Dialer blanking out

[Suzette5]

I have a Huawei Mercury (m886) with 2.3.5.

I have a problem I would like to find a solution to.

When I have placed a call and have to input additional numbers (such as when entering an extension number) the dialer screen flashes.

This is hard to describe. Its not like it might do if the phone were going to sleep. Its more like the flash you might see on a lighted marquee sign. OR you might describe it like the lights flashing for a deaf person when a call is coming in.

The screen will flash off then on then off then on. If I am careful I can time my input to the flash but this is annoying in the extreme.

Is there anyway to fix this? I have looked through settings but I cant see anything that would cause this behavior.

Help appreciated.
(yes, I did post this on phandroid too - but it seems to have a malware problem at the moment)

 

[dbareis]

Some sort of issue with the proximity sensor? I'd probably download a diagnostic app and see what it says.

 

[Suzette5]

Thanks for the tip. I found an app "androsenso" that is pretty cool. It could tell me nothing about what was actually wrong however. BUT your tip about the proximity sensor got me to take a look. I turned off the proximity sensor and that solved the problem.

How important is that proximity sensor? Is this a warranty issue or just a dumb user one?

Thanks for your help

 

[dbareis]

How important is that proximity sensor? Is this a warranty issue or just a dumb user one?

Could be either, get someone else to use it, if the diagnostic read OK when has at different distances then it might be OK. Its meant to turn off the screen when near your phone so you don't accidently press it against your face an dial.