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Light Sensor not functioning well

Hi, the light sensor on my TP is not as sensitive as it was before, i used the sensor test utility and it reads dark in fair light, and it barely changes values when moving from outdoor to indoor..... my screen protector is partially covering the sensor, i removed it completely but same result, is there a utility to adjust the sensor......... please help

Also having this problem, the light sensor doesn't seem to function at all..

Same here, my sensor doesn't seem to work from what I can tell (is it next to the speaker at top?).

GroinsNZ said:
Same here, my sensor doesn't seem to work from what I can tell (is it next to the speaker at top?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thats it.
Is there any information about an upcomming firmware update by HTC? i'm having troubles with loads of bugs atm..

the only time i noticed this problem was after installing PocketShield http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=430541 .... but im sure i did not have this issue before.

I have had 3 touch pro phone's now becuase i had some issues with the screen, but all of the phone's that i had had the same problem with the light sensor, it just doesnt word properly.
We need a rom update!

Try one of the bubble level programs from over on the Diamond apps forum. Sorry I don't know which one and i don't have time to try right now, but it has a light level meter that show how many ansi lumens the sensor is registering.

Just put your finger over the sensor and see if the display dims, then remove your finger and see if it brightens again.
This test works fine on my TP.

not that much result here..

Jim Coleman said:
Just put your finger over the sensor and see if the display dims, then remove your finger and see if it brightens again.
This test works fine on my TP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
used to work, but not anymore.... i can only notice the screen change when moving from indoor to direct sun light

Go to battery options and turn the light sensor off. You'll see immediately that screen will light up. Turn the light sensor on again and the screen will darken

Omareo said:
used to work, but not anymore.... i can only notice the screen change when moving from indoor to direct sun light
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that means it works!!!

Brendo said:
that means it works!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He meant it works, just not as good as it used to.

Where is the light sensor located, exactly?

Daniel1515 said:
Where is the light sensor located, exactly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
next to the speaker on the left side.....

Huge proximity sensor problem

Guys, I have a problem with the proximity sensor on my Captivate.
The issue is that while on a call, when holding the device between my ear and my shoulder, the proximity sensor causes the screen to turn on, and starts randomly hitting buttons. So I tested it.
The proximity sensor works perfectly when the phone is "standing" on end and the proximity sensor is covered. It does NOT work (the screen does not turn off) when the phone is laying flat and you cover the sensor.
So bottom line, when the phone is standing 90 degrees, the proximity sensor turns the screen off when there's no light. When the phone is 180 degrees (or anywhere near it), even when there is no light, the sensor does not turn the phone off.
Is there any way for me to tweak the sensor at all using an app? Or is my phone defective?
Thanks.

With the phone flat on the table and I make a call, using my finger to cover the sensor the screen goes off. I try to twist and turn the phone in all angles and the screen is still off. Not sure if it's related but I had the same problems with the screen coming on when using my shoulder and cheek to hold phone.
My hair was a little longer and I think the hairs blocked the sensors.

baseballfanz said:
With the phone flat on the table and I make a call, using my finger to cover the sensor the screen goes off. I try to twist and turn the phone in all angles and the screen is still off. Not sure if it's related but I had the same problems with the screen coming on when using my shoulder and cheek to hold phone.
My hair was a little longer and I think the hairs blocked the sensors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did the same thing. With the phone flat on the table and I make a call, cover the proximity sensor with my finger, the screen stays ON. The minute I put the phone up 90 degrees, the screen shuts off.
What's going on?

ajm786 said:
I just did the same thing. With the phone flat on the table and I make a call, cover the proximity sensor with my finger, the screen stays ON. The minute I put the phone up 90 degrees, the screen shuts off.
What's going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you are running a different combination of kernel/rom? One that takes into account the devices orientation when engaging the proximity sensor?
I've never actually tested this, but I know I had various degrees of proximity sensor problems running certain ROMs. So maybe try a different combination?

Shammyh said:
Perhaps you are running a different combination of kernel/rom? One that takes into account the devices orientation when engaging the proximity sensor?
I've never actually tested this, but I know I had various degrees of proximity sensor problems running certain ROMs. So maybe try a different combination?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running Cognition 2.3b, if that helps.

ajm786 said:
I'm running Cognition 2.3b, if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't actually sorry...
Haven't used any of the Cognition ROMs in quite a while. DesignGears has a nice IRC channel though where lots of people tend to hang out. Maybe hop over there and politely ask around to see if anyone else has had the same problem? Asking within a group of Cognition users might get you more help than the XDA population in general.
All I can say is that with my i9000 kernel/radio/rom combo, my proximity sensor is not affected by the device orientation. Also, you could try running a proximity sensor test and see what happens, just to rule out defective hardware.
*#*#0588#*#* – Proximity sensor test
Hope that helps.

