Froyo FRF85B Ambient light sensor only working one way - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi, I am new to these forums and bought my nexus one one month ago. After the recent froyo OTA my ambient light sensor only brightens my screen. If the light dims and even when there is no ambient light it fails to lower the brightness and will stay bright forever.
I have tried using wipe cache and a complete factory reset from recovery mode. After this I even reflashed the official froyo OTA which is found on these forums. I am a new user and can't post links yet.
This is an AT&T, Rogers/Fido phone and it is stock. Can someone please confirm and see if this ambient light senor problem is an actual bug and exists on other phones. If not then what can I do to fix it as it was working properly before.

Yes, I have FRF83 (T-Mobile version) and that seems to be the case for me, as well: the display will only dim when I first hit the power switch to bring it out of standby. It will increase the brightness when the ambient light becomes brighter, but not vice versa. I hadn't really noticed it until now.
My suspicion is that this is intentional. The original software on the Nexus One generated a lot of complaints that the screen brightness changed unpredictably, that very minor movement of the unit would make the brightness change repeatedly. At least this way, the screen is guaranteed not to be inappropriately dim, but you will still get most of the power-saving benefit when you turn the unit on in a low-light environment.

I too believe this is intentional, I'm sure I read about it somewhere.

Alright, thank you for your responses. It would appear that they did this intentionally. As long as it's not a problem with my hardware only, I just got worried.

Related

Auto brightness not working as it should?

I have been noticing that my auto brightness doesn't work like it did when I first got my phone a few months ago.
Back then it seemed like it changed brightness after a few seconds when it should.
Nowadays it doesn't seem to do that anymore.
Now if I hold my phone close to a bright light, hit the power button and unlock the phone, the screen is very bright, as it should. When I hold my phone in a dark place, it doesn't adjust the brightness. It keeps being very bright.
BUT, if I hold my phone in a dark place and hit the power button and unlock the phone, it's dark, but when I move my phone to a brighter location it does make the screen brighter.
I first thought this had to do with CM, but now on stock froyo it does the same thing.
Is this normal, and am I just mistaken? And should the phone adjust the brightness when I hold my thumb on the sensor thats just right under the power button on the front of the phone (I expect the screen to be less bright)? Because it doesn't do that.
Thanks in advance.
No it's not normal, mine reacts to changes in ambient light in a second or 2 (FRF50), just like yours used to.
When I cover the light sensor with my thumb, the screen dims right down.
Thanks for your reply.
Is there anything I can do to check why this doesn't happen on my phone?
Can I perform a check on the status of my sensor, on it's behavior?
And are there any known reasons why this could happen?
Thanks in advance.
This exact issue is happening with me ever since I updated to 2.2. It worked perfectly before but now I notice that once the screen adjusts to maximum brightness in a well lit area, it never dims....don't know what the problem is. But I hope there is a solution.
Good to hear I'm not the only one with problem, that gives me hope this might be a software issue rather than a non-working sensor.
Rusty! said:
No it's not normal, mine reacts to changes in ambient light in a second or 2 (FRF50), just like yours used to.
When I cover the light sensor with my thumb, the screen dims right down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I may have to take this back, in retrospect, the dimming actually could have been the screen timing out.
When covering the sensor with my thumb and not having the screen set to 15secs, it doesn't dim until I lock/unlock the screen.
Reading on another forum this is by design rather than a flaw, as people complained the screen would fade in and out in certain light conditions... now it can't.
Ah, okay. Good to hear.
Thanks again, Rusty.
froyo seems to fix the autobrightness for me, at least now i can see the screen brightness is changing according to lighting condition, previously i don't notice it (using cyan ROM prior to froyo).

