Auto Brigtness sensor

[sup3r1or]

Hello everyone.
Just got my S7 yesterday after selling my note 5.
What I noticed is auto brightness not working properly or maybe just takes ages to kick in. Sometimes I have to trun it off and on for it to work. Either screen on sunlightbwill be super bright but when I get to a darker room it wont change and lower brightness.
I ran test menu see the sensor it seems to be working.

 

[mitul_mehta]

No issue at my end..

 

[chanchan05]

No issue on my end as well. Have yoy checked if there are any software updates for you to install?

 

[sup3r1or]

Yeah nothing. Software update came out when I bought the phone. Got into bed today and its as bright as hell. Had to untick and tick auto brightness again. Had similar issue on note 5 but not nearly as bad.

 

[Keith Murphy3]

Sounds like a defect. I would try doing a hard reset to see if it fixes things, maybe an app is causing it to happen? Did it do this new out of the box? You should be able to exchange it in some manner if you just got the phone.

 

[dpham00]

Seems like something isn't right. Auto brightness is pretty good on mine

 

[ssj100]

I've also noticed this issue. And many others have too:
Auto brightness not working correctly | Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

For me (like many others in the above thread), the issue only occurs when going from a bright to dark environment. From a dark to bright environment, the auto-brightness (brightening) works decently (adjusts within 2-3 seconds).

But from a bright to dark environment, the auto-brightness (dimming) only works when the phone is held or placed horizontally (adjusts within 4-5 seconds...interesting that it takes slightly longer). If the phone is not horizontal (more than ~10-20 degrees from horizontal), then the auto-brightness doesn't work.

What would be really helpful is if people try to reproduce the above and post whether they can or not. But from my experience, this will probably be the last reply in this thread. Tactically jinxing it so people will post, but they won't actually post specifically whether they can reproduce it or not. Hehe.

So basically make sure you're holding the phone vertically and going from a bright to dark environment (can simulate this by being in a bright room and covering the light sensor with your finger/thumb, while ensuring the phone is in a vertical position).

 

[sunburned]

Mine is having problems too. Usually when I'm laying in bed with the phone vertical and turn out the bedside light, the brightness won't go down. I have to cycle the auto-brightness before it turns down.

 

[ssj100]

Mine is having problems too. Usually when I'm laying in bed with the phone vertical and turn out the bedside light, the brightness won't go down. I have to cycle the auto-brightness before it turns down.

Thanks for replying. As noted above, no one else will (weird phenomenon I've noticed while on these forums), so appreciate it.

Can you test that positioning the phone horizontally triggers auto-brightness to work? Also, what update are you at? I'm still on the April update, so would be curious to see if the May or June updates fix this issue.

I'm actually quite certain everyone has this issue. They just haven't noticed it (to be honest, it doesn't actually affect me at all in my everyday use, and I only noticed it due to my "OCD"!) or enjoy positioning their phones horizontally all the time. For those who don't have this issue, the only explanation I have is that they are on the May or June updates which have fixed the issue?

 

[sunburned]

My latest update was last week, so mid June. I'll try to test the brightness thing tonight. I have heard of that same 'fix' before and I thought I tried it to no avail. But I'll check again.

 

[sup3r1or]

Mine would not dim even in horizontal positon. I took it to Samsung store and after going tk service menu *#0*# there is auto dimming button. Mine would brighten up but not dim upon sliding down. The shop said ot was most likely a lemon phone and changed it to a new one. Now its working fine.

 

[eve6er69]

Ugh my note3 used to do that. I hope you get yours fixed. It drove me nuts! Especially texting while walking out of a building. I couldn't see anything! Haha

 

[ssj100]

Mine would not dim even in horizontal positon. I took it to Samsung store and after going tk service menu *#0*# there is auto dimming button. Mine would brighten up but not dim upon sliding down. The shop said ot was most likely a lemon phone and changed it to a new one. Now its working fine.

Interesting. To clarify, you couldn't even dim your phone manually? If so, that's a different problem to what's being described above.

 

[ssj100]

Ugh my note3 used to do that. I hope you get yours fixed. It drove me nuts! Especially texting while walking out of a building. I couldn't see anything! Haha

That sounds like your phone wasn't brightening? If so, that's a different problem to what's being described above.

 

[chanchan05]

I just tested mine by holding it under the table and taking it out. Takes 1-2 sec to brighten, then 3-4 sec to dim.

 

[ssj100]

I just tested mine by holding it under the table and taking it out. Takes 1-2 sec to brighten, then 3-4 sec to dim.

That's exactly the timing I'm noticing too. The only difference for me is that it doesn't dim if the phone is in the vertical position. Can I double check that you're noticing no issues while holding the phone vertically? That is, it's dimming in 3-4 sec when you're holding the phone vertically the whole time?

 

[chanchan05]

That's exactly the timing I'm noticing too. The only difference for me is that it doesn't dim if the phone is in the vertical position. Can I double check that you're noticing no issues while holding the phone vertically? That is, it's dimming in 3-4 sec when you're holding the phone vertically the whole time?

Hmm. It appears to be indeed that way. It only dims when completely horizontal. It brightens up quickly and correctly though.