Shammyh said:
Doesn't actually sorry...
Haven't used any of the Cognition ROMs in quite a while. DesignGears has a nice IRC channel though where lots of people tend to hang out. Maybe hop over there and politely ask around to see if anyone else has had the same problem? Asking within a group of Cognition users might get you more help than the XDA population in general.
All I can say is that with my i9000 kernel/radio/rom combo, my proximity sensor is not affected by the device orientation. Also, you could try running a proximity sensor test and see what happens, just to rule out defective hardware.
*#*#0588#*#* – Proximity sensor test
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm using the proximity sensor test that it works fine. Proximity sensor only has two states, 1 and 0, correct? No matter the way I hold the phone, the proximity sensor test shows it running perfectly.
Does this mean that there's a problem with the ROM? Is it possible for me to simply replace the phone.apk?
Edit: Here's the EXACT problem I'm having. http://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=1916

I have this same issue!! I HATE IT! I have considered going BACK to my iphone because of it! I get tired of muting people and ending calls
ETA: I am using the leaked 2.2 Froyo not cognition

Does anyone know how to fix this? It's getting REALLY annoying!!

Does anyone know if dg is going to fix this in Perception?

ajm786 said:
Does anyone know if dg is going to fix this in Perception?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it work if you flash back to the stock ROM? If it works on stock then it's a problem with the ROM, If it doesn't work on stock then it could be a problem with your phone...

jhernand1102 said:
Does it work if you flash back to the stock ROM? If it works on stock then it's a problem with the ROM, If it doesn't work on stock then it could be a problem with your phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Flashing back to stock ROM it works perfectly. Any of the Froyo ROMs, it does not work. Cyanogenmod fixed this in his ROMs, but I am not sure if dg plans to implement this in his ROMs. :-( Unfortunately, this behavior is by design in Froyo. Google decided that during a call, it makes more sense that as soon as your phone is put in a horizontal position, that the accelerometer overrides the proximity sensor and disables it. Their decision makes no sense, because it then invalidates the need for a prox sensor in the first place.

ajm786 said:
Guys, I have a problem with the proximity sensor on my Captivate.
The issue is that while on a call, when holding the device between my ear and my shoulder, the proximity sensor causes the screen to turn on, and starts randomly hitting buttons. So I tested it.
The proximity sensor works perfectly when the phone is "standing" on end and the proximity sensor is covered. It does NOT work (the screen does not turn off) when the phone is laying flat and you cover the sensor.
So bottom line, when the phone is standing 90 degrees, the proximity sensor turns the screen off when there's no light. When the phone is 180 degrees (or anywhere near it), even when there is no light, the sensor does not turn the phone off.
Is there any way for me to tweak the sensor at all using an app? Or is my phone defective?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think its cognition. i didnt test it but i had the problem during calls, i figured it was sesitivity not position but like i said i never tested it . i think its a jj4 bug. now im using perception and it works better.

Dani897 said:
i think its cognition. i didnt test it but i had the problem during calls, i figured it was sesitivity not position but like i said i never tested it . i think its a jj4 bug. now im using perception and it works better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not Cognition. It's Froyo. Google made the choice to have the accelerometer disable the prox sensor as soon as the phone was oriented horizontally. I can't see in what situation that would make any sense at all.

Still no answer for fixing this? I am not using cognition, I am using the leaked Froyo...

FYI, im in stock eclair. I have this issue.
sent from my Captivate

I'm running cognition b7 and have the same issue but just hit the power button to manually toggle the screen in a horizontal position during a call. Hardly an inconvenience.

fooldog01 said:
FYI, im in stock eclair. I have this issue.
sent from my Captivate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eclair does not have the problem at all. Tried, tested and true. If you have the problem with stock Eclair, something is physically wrong with your phone.
silver2wind said:
I'm running cognition b7 and have the same issue but just hit the power button to manually toggle the screen in a horizontal position during a call. Hardly an inconvenience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not the point. The point is that they gimped Froyo on purpose, and for what, I don't know. It's counter-intuitive.
Just so you know, my co-worker has the Nexus S, which is basically the exact same phone as ours, except with Gingerbread. Guess what? It's FIXED on Gingerbread. Figures.

Led light

Just curious if anyone's notification led has went dimmer. When I got the phone it was bright but now it's dim and I'm trying to figure out why.