[Q] Backlight issue

We just picked up a used Droid for the dev department to play with. The backlight comes on during boot up but goes off as soon as it gets into the OS. Settings appear to be normal (full brightness). Any ideas?
hard reset didn't help. The backlight goes off at the exact moment the buzzer announces the os startup. (if that makes sense)
try using other roms..
Working on rooting and loading a rom right now. I took the phone home with me and discovered the backlight isn't out just very dim. It will change slightly when I move the brightness slider around.
OK, it's now running Steel Droid with the same issue. I have a bright screen in recovery and during boot and a very dim one once booted.
try to un-check the automatic brightness, and set it to full brightness...
if that doesnt work... might be a hardware related problem...
Did that already. Seems like an odd hardware issue. I have full backlight in recovery and during boot.
Here is a video of the issue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxHqN_lycG8
Stupid question: do you have auto-brightness active? If so, maybe your light sensor could be broken.
downloadman said:
Stupid question: do you have auto-brightness active? If so, maybe your light sensor could be broken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Auto-brightness is unchecked and the brightness is set to max. There is a very slight change to the brightness when I adjust the slider back and forth.
BTW. It is currently running CM7 with the same issue.

Screen brightness bug under diffused sunlight (as in when put on a car mount)

I use my phone regularly for navigation with waze. One thing that is really annoys me is that when it's really sunny and bright outside, the phone display dims down to minimum brightness level. Brightness doesn't change even if I touched the screen. If I cover up the (brightness sensor?) on the top left part of the phone, the screen is bright again.. It seems like diffuse sunlight is causing some sort of weird thing with that sensor. I tried to point a flashlight directly on the sensor and the display brightens like it should. Only when there is diffuse sunlight, it does this weird behavior.
Anyone else seen this?
EDIT: I am on 5.1 leaked soak test. I am pretty sure I had the same thing happen when on stock 5.0
I've had that happen on other phones by different manufacturers as well. Very annoying, the only fix I had was to just disable auto brightness.
Such a good feature, but haphazardly implemented it seems.
Sent from my Moto X

