Help Light sensor not working?

[wynand32]

Not sure that the light sensor on my Photon is working. Brightness doesn't seem to adjust automatically, and the in-pocket protection thing doesn't seem to be working. Anyone else seeing this?

 

[wynand32]

Just thought I'd bump this one by asking: can anyone verify that their "in-pocket protection" feature is working? It's a simple test:

1. Turn it on under Settings, Display.
2. With the phone on and unlocked, put it in your pocket (I put my face-down, but it doesn't matter as long as it's in a dark place).
3. Pull it out and check if it's turned off (and, I believe, locked).

If this is something that's supposed to be working with this firmware, then I'll have to go get mine replaced. If it's not, then I'm okay with waiting for a fix, just want to know if my unit is defective or not.

Thanks!

 

[reddragon72]

It appears that the sensor is working because when I cover the sensor the button lights turn on at the bottom, but yea the screen doesn't seem to be dimming or brightening at all.

 

[wynand32]

It appears that the sensor is working because when I cover the sensor the button lights turn on at the bottom, but yea the screen doesn't seem to be dimming or brightening at all.

Yes, I do believe the sensors are physically working, because a number of sensor apps verify it. It's just that the dimming/brightening doesn't work as it should, and the in-pocket protection doesn't work.

Could you do the test I mention above and see if it works for you?

 

[earlgsxbusa]

I have tried these tests as well:

- In Pocket Function doesnt work
-Auto Dim is not functioning
-When on "some" calls, the screen is still on. What happens as I talk, my check or face will start hitting numbers or hang up on the call.

Hopefully there is a fix or this is a bug that will be fixed. I dont think its a hardware malfunction since when on Calls the sensor knows when I am on a call. My quick fix is to hit the power button on top to turn the screen off while on a call.

 

[wynand32]

Thanks for checking! Yes, I think this is software, at least with the light sensor. I'll note that my proximity sensor (which turns off the screen when put to the face) does seem to work fine, at least on the few calls I've made so far.

Here's some additional info that I've noticed about the light sensor: it won't dim/brighten the screen when you transition from dark to light or light to dark, but it WILL adjust the screen if you hit the power button to put it to sleep, then to bring it out/unlock. I've done that outside in the SoCal sun, and it works.

On a positive note, the screen is outstanding in direct sunlight once it DOES get brighter. I'm not sure if it's 100% brightness, but it's the best phone I've had so far in those conditions.

 

[reddragon72]

I did a 1min battery pull and it seems to be working now. So shutdown and pull the battery for 1 min and see what happens. At this point i am considering doing a factory restor to fix a few quarks.

 

[wynand32]

I did a 1min battery pull and it seems to be working now. So shutdown and pull the battery for 1 min and see what happens. At this point i am considering doing a factory restor to fix a few quarks.

Hmmm... I did that as well, and didn't seem to make a difference. So you did the pull, and now the in-pocket protection thing works?

I'll give it another shot...

Edit: Nope, no difference.

 

[wynand32]

Here's what I think is happening, for anyone who's interested: the phone seems to only register one change in brightness after an unlock. That is, if you go directly from a dark room to full sunlight, it will not brighten. If you lock/unlock the phone, it will register the light and brighten the screen. If you then take it directly back into a darker room, it will not register the change. Then, if you lock/unlock, it will see the change and dim the screen.

This seems to persist even if there's a delay in the change in light after the unlock. In other words, it literally will only register one change no matter when it happens, until a lock/unlock cycle cleans something out and it will register one more change.

This might also explain why the "in-pocket protection" isn't working in most cases. It's simply not registering the change in darkness. I haven't been able to verify it, but it theoretically should work once if you unlock, don't change light levels, and stick it straight in your pocket.

 

[dsstrainer]

I found the light sensor works almost too well for auto-brightness. With the Evo, the phone would wait until it was unlocked to adjust the brightness and you'd see a noticeable fade. With the Photon, I find that the second I push the power button to turn the screen on, it already has the current brightness appropriate for the room already. Lock it again and turn off the screen.. turn on the light in the room... wait 5 secs push power, and the screen is already brightened. Which is a nice feature, but also tells me that it is working overtime on brightness checking when it should be saving power.

The pocket thing, however, I tested only briefly and also noted that the phone did not turn itself off when I had it in my pocket for 2 secs.

 

[wynand32]

Yes, I think that's pretty much correct: the phone checks brightness when it comes out of a locked state and adjusts. This is different from my Epic, which adjusted brightness on an ongoing basis so if I walked into a brighter or darker room, the screen would automatically adjust.

Now that you mention the Evo doing the same as the Photon, maybe this is actually expected behavior and the phone is actually working as designed. If so, I guess that's okay, although I do like how the Epic does it. I guess it's just a quick lock/unlock to adjust brightness, so not a big deal. I'm checking with Motorola, however, to see if this is indeed how it's supposed to work.

However, the in-pocket thing would seem to imply that the light sensor would need to be constantly sampling. Otherwise, how would it know it's in pocket (i.e., a suddenly much darker place)? I'm still guessing that it's not working because the sensor isn't constantly sampling...

 

[reddragon72]

I take it back the backlight does not seem to be adjusting and now the screen wont blank while in a call.need to get this looked at ny moto.

 

[IMAMEX]

I have tried these tests as well:

- In Pocket Function doesnt work
-Auto Dim is not functioning
-When on "some" calls, the screen is still on. What happens as I talk, my check or face will start hitting numbers or hang up on the call.

Hopefully there is a fix or this is a bug that will be fixed. I dont think its a hardware malfunction since when on Calls the sensor knows when I am on a call. My quick fix is to hit the power button on top to turn the screen off while on a call.

I just recently migrated to a Photon after a year with a Fascinate that slowly but surely stopped working properly and out of all the changes between the phones the fact that the screen stays on has been the most maddening. Good to know it's something that's not supposed to be happening.