Psych0t1c20 said:
Just curious if anyone's notification led has went dimmer. When I got the phone it was bright but now it's dim and I'm trying to figure out why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dim notification light is randomly occurring on my phone. Sometimes bright, sometimes not... trying to correlate a specific action on my part (auto screen off, etc) triggers it...

The notification LED obeys the ambient light sensor on the phone (it has its own auto-brightness, essentially), so your experience might be due to that.
If I am in a dim environment and I get a notification, the LED comes up very dim. If I am in a bright environment and I get a notification, it comes up as very bright. It also worked this way on the Note7 and S7/S7 edge.

Sevael said:
The notification LED obeys the ambient light sensor on the phone (it has its own auto-brightness, essentially), so your experience might be due to that.
If I am in a dim environment and I get a notification, the LED comes up very dim. If I am in a bright environment and I get a notification, it comes up as very bright. It also worked this way on the Note7 and S7/S7 edge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes sense as to why it's so random.

any way to customize the colors? i use to rock lightflow back in the day but not sure it works for this phone.

I have just found a method to get the led always shining bright, weather in pocket or dark !!
I was about to return the phone because of the dim led issue but then put my thinking Cap on and managed to fix the dam thing.
You just need root and Light Flow.
If someone is interested to know , PM me or Skype at [email protected]
Happy bright LED.
Cheers.

IshanSharmaBiz said:
I have just found a method to get the led always shining bright, weather in pocket or dark !!
I was about to return the phone because of the dim led issue but then put my thinking Cap on and managed to fix the dam thing.
You just need root and Light Flow.
If someone is interested to know , PM me or Skype at [email protected]
Happy bright LED.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be hyper careful i saw some threads where lightflow was able to make the led stop lightning. Only hardware fix was able to bring it back alive. This happened on various s8 and s8+

From0toHero said:
Be hyper careful i saw some threads where lightflow was able to make the led stop lightning. Only hardware fix was able to bring it back alive. This happened on various s8 and s8+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had my led light module replaced as it stopped working. But not sure if Lightflow was responsible...
/CK

Café King said:
I had my led light module replaced as it stopped working. But not sure if Lightflow was responsible...
/CK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember reading the producer of the app lightflow
Hade to change a value in the app code making the led going broke.

A lot of users reported that the LED that seemed to be broken was fixed after an update from Samsung. Most likely a software issue. I have been using Lightflow and Lightflow Legacy (most recently) with no problems. The legacy version is recommended for the S8.

Smithfolk4 said:
A lot of users reported that the LED that seemed to be broken was fixed after an update from Samsung. Most likely a software issue. I have been using Lightflow and Lightflow Legacy (most recently) with no problems. The legacy version is recommended for the S8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone else is using Light Flow again? I have been using it since S3 with no problems at all, but now my notification LED went off at second day until last firmware. I know the problem was not due to Light Flow but maybe the software failed more easily in presence of Light Flow. Now I am afraid the problem only could be partially solved and still sensible to Light Flow software commands.

So what settings did you use to get lightflow to always show a bright led... I have a S8+ and a S9, both rooted.. Both with Lightflow and no matter what settings I try I can't override the ambient display.
IshanSharmaBiz said:
I have just found a method to get the led always shining bright, weather in pocket or dark !!
I was about to return the phone because of the dim led issue but then put my thinking Cap on and managed to fix the dam thing.
You just need root and Light Flow.
If someone is interested to know , PM me or Skype at [email protected]
Happy bright LED.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Red Light near Proximity sensor Always On

First of all I am not talking about Notification light.
A Red light in proximity sensor next to sony logo is always on when device is connected to wifi, or when connected to mobile data only whrn the arrow indicators appears.
This red light is on even if i disable adaptive brightness.
I am shocked why no one raised this quesrion.
Hence here I am.
I hope this is not intentional by Sony.
Coz ffs i cant get one thing to my mind that how it is helpful. It is rather annoying.
Anyone with a clue pls share.

agentsandy007 said:
First of all I am not talking about Notification light.
A Red light in proximity sensor next to sony logo is always on when device is connected to wifi, or when connected to mobile data only whrn the arrow indicators appears.
This red light is on even if i disable adaptive brightness.
I am shocked why no one raised this quesrion.
Hence here I am.
I hope this is not intentional by Sony.
Coz ffs i cant get one thing to my mind that how it is helpful. It is rather annoying.
Anyone with a clue pls share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's on on my phone as well. It was also like that on my Xperia X

I call it the "I'm watching you." light. I think its the proximity sensor's lazer. I dont think it should be on 24/7, but then there is this "Led light's lifetime depends on how many times they are turned on/off" thing. May be it is some kind of an optimisation?

cizkek_ said:
I call it the "I'm watching you." light. I think its the proximity sensor's lazer. I dont think it should be on 24/7, but then there is this "Led light's lifetime depends on how many times they are turned on/off" thing. May be it is some kind of an optimisation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It definitely has to do with data recieving signals.
But whatever it is for I am concerned about battery life
It is just plain stupid of sony to not recognize this.
Coming from z5 I thought speakers were average on z5, but I doubt XZ even have any speakers at all.
Sound is that bad on XZ. I can barely listen to ringtone and I was sitting right next to the phone. What if we are in the other room or @ some distance? We' ll definitely miss the call.

