.3.0.2176821 while it's the latest 1.3.0.2284253 on the phone. Same as, the watch reports the Google Play Services version is 8.1.20 (2283517-534) while it is 8.1.15 (2250156230) on the phone. Don't know if it matters...
Just turn on theatre mode when charging.
acp5533 said:
Just turn on theatre mode when charging.
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That, I already do. But the sun sets long before I go to bed, and lay the watch on the charger. And it's as soon as the sun sets that the watch is much too bright to me in ambient mode...

Adaptive brightness too dramatic?

I've seen a couple posts about delays with adaptive brightness, but this is a different item. I'm seeing that the adaptive brightness alters the brightness a little too dramatically. In a somewhat dark room (not pitch black) the brightness will be at absolute minimum even when the brightness is about 1/3 up on the slider. In a moderately bright room that same brightness setting will be near maximum.
Does anyone else notice this as an issue? I'm just wondering if it's normal (ie, software calibration issue) or if the brightness sensor might not be seated correctly.
It's normal. Or at least it sounds like it is working the same way mine is. And yes, IMO it is a little too sensitive. The Lux app works beautifully if you want an alternative. Also, the goog is known for tweaking this feature over time with updates.
I've noticed this too. The biggest thing for me is walking down the street at dusk (so not dark out yet) I can't read the screen as it turns it all the way down, then, when I walk under a street light, it turns it all the way up to full! It's one extreme or the other, there seems to be no middle ground.
In other words "adaptive brightness has mind of its own!"
This is why I have always kept this setting off. The brightness just changing on its own always annoyed me.
When it works properly (and it should) for ones uses, it's great, it's automatic, what's not to like? It's a pita to always have to change brightness manually just to see a phone display depending on ambient lighting which varies immensely for many users.
jbdan said:
When it works properly (and it should) for ones uses, it's great, it's automatic, what's not to like? It's a pita to always have to change brightness manually just to see a phone display depending on ambient lighting which varies immensely for many users.
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I agree. I have it set to maybe around 15-20% (centered over the WiFi symbol below it) and I never need to touch it. Gets dark enough for night driving and bright enough to read outside. Never found it stuck on one or the other when it shouldn't be.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
If you buy the app Lux you can customize how it adapts your brightness. The free version is good to but you have to use mostly default settings. By default it only adapts brightness when the screen turns on.

Question Auto brightness bugged

Is anyone having issues with auto brightness, jumping up and down every few seconds? Im currently sat in a dimly lit room with the TV on and my screen keeps changing brightness levels every few seconds, if I pull down the notification area I can see the slider jumping about. I'm guessing the phone is reacting to the TV changing brightness levels as the picture changes but it seems way too sensitive.
Yeah known issue afaik. I'm hoping it gets resolved on an update
rosso22 said:
Is anyone having issues with auto brightness, jumping up and down every few seconds? Im currently sat in a dimly lit room with the TV on and my screen keeps changing brightness levels every few seconds, if I pull down the notification area I can see the slider jumping about. I'm guessing the phone is reacting to the TV changing brightness levels as the picture changes but it seems way too sensitive.
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One of the fixes in the November update was "Improvements for auto-brightness response in certain lighting conditions.".
I think auto brightness has always been an issue with Pixels. Its a feature I always turn off at this point
rosso22 said:
Is anyone having issues with auto brightness, jumping up and down every few seconds? Im currently sat in a dimly lit room with the TV on and my screen keeps changing brightness levels every few seconds, if I pull down the notification area I can see the slider jumping about. I'm guessing the phone is reacting to the TV changing brightness levels as the picture changes but it seems way too sensitive.
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Yeah it is up and down like a brides nighty when the light it low on mine, it isn't smooth like it was on my Pixel 5. It feels a bit like the sample rate needs a longer delay because just an increase in brightness on my TV can send my Pro brightness shooting up, the adaptive display needs to wait a few seconds before acting.
MrBelter said:
Yeah it is up and down like a brides nighty when the light it low on mine, it isn't smooth like it was on my Pixel 5. It feels a bit like the sample rate needs a longer delay because just an increase in brightness on my TV can send my Pro brightness shooting up, the adaptive display needs to wait a few seconds before acting.
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Yeah my pixel 5 and 4a 5G never had this issue (same room and lighting conditions) its crap we have to pay to be beta testers nowadays, guess we will have to wait for another "fix" in next update.
crucialcolin said:
I think auto brightness has always been an issue with Pixels. Its a feature I always turn off at this point
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Should we really have to turn things off, considering the cost of this phone? Throw in a case and charger and your over £900 in for this phone, everything should work out of the box without having to turn off features.
It's horrible. When I sit at night in a dark room watching TV, it seems to react to the TV and jump all over the place. Never had this on a phone before. Why can't Google get auto brightness right? It's ridiculous.
Personally, I've always preferred Pixel's handling of auto-brightness to that of my recent Note 10+. I thought Samsung's auto-brightness didn't adapt very well (besides the dimmest not being as dim as the Pixel when using in the dark).

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