What's the latest opinion on screen brightness?

**mobilemedic20** · 02-23-2010, 07:44 PM

In terms of battery life and everything? Does it make a big difference to turn off auto-brightness and leave it on 20-30% or so? Or not worth it?

**thebizz** · 02-23-2010, 07:52 PM

Depends on your environment I see no difference between the two so im now running with auto brightness

**largeselection** · 02-23-2010, 08:49 PM

I use auto brightness and so far my battery life has been great. I prefer the auto brightness because then I don't have to manually dim it if I'm in a dark environment.

**mobilemedic20** · 02-23-2010, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by largeselection

I use auto brightness and so far my battery life has been great. I prefer the auto brightness because then I don't have to manually dim it if I'm in a dark environment.

Yeah I think I might stick with auto brightness. On my 3rd day with the phone, I'm not psyched about the battery life. Less than 20% left after 8 hours of use... pretty weak. Not heavy use either, just average. However, I looked at the battery usage statistics, and talk time (1.5 hrs) was clearly the biggest drain, at almost 50%! That seems really excessive. Display was only 25%, so I'm guessing auto brightness isn't too big of a deal. Hoping the battery life gets better... That's one thing I LIKED about the blackberry - that thing last 2 days on heavy use.

**prometheus** · 02-23-2010, 09:04 PM

Mmy top battery consumption is ALWAYS display. Once you root, you can dim below the stock minimum of 10% brightness. i run all day at the lowest possible setting.

I use an app (free in market) called fastbright. Its a one-touch widget type app (strange, it's not a widget, but the app is a one-touch fuction). Anyhow, you tap the app button and it immidiately adjusts the screen brightness to whatever you have defined as a preset brightness - Very handy for outside with sun.

**mobilemedic20** · 02-23-2010, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by prometheus

Mmy top battery consumption is ALWAYS display. Once you root, you can dim below the stock minimum of 10% brightness. i run all day at the lowest possible setting.

I use an app (free in market) called fastbright. Its a one-touch widget type app (strange, it's not a widget, but the app is a one-touch fuction). Anyhow, you tap the app button and it immidiately adjusts the screen brightness to whatever you have defined as a preset brightness - Very handy for outside with sun.

hm maybe i'll look into that... i think ill stick with auto for now though until my battery's broken in a bit and then mess around with it.

**jhamilton3#CB** · 02-23-2010, 09:16 PM

Auto brightness has given me the best results.. although its not too drastic of a difference.

**prometheus** · 02-23-2010, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by JHamilton24

Auto brightness has given me the best results.. although its not too drastic of a difference.

So, let me get this straight... you run with the brightness turned ALL THE WAY dowm and autobrightness enabled and this gives you good battery performance? Plus, you don't ever have to mess with the settings or use any apps?

I used autobright for a little while and it just switched dark / bright / dark / bright almost constantly, it was annoying. Was I doing something wrong?

**Hardcase** · 02-23-2010, 11:18 PM

I use Toggle Settings. It allows you to set the brightness and many other features based on different profiles. I use it to switch between car, work, meetings, etc. You can also set sound levels.

**Card Storm** · 02-24-2010, 01:52 AM

Originally Posted by mobilemedic20

In terms of battery life and everything? Does it make a big difference to turn off auto-brightness and leave it on 20-30% or so? Or not worth it?

no it really doesnt

**Mr.Miagi** · 02-24-2010, 09:23 AM

I normally left it on auto brightness and never had a problem, battery would last an entire day with heavy usage and never had a problem seeing outside or inside. (maybe sometimes a little too bright inside)

But now since I have rooted my phone i dont feel like auto brightness works well anymore. I always left it on the minimum and it would adjust if I went outside. Now I can never see the screen outside and have to adjust it myself. I like my phone rooted too much to change it so I guess i'll look into one of the apps suggested here.