Disable adaptive brightness and the flickery red dot will go off. I can only see it in a darkened room so it doesn't bother me. I'm looking at the screen lol!
Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

LadFromWales85 said:
Disable adaptive brightness and the flickery red dot will go off. I can only see it in a darkened room so it doesn't bother me. I'm looking at the screen lol!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It bothers me when people don't read ?

agentsandy007 said:
First of all I am not talking about Notification light.
A Red light in proximity sensor next to sony logo is always on when device is connected to wifi, or when connected to mobile data only whrn the arrow indicators appears.
This red light is on even if i disable adaptive brightness.
I am shocked why no one raised this quesrion.
Hence here I am.
I hope this is not intentional by Sony.
Coz ffs i cant get one thing to my mind that how it is helpful. It is rather annoying.
Anyone with a clue pls share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is wierd...becouse if i turn off adaptive brightnes the red led light turns off but it blinks when turned on...definetly something wrong with ur sensor..nothing new these days,its a comon thing for sensors to be broken

cocagenda2 said:
this is wierd...becouse if i turn off adaptive brightnes the red led light turns off but it blinks when turned on...definetly something wrong with ur sensor..nothing new these days,its a comon thing for sensors to be broken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting.
With the same settings as before, now red light is on only on the lock screen.
I noticed just when i was reading your reply.

agentsandy007 said:
Interesting.
With the same settings as before, now red light is on only on the lock screen.
I noticed just when i was reading your reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so u say that red light turns on only on lock screen...what happens when u unlock the phone is it still on (red light)? becouse mine is always on except when screen is locked and turned off course and then it turns on again when i turn the screen on...this is how sensor should work... If urs doesnt work that way then go send the phone to waranty... I wouldnt investigate anyomre just go to Sony.

cocagenda2 said:
so u say that red light turns on only on lock screen...what happens when u unlock the phone is it still on (red light)? becouse mine is always on except when screen is locked and turned off course and then it turns on again when i turn the screen on...this is how sensor should work... If urs doesnt work that way then go send the phone to waranty... I wouldnt investigate anyomre just go to Sony.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Until yesterday it used to be always on, but now only on the lockscreen. It stays off when I unlock the device.
Why can't we seen to find the real use of that light?
Is it even a feature?

agentsandy007 said:
Until yesterday it used to be always on, but now only on the lockscreen. It stays off when I unlock the device.
Why can't we seen to find the real use of that light?
Is it even a feature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looks like this proximty sensor works that way by having red light turned on...so does ur adaptive brightnes still work after it turns off when u unlock the screen?i feel its faulty sensor!i can share u my experience with Z5...i had white spots on screen so i send it to repair and they replaced the screen but also they managed to break proxity sensor aswell... i actualy laughed out loud how can they be so careless ahhh nwm hope u fix it soon.

cocagenda2 said:
looks like this proximty sensor works that way by having red light turned on...so does ur adaptive brightnes still work after it turns off when u unlock the screen?i feel its faulty sensor!i can share u my experience with Z5...i had white spots on screen so i send it to repair and they replaced the screen but also they managed to break proxity sensor aswell... i actualy laughed out loud how can they be so careless ahhh nwm hope u fix it soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well now I get it, atleast I think so.
Red light stays on if we turn on adaptive brightness.
It also turns on when data packets are being sent to our device (via wifi or mobile data)
But why? That is the main question here.
Previous devices never had this feature, and what diff does this make?
Looks like my adaptive brightness works fine.

