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Screen Dimming At Random Times While Using It

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phaze3131

Well-Known Member
My screen will randomly start to dim as I'm using it to say scroll through contacts or texting and the screen will go to like 50% brightness.

Is this a bug because why would it be dimming if I am using the phone?
 
go into settings...sound & display...scroll down to the very bottom where it says display settings...you can change the brightness from automatic to manual...you can also change the amount of the time that it takes for the screen to time out...hope that helps...:D
 
Yes, it does seem that the light sensor is a bit wonky and I might have to switch to manual as well.
 
manual works best in low light situations...but when your moving from outside to indoor where fluorescent are used more...I like the auto setting better...but that's just my $.02...:D
 
I had some issues with the light sensor also. Either my hand put a shadow over the sensor making the screen dark, or I moved it into direct light and made it bright. I work in an office and am mostly indoors so I manually set it to one of the low settings. Plus it conserves battery usage and I can read it just fine.
 
I think this is a feature of using the auto-brightness adjustments. Seems to me that it is linked to the accelerometer too.

ricktssf

phaze3131 said:
My screen will randomly start to dim as I'm using it to say scroll through contacts or texting and the screen will go to like 50% brightness.

Is this a bug because why would it be dimming if I am using the phone?
Click to expand...
 
Vance said:
Yes, it does seem that the light sensor is a bit wonky and I might have to switch to manual as well.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure the light sensor is built into the camera so while holding the phone your finger will cover the camera sometimes causing the phone to think its dark and dim the screen.
 
The sensor is right there next to notification LED in the upper right corner. Put the screen in auto mode, put finger over that corner - you see the screen dim and the haptic buttons light up. Mine seems to work very well.
Note, however, that any app setting screen to a specific brightness seems to disable auto brightness. That is, iif you tell the app to 'return screen back to default', it takes the screen to your manual brightness setting rather than return it to auto. The power widget that comes with phone seems to have a toggle between 100% and default, and it will kick the auto mode. The Profiles app, if a profile has brightness at 'default' will use the manual setting rather than return to auto.
 
scorrpio, that is very useful about the placement of that sensor! I must have been putting a finger over it at times!
 
I have also been noticing the screens brightness level changing as a result of my hand being over the sensor. This is a really poor design by Motorola. The light sensor should not be in the right hand corner like that as it is common to hold a smartphone in a way that your hand will cover it sometimes. The iPod Touch has a light sensor for adjusting the brightness automatically and I'm not sure where it is positioned, but it never has this problem.
 
I saw this when walking down a hallway at work during the night time hours... as I would walk under a light, it would brighten and then dim when away from the light. I found this distracting. I wish the power control widget would let you put it BACK into auto mode instead of just toggling between low, med, bright.
 
droiddecar said:
I have also been noticing the screens brightness level changing as a result of my hand being over the sensor. This is a really poor design by Motorola. The light sensor should not be in the right hand corner like that as it is common to hold a smartphone in a way that your hand will cover it sometimes. The iPod Touch has a light sensor for adjusting the brightness automatically and I'm not sure where it is positioned, but it never has this problem.
Click to expand...

The location is perfectly fine. You can't make everyone happy. For me it is absolutely never an issue. Where would YOU put the sensor Mr. smarty pants?
 
I know this is an old thread but....
I have my timeout set to 2 mins and I also have the settings set to not timeout when charging. However, when in my car and its in a (non droid) cradle w charger plugged in, it will dim the light after a while (couple minutes), making it pretty much impossible to see what's one the screen. I have to tap the screen for it to come back. why is this ? How do I disable it ?
 
forget auto brightness, i don't use it, and i also use screebl lite, way awesome app

chart
 
az_r2d1 said:
I have to tap the screen for it to come back. why is this ? How do I disable it ?
Click to expand...

There's an app called "Screen On" that will keep the screen from turning off in whatever apps you choose. I've used it on Google Maps, when I'm not navigating somewhere, but just want the maps to stay on the screen while I drive. I also use it in my RSS reader.
 
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