Thinking about it, it feels like more intentional rather than a bug. Why else would autobrightness software be coded to watch for the gyroscope? I guess it helps the eyes that it does not dim too quickly, that the eyes don't need to adjust that rapidly. Holding the device vertically or an angle does imply that the phone is currently in use. Seems like the phone is not dimming while currently in use. A quick screen off and on will set the screen on a lower brightness even if held vertically. Whatever their reason though, it's a bit weird.

 

[ssj100]

Hmm. It appears to be indeed that way. It only dims when completely horizontal. It brightens up quickly and correctly though.

Thinking about it, it feels like more intentional rather than a bug. Why else would autobrightness software be coded to watch for the gyroscope? I guess it helps the eyes that it does not dim too quickly, that the eyes don't need to adjust that rapidly. Holding the device vertically or an angle does imply that the phone is currently in use. Seems like the phone is not dimming while currently in use. A quick screen off and on will set the screen on a lower brightness even if held vertically. Whatever their reason though, it's a bit weird.

Wow, thanks for the reply! You've confirmed my suspicions that it's a universal issue, and not just on select phones.

I also suspected that it may well be intentional. As I said above, it doesn't actually bother me and for my everyday use, I don't notice any impact. In fact, I can see it being a bit annoying in some situations if it did dim too quickly. However, there are definite situations where it can be annoying that it doesn't dim quickly. As some have noticed, one situation is when you are in bed with the room light on initially (say it's a really bright light), and then you switch the light off while still using the phone (that is, held vertically in your hands) - your eyes may find the screen too bright in the darkness!

But I guess this may not be a big issue for most people anyway - for example, I don't think many people dim their TVs or computer screens when they switch the light off in the room. I certainly don't.

And to be fair, to activate the auto-dimming in such a situation, it's not exactly difficult to bring up the swipe down menu and tap the auto-brightness icon twice, hold the phone horizontally for 4-5 seconds, or to switch the phone off and on. For actual usability, it's far more important that the phone auto-brightens quickly, which it does very well (in about 1-2 seconds as you noted) - not being able to see the screen because it's too dim is a big problem, while the screen being a bit too bright (which I personally don't really experience, perhaps because it's AMOLED display, so it's easier on the eyes even when it's bright etc?) is arguably not an issue at all.

 

[chanchan05]

Wow, thanks for the reply! You've confirmed my suspicions that it's a universal issue, and not just on select phones.

I also suspected that it may well be intentional. As I said above, it doesn't actually bother me and for my everyday use, I don't notice any impact. In fact, I can see it being a bit annoying in some situations if it did dim too quickly. However, there are definite situations where it can be annoying that it doesn't dim quickly. As some have noticed, one situation is when you are in bed with the room light on initially (say it's a really bright light), and then you switch the light off while still using the phone (that is, held vertically in your hands) - your eyes may find the screen too bright in the darkness!

But I guess this may not be a big issue for most people anyway - for example, I don't think many people dim their TVs or computer screens when they switch the light off in the room. I certainly don't.

And to be fair, to activate the auto-dimming in such a situation, it's not exactly difficult to bring up the swipe down menu and tap the auto-brightness icon twice, hold the phone horizontally for 4-5 seconds, or to switch the phone off and on. For actual usability, it's far more important that the phone auto-brightens quickly, which it does very well (in about 1-2 seconds as you noted) - not being able to see the screen because it's too dim is a big problem, while the screen being a bit too bright (which I personally don't really experience, perhaps because it's AMOLED display, so it's easier on the eyes even when it's bright etc?) is arguably not an issue at all.

Interesting turn of events.

I tested that last night with artificial lighting, I stood inside a closed room and turned the light on and off to get those results of the phone not dimming when held at a positive angle above horizontal.

A few minutes ago, I was texting outside (its 3.30pm here). The day was a bit overcast but still needed around 60% lighting on auto. I had the phone held at approximately 40-50 degrees, and as I walked into my apartment building (the lobby was pretty dim. No lights, with natural lighting coming from the front glass doors and a side window about 20m away from each other) and the screen dimmed as I was using it.

Seems to be more to it than simple gyro sensing.

 

[ssj100]

Interesting turn of events.

I tested that last night with artificial lighting, I stood inside a closed room and turned the light on and off to get those results of the phone not dimming when held at a positive angle above horizontal.

A few minutes ago, I was texting outside (its 3.30pm here). The day was a bit overcast but still needed around 60% lighting on auto. I had the phone held at approximately 40-50 degrees, and as I walked into my apartment building (the lobby was pretty dim. No lights, with natural lighting coming from the front glass doors and a side window about 20m away from each other) and the screen dimmed as I was using it.

Seems to be more to it than simple gyro sensing.

Yes, forgot about that, haven't tested that scenario specifically again, but I'm quite sure that's what I've noticed too. Natural lighting (?sunlight), or a relative lack of it, seems to trigger the auto-brightness to dim no matter what angle you're holding the phone. All a bit strange.

I'll make sure to test that scenario (going from bright natural light to a dark environment) specifically and post back my results. You do realise you could easily test it by just covering the light sensor with your finger/thumb. No need to move from place to place or switch lights off.

Regardless, I think this is the "problem" with a phone having so many different sensors?:
Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2