**white_star_32** · 02-24-2010, 09:45 AM

I have to agree with mr. miagi, pre-root days i used auto brightness and because it was easier not having to adjust it myself and the battery lasted all day under substantial use. (prometheus, i vaguely remember my auto bright going haywire at first, but it settled down after a day or so...i think)

i'm tempted to try the auto again now tho...just see if DM 1.0 works friendly with it...

**jbharman45** · 03-06-2010, 06:53 PM

Because I have clocked my Droid, I am a little more sensitive to the power drain on my Droid. I have finally set on leaving my backlight set on 10% and have disabled auto brightness. This is normally too low in most situations, but I have resolved that with a wonderful app called Screebl. Basically you set the angles at which it will boost the backlight to 40% (or whatever you set) and set the screen timeout to 15 seconds. If you are within those angles (i.e. holding your phone in your hand) it will keep the backlighting on. Lay it down, or even propped up at the correct angle and don't move for 2 minutes and it shuts down. Out of the angle, 15 seconds. It's the best of both worlds and you NEVER have to worry about the screen going dark if you are actually using it. It has made a huge difference for me. I really cannot live without it now.

**pops.comp** · 03-06-2010, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by jbharman45

Because I have clocked my Droid, I am a little more sensitive to the power drain on my Droid. I have finally set on leaving my backlight set on 10% and have disabled auto brightness. This is normally too low in most situations, but I have resolved that with a wonderful app called Screebl. Basically you set the angles at which it will boost the backlight to 40% (or whatever you set) and set the screen timeout to 15 seconds. If you are within those angles (i.e. holding your phone in your hand) it will keep the backlighting on. Lay it down, or even propped up at the correct angle and don't move for 2 minutes and it shuts down. Out of the angle, 15 seconds. It's the best of both worlds and you NEVER have to worry about the screen going dark if you are actually using it. It has made a huge difference for me. I really cannot live without it now.

That sounds like a pretty slick app..I'll have to check it out..I have been using auto-bright but its too bright inside in the dark, and not bright enough in sunlight..and haven't seen much improvement in battery life.

**DroidUzerInAL** · 03-08-2010, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by prometheus

So, let me get this straight... you run with the brightness turned ALL THE WAY dowm and autobrightness enabled and this gives you good battery performance? Plus, you don't ever have to mess with the settings or use any apps?

I used autobright for a little while and it just switched dark / bright / dark / bright almost constantly, it was annoying. Was I doing something wrong?

The Droid has a built in sensor at the top of the screen (same sensor that turns the display off when you put the phone to your face) and if the brightness was constantly changing, then you were probably blocking light from the sensor at times causing the display to brighten.

**dangerboy13** · 03-08-2010, 01:03 PM

I have auto brightness turned off, and the brightness set to the lowest setting. I usually don't have any issues. If it is too dim, I have the Power Control widget on my home screen, so I just hit the brightness button to toggle it up.

GenericMessage · 03-08-2010, 08:04 PM

MY auto brightness freaks out because my big hands tend to cover the light sensor on the phone =/

So therefore i turn it off, and by doing so, turn off my battery =/

**Salacon** · 03-09-2010, 01:39 AM

The Droid I had appeared to be just fine; I was using the auto-adjust setting for the brightness. Hopefully my new Droid goes well too.

**paulroemer** · 06-22-2010, 01:45 PM

My brightness level will not lock. I do have have it on auto detect. I slide the bar all the way to 100% and it resets after a while to zero. I have tried Toggle and I get the same results. I had the same problem with volumes until I found an app to lock it. How can I lock the brightness so that it only changes when I want it to.

**Dapke36** · 06-22-2010, 04:43 PM

I've tried auto brightness and brightness all the way down, and I get about 30 minutes, maybe an hour extra, out of my battery. It will make much more difference depending on your office environment- brighter lights will obviously mean a brighter screen, and therefore decreased battery life.

**Keysopen** · 06-25-2010, 09:15 PM

I use the power control widget to adjust the brightness. I get great battery life that way. The widget helps me keep and eye on the wifi, gps and bluetooth. easy to turn them on and off easily.