Do you mean the light in the attachment?
It should be the infra-red light used by the proximity sensor anmd it is not meant to be seen by human. I can only take this from the camera of another device but I cannot actually see it.
Trust me, if you tries to use the camera of another device to view it, you will see it blinks a lot when the screen is on.

l3enjamin said:
Do you mean the light in the attachment?
It should be the infra-red light used by the proximity sensor anmd it is not meant to be seen by human. I can only take this from the camera of another device but I cannot actually see it.
Trust me, if you tries to use the camera of another device to view it, you will see it blinks a lot when the screen is on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what I am talkin about.
It is not supposed to be visible for naked eye until you use a camera.
This one just stays on. Doesn't blink.

l3enjamin said:
Do you mean the light in the attachment?
It should be the infra-red light used by the proximity sensor anmd it is not meant to be seen by human. I can only take this from the camera of another device but I cannot actually see it.
Trust me, if you tries to use the camera of another device to view it, you will see it blinks a lot when the screen is on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK so looks like im having a camera in my eyes LOL cuz i can see that red dot light constantly turned on...ill see what Sony will say about that.im gonna call waranty just for curiosity.maybe they know something

There may be some variation of the wavelength produced by that LED from device to device, while I cannot see it in my XZ, I can saw it in my last LG device. It won't cause any battery draining problem because either you see it or not, it is still blinking.

My God
This is not a problem
By using this proximity sensor our phone controls the automatic brightness setting.
which is called Adaptive Brightness

zohaib0001 said:
My God
This is not a problem
By using this proximity sensor our phone controls the automatic brightness setting.
which is called Adaptive Brightness
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey buddy we all know that but we just want to clarify why some ppl can see the light and some not.... read next time

Xperia X and XZs does this and its annoying, Sony obviously did a bad job in defining what's visible to humans.

Anyone else having this problem?

When I try to pull down the notification bar on the right the screen goes black. Also turns off the always on display. I'm assuming it's something with the Proximity sensor. Tired of all the little bugs and problems with this phone. I’m returning it. Just curious if anybody else is having this problem.
https://youtu.be/moTuJP06JCw

alnova1 said:
When I try to pull down the notification bar on the right the screen goes black. Also turns off the always on display. I'm assuming it's something with the Proximity sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, mine isn't doing that. You might have a dud.

alnova1 said:
When I try to pull down the notification bar on the right the screen goes black. Also turns off the always on display. I'm assuming it's something with the Proximity sensor. Tired of all the little bugs and problems with this phone. I’m returning it. Just curious if anybody else is having this problem.
https://youtu.be/moTuJP06JCw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had that happen on my Pixel 2 XL. Only once or twice and restart fixed it every time.

It's definitely the prox sensor. Always On Display shuts off when the phone is in your pocket or face down, which is detected by the proximity sensor, so that's totally normal. As far as it happening on the home screen, it seems like the phone thinks you're in a call, which would use the proximity sensor to turn the screen off near your head. I would reboot as @jimv1983 suggested and see if that works.
Are you using a screen protector? Sometimes those can cause issues with the proximity sensor, but usually it just causes the screen to shut off and not come back on during a call as it senses the protector at all times instead of your face.

fury683 said:
It's definitely the prox sensor. Always On Display shuts off when the phone is in your pocket or face down, which is detected by the proximity sensor, so that's totally normal. As far as it happening on the home screen, it seems like the phone thinks you're in a call, which would use the proximity sensor to turn the screen off near your head. I would reboot as @jimv1983 suggested and see if that works.
Are you using a screen protector? Sometimes those can cause issues with the proximity sensor, but usually it just causes the screen to shut off and not come back on during a call as it senses the protector at all times instead of your face.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a case with a built-in screen protector on it and I thought that might be what was causing it but after taking it off it still did it. Weird thing though once I put it on the wireless charger it stop doing it. Hasn’t done it all day even with case on. Weird. Still thinking about taking it back to Best Buy and swapping it out.

I've had a similar issue where the proximity sensor will not deactivate as long as a call is going (can't hangup, can't unlock, can't speaker phone, can't mute, etc.). I have to wait for the other person to hang up. Get an automated robo-call you accidentally answered....oh well, guess you have to listen to them. I have never been so angry at a phone as I am with this one. Especially as expensive as it is. I absolutely would NOT have bought this phone if I knew ahead of time how aggravating this would be! Thinking of sending it back. BUYERS BEWARE!

tonic1080 said:
I've had a similar issue where the proximity sensor will not deactivate as long as a call is going (can't hangup, can't unlock, can't speaker phone, can't mute, etc.). I have to wait for the other person to hang up. Get an automated robo-call you accidentally answered....oh well, guess you have to listen to them. I have never been so angry at a phone as I am with this one. Especially as expensive as it is. I absolutely would NOT have bought this phone if I knew ahead of time how aggravating this would be! Thinking of sending it back. BUYERS BEWARE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had this very issue with my pixel XL and blowing on the top speaker grille of dust with compressed air solved it.
But if this is out of the box that sucks. It should not be like that. My pixel was approaching two years when that happened.