The note 8 sun mode kicks in even with auto brightness turned off

Ok guys so I need to know if there is a sensor issue with my phone .I don't use auto brightness no more because if you go in the sun the brightness overrides itself to brighter than max brightness and it is the reason why I've had burn in 4 times so far and had to get the screen replaced. But I've also noticed that with auto brightness off but you have the brightness maxed out and go in the sun or shine an led torch at the sensor the screen will kick up to override max brightness sun mode out like when using auto brightness. Is this normal behaviour. Can anyone test this fpr me please .only 6 months left of warranty left
So if this is a feature its stupid ,and make sure you never put your phone on max brightness in manual or autobrightness if out side and it's sunny as it will kick in and cause screen burn .
I've factory reset it and cleared cashe still the screen in manual mode if maxed out in the sun with the brightness maxed out will auto ride to super max brightness mode .im on the oreo uk fm
Phone is uk unlocked note 8.
Anyone? I see lots of views no replys I'm sure everyone that view this thread owns a note 8?
OK lol thanks for the great respone guys smh this place sucks :good:
haircut123 said:
OK lol thanks for the great respone guys smh this place sucks :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, this place does not , if you do not get any response , it means nobody has something useful to share, beeing rude will gain you a ban
Maybe your the only person that has this error, so no one has any advice to give other than to factory reset (which you all ready done).
Most people has moved on to other phones. So you'll have to be patient. I say is take it to the Samsung store and see if it is covered under warranty.
I'm not the only person all note 8s do this i think but nobody in this thread owns a note 8 or 9 other than me because they both do it. On both my phones.its a terrible feature as it will cause burn in.if you want to be able to see the screen outside in the sun
So i've been using auto brightness for 2 years, i don't have any burned screen. Last week I've been using phone on sun, taking a lot of pictures (brightness set to auto, on camera app its option to set it to max bright) and still no burnout. I think you should say your problem to guy who will accept your warranty next time
Well this is good to know just went to the sammy service centre and tested the phones they had there with my led torch and they all do it including the s9 plus .so it maybe always was like that or it's been added into a fw.
haircut123 said:
Well this is good to know just went to the sammy service centre and tested the phones they had there with my led torch and they all do it including the s9 plus .so it maybe always was like that or it's been added into a fw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will add that friend have a s8, his screen is good. Also another friend had note 8 and now note 9, always autobrightness on, no problems so far.
I have a little experiment
1st, I set auto brightness on, turn on a torch on the sensor, brightness go to max, then turn it off, and brightness go to middle (room light on)
2nd, set the auto brightness off, slide the brightness to minimum, turn on the torch to sensor, and brightness remain to minimum, nothing change
So I assume maybe it's a software feature I don't have, you can check with your friend running the same firmware, or you can check using *#0*# on keypad, click on sensor, look for light sensor, and do a simple test, see how much lux you have when you're on direct sunlight, or in a room, then you can flip your phone down / reverse the light source, the lux sensor must be read it on continuous count, as you flip your phone, the number will get decrease
I hope you understand what I am saying, because English is not my native language
ahmadddea said:
I have a little experiment
1st, I set auto brightness on, turn on a torch on the sensor, brightness go to max, then turn it off, and brightness go to middle (room light on)
2nd, set the auto brightness off, slide the brightness to minimum, turn on the torch to sensor, and brightness remain to minimum, nothing change
So I assume maybe it's a software feature I don't have, you can check with your friend running the same firmware, or you can check using *#0*# on keypad, click on sensor, look for light sensor, and do a simple test, see how much lux you have when you're on direct sunlight, or in a room, then you can flip your phone down / reverse the light source, the lux sensor must be read it on continuous count, as you flip your phone, the number will get decrease
I hope you understand what I am saying, because English is not my native language
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did the test wrong friend you need to turn off auto brightness and slide the brightness slider to max brightness it must be fully maxed .then shine led torch at the sensor then the brightness overide kicks in and goes even brighter just like In auto brightness mode.but if the slide is not fully maxed it won't do it
haircut123 said:
I'm not the only person all note 8s do this i think but nobody in this thread owns a note 8 or 9 other than me because they both do it. On both my phones.its a terrible feature as it will cause burn in.if you want to be able to see the screen outside in the sun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haircut123 said:
Well this is good to know just went to the sammy service centre and tested the phones they had there with my led torch and they all do it including the s9 plus .so it maybe always was like that or it's been added into a fw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting you mentioned all devices do this before you went to the service centre and confirmed it. That admission renders your entire post pointless. If all the devices does this, it means it's not a fault on your sensors or anything on your side, and it means it's indeed just a feature.
Max_Terrible said:
Interesting you mentioned all devices do this before you went to the service centre and confirmed it. That admission renders your entire post pointless. If all the devices does this, it means it's not a fault on your sensors or anything on your side, and it means it's indeed just a feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said imo that all devices have this issue. Because bothe my note 8 amd 9 have the same issue .and i found a thread on reddid where 2 others also had the same issue.its not a feature because it can damage the screen it must be a software bug that Sammy need to fix
haircut123 said:
You did the test wrong friend you need to turn off auto brightness and slide the brightness slider to max brightness it must be fully maxed .then shine led torch at the sensor then the brightness overide kicks in and goes even brighter just like In auto brightness mode.but if the slide is not fully maxed it won't do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I see, after doing that, I found out that the screen goes brighter and the colors seem to be fade out
Maybe it will help us to watch better when we got under direct sunlight (I think it's not a bug)
But in real life usage, I have my adaptive brightness turn on, then when I think it's too much bright at the moment, I will manually adjust it to my desire brightness
So that the system will learn the pattern and will apply automatically next time I had the same condition
Doesn't do that with mine and I live in Hong Kong.

Auto brightness working well for you guys?

I noticed that on my S10e, auto brightness doesnt work as well as it did on my Note 9.
Sometimes I have to manually turn down my brightness if I turn off the lights in my bedroom for example. Or if i turn on the lights, brightness stays on the same level. But if i turn off my phone display then turn it back on, the brightness is suddenly changed.
How well does it work for you guys?
destz0r said:
I noticed that on my S10e, auto brightness doesnt work as well as it did on my Note 9.
Sometimes I have to manually turn down my brightness if I turn off the lights in my bedroom for example. Or if i turn on the lights, brightness stays on the same level. But if i turn off my phone display then turn it back on, the brightness is suddenly changed.
How well does it work for you guys?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have noticed that my S10e is slow to respond to ambient lighting
I have an S10 and to be honest it's hard to say if auto brightness is working how it should. Coming from an LG V30 this phone's display is significantly brighter and especially more apparent when using it in the dark. Even the darkest setting is too bright. I always check the level to make sure auto brightness is working as it should and I guess it is? Either that or it's stuck.
my only comment is that in totally dark room it does not go all the way down , it stays a little bit brighter than normal and than my old iphone x
talking about the s10+
Mohamad Gahed said:
my only comment is that in totally dark room it does not go all the way down , it stays a little bit brighter than normal and than my old iphone x
talking about the s10+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah same here, and the strange thing is that on my Samsung Note 9 & Samsung S7 it actually used to go all the way down in a totally dark room, but on this phone it doesnt for some reason..
It can take a bit for Adaptive brightness to learn what your favorite settings are like.
Yes, same here, I have s10 and in the dark auto brightness is near to half. Wtf?! I tried to calibrate, no chance. For sure this is a bug. If you go in *#0*# you will see it s writing uncalibrate light sensor
Devhux said:
It can take a bit for Adaptive brightness to learn what your favorite settings are like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nah, on my Note 9 & S7 it worked as it should on the first day i got those phones
there clearly is a problem with adaptive brightness on the S10, anyone with the S10 who had another samsung phone previously will notice that
no, the auto brightness is trash. it sucks. it never gets bright enough even tho i've made adjustments literally daily. it sucks.
Charkatak said:
I have noticed that my S10e is slow to respond to ambient lighting
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Yup. Same here. Maybe software update will fix this soon.
Even with factory reset it still happened.
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
x1tymez said:
Yup. Same here. Maybe software update will fix this soon.
Even with factory reset it still happened.
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too did factory reset...at least we have tried
Different topic: I will wait for T-Mobile firmware one more day and may possibly return the device back to Samsung and keep my Pixel 2
Charkatak said:
I too did factory reset...at least we have tried
Different topic: I will wait for T-Mobile firmware one more day and may possibly return the device back to Samsung and keep my Pixel 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my first update on unlocked version. Why return?
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
x1tymez said:
I got my first update on unlocked version. Why return?
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First reason: I want some T-Mobile features what unlocked doesn't provide natively and may require an extra app to function, but if before return window closes, I would be able to find a 100% firmware that would work, then I may not return the device.
Second reason: I don't like the fingerprint on S10e and maybe it is somehow better than S10's implementation, I still have to be more precise than Pixel 2 and other which had the sensor on the back.
Charkatak said:
First reason: I want some T-Mobile features what unlocked doesn't provide natively and may require an extra app to function, but if before return window closes, I would be able to find a 100% firmware that would work, then I may not return the device.
Second reason: I don't like the fingerprint on S10e and maybe it is somehow better than S10's implementation, I still have to be more precise than Pixel 2 and other which had the sensor on the back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I came from OnePlus 6t, the in displayed scanner suck kiwi balls. Everytime you switch screen protector you needed to rescan your finger. Lol.
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
x1tymez said:
Interesting. I came from OnePlus 6t, the in displayed scanner suck kiwi balls. Everytime you switch screen protector you needed to rescan your finger. Lol.
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, that is not convenient at all. I think the manufacturers are pushing their limits to please customers with new designs/features which in reality hurt the quality of the devices we pay for
I have the S10 plus and the auto brightness seems to be functioning fine. Occasionally in the dark I get thrown off with how bright this screen is. The brightness setting does decrease significantly in the dark but when viewing something with a mostly white background, I have to squint until my pupils constrict to a point where my retinas aren't getting torched. In brighter environments, the brightness level seems to increase accordingly.
Hi guys,
I came across an article about this issue from Aman Jain (Valuetalk) : https://www.valuewalk.com/2019/04/galaxy-s10-auto-brightness-no-issue/amp/
Facing Issues With Galaxy S10 Auto Brightness? Do This
Aman Jain Aman Jain
April 3, 2019 11:42 am
Samsung Galaxy Note 10E
rieo / Pixabay
Galaxy S10 auto brightness
rieo / Pixabay
We have already covered the issues with the proximity sensor in the Samsung Galaxy S10. Now, it appears, one more sensor in the Galaxy S10 is not working as it should. Several users are complaining that the Galaxy S10 auto brightness or the ambient light sensor is not working perfectly.
Galaxy S10 auto brightness – what’s the issue?
Affected users have raised the issue on social platforms and Samsung’s product forums (first spotted by tech site PiunikaWeb). Users complained that the brightness level does not automatically come down in low light. So, they have had to do it manually, but it remains at the set level even when the light is good.
“Sometimes I have to manually turn down my brightness if I turn off the lights in my bedroom for example. Or if i turn on the lights, brightness stays on the same level. But if i turn off my phone display then turn it back on, the brightness is suddenly changed,” one user said.
Further, users also say that with adaptive brightness turned on, the screen goes dark when facing the sun. “White highlights are bright blue, and all colors are distorted. It’s unusable. Spin back around or go into the shade, and the screen comes back to normal,” one user said on Reddit.
Users say that this was not the case with the Galaxy S9, where the auto brightness feature worked perfectly. One user even claims that the Galaxy S10 doesn’t even have a light sensor, instead, maybe there is some in-display sensor that needs a software fix.
“..even if you put your finger on the front camera the auto brightness still moves …..also if you acces this *#0*# you cannot find the light sensor because it’s not there like old samsung phones,” one user said on Samsung’s product forum.
Adaptive brightness to blame
Several users believe that the adaptive brightness is to blame here, and so they have turned it off. However, turning it off is not a solution, and many users agree to that.
“This is a huge problem, and should not be happening on a new phone. The adaptive brightness is a major feature of the phone, and simply turning it off isn’t an option as far as I’m concerned,” one Reddit user said.
It must be noted that Adaptive Brightness came with Android 9. It is an AI based feature that gets better with time. Meaning, it would learn from the interactions that users make with the screen brightness slider, and over time, it would customize the brightness automatically to meet the users’ needs.
Google says that in its testing for Adaptive Brightness, it found that half the test users made fewer adjustments to the slider after a week of using the Adaptive Brightness.
Not an issue, give it some time
Based on Google’s explanation, it seems, users need to give some more time for their phones to adapt to the Adaptive Brightness. Even Samsung’s explanation of the issue with the Galaxy S10 auto brightness is somewhat similar.
“From Android P, a user’s brightness setting pattern is learned, and when the user sets a specific brightness the automatic brightness is controlled to be closer to that specific brightness…… However, when you set the brightness, the brightness can be applied immediately in the short term. If more than 30 seconds after the screen is turned off and the ambient light environment changes by more than 60%, this short term setting brightness will return to the light that was relearned,” Samsung developers say.
Additionally, developers say that users can reset the brightness curve to start the learning process again. To do this, go to Settings – Apps – Show system apps – Device Health Service – Storage – Manage Storage – reset Adaptive Brightness.
All this explanation from Samsung developers and Google could mean that the complaints from users about the Galaxy S10 auto brightness are valid, but it still is not an issue. Things will get better with time as AI learns more about users’ preferences.
Though it is not a bug, affected users do not seem very satisfied as they still have to live with inferior quality images (even if for some time until AI applies the learning).
“Not sure it’s a error to be replicated per se. It’s just an inferior looking quality of image. They will have to make the comparison to see the very obvious difference,” one user said.
ValueWalk
FYI : the brightness sensor is under the screen like the proxity sensor, located bellow the wifi / network icon. It's visible at sun light.
inkortage said:
FYI : the brightness sensor is under the screen like the proxity sensor, located bellow the wifi / network icon. It's visible at sun light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are actually two light sensors: front and back of the phone.
Unlock the device without pressing the power button and only by placing your fingerprint on the sensor.
The light sensor starts checking the environment light only in this situation

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