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Do any custom ROMs/Kernels allow you to have full control over screen brightness?

Regardless of ambient light, is there a way to set full brightness on the S6?
Running the stock ROM/kernel, even on full britghtness, the screen can go brighter unless the light sensor detects a high ambient light. I am wondering if its possible to change this.
Currently means PWM is still active on the screen even on full brightness. Same with the note 4 but this was not the case with previous samsung devices. PWM on full brightness is a deal breaker for me so I need to know now or this phone is being sold.

I think it's not really advisable to keep the screen on "extended brightness" mode for longer periods of time, because AMOLED panels wear out over time and this would be a definite way to make it wear out faster. Also it generates a lot of heat. There's a reason why Samsung implemented this adaptive mechanism.

mindfever91 said:
I think it's not really advisable to keep the screen on "extended brightness" mode for longer periods of time, because AMOLED panels wear out over time and this would be a definite way to make it wear out faster. Also it generates a lot of heat. There's a reason why Samsung implemented this adaptive mechanism.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankyou for replying but you did not answer the question at all. I specifically stated this is a deal breaker for me, and that it means that I have to sell this $1000 phone for great effort at a reduced price because of it.
If something is this important to me then I clearly do not care about wearing it out over time. My galaxy s1+s2 has been running on modified AMOLED gamma values for 6 years and they are still fine so I dont care if the displays wears out in 10 years time.
I cannot use the phone becuase the PWM effect means the screen flickers like crazy. It gives me a headache after 1 minute of use. The phone is worthless to me in this state. If i can increase the brightness to full hopefuly the PWM effect stops and I can use a screen filter to lower the brightness, so it will not wear our the display as well.
Lastly why was this moved to Help and Troubleshooting, it is a very important question about the phone. All previous SGS phones have been fine, this is a game changer for the worst.

Yuge said:
Thankyou for replying but you did not answer the question at all. I specifically stated this is a deal breaker for me, and that it means that I have to sell this $1000 phone for great effort at a reduced price because of it.
If something is this important to me then I clearly do not care about wearing it out over time. My galaxy s1+s2 has been running on modified AMOLED gamma values for 6 years and they are still fine so I dont care if the displays wears out in 10 years time.
I cannot use the phone becuase the PWM effect means the screen flickers like crazy. It gives me a headache after 1 minute of use. The phone is worthless to me in this state. If i can increase the brightness to full hopefuly the PWM effect stops and I can use a screen filter to lower the brightness, so it will not wear our the display as well.
Lastly why was this moved to Help and Troubleshooting, it is a very important question about the phone. All previous SGS phones have been fine, this is a game changer for the worst.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really sure where the issue is at, are you stating that when the brightness is reduced you can visibly see the phone flicker? I use an app called Velis Auto Brightness, it gives you way more customization to the brightness level. I like it because it mathematically calculates based off the luminescence (in the environment) of how bright the display should be to show accurate color perception, rather than focusing on batter life as much.
The extra brightness mode on the phone is just a high contrast feature, I haven't found a way to force it on as of yet. I know the phone goes up to 700 nits in sunlight, but the biggest difference is the contrast feature on it.

Brittany_Menton said:
Not really sure where the issue is at, are you stating that when the brightness is reduced you can visibly see the phone flicker? I use an app called Velis Auto Brightness, it gives you way more customization to the brightness level. I like it because it mathematically calculates based off the luminescence (in the environment) of how bright the display should be to show accurate color perception, rather than focusing on batter life as much.
The extra brightness mode on the phone is just a high contrast feature, I haven't found a way to force it on as of yet. I know the phone goes up to 700 nits in sunlight, but the biggest difference is the contrast feature on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see the phone flicker even when the brightness is on max setting, because it is not truly the the max brightness of the screen hardware. All the galaxy phones after the s2 did this, except when you turned them to max they stopped flickering. The s6 is the first device that does not allow you manual control over brightness, so I just want to know if custom roms have done this.
IF you don't know what I mean this is how they flicker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2f0TZtpRA4
Also you are wrong that the extra brightness is just contrast, it increase the lumens as well as reduces or stops the flicker PWM effect. This is how phones using PWM reduce brightness, by making the screen flicker on and off, whereas in phones like the S2 the actual display dimmed. Some people can see this and are sensitive to it, some people are sensitive to to it but they don't know it, and some people dont see it and aren't affected by it.
But it doesn't look like anyone has made a Kernel that allows for full control over the AMOLED in the S6 so I plan on selling the phone soon.
Lastly I hope someone moves this to a more appropriate section where a DEV can see it, not the basic QA section like how do i change wallpaper.

Yuge said:
I can see the phone flicker even when the brightness is on max setting, because it is not truly the the max brightness of the screen hardware. All the galaxy phones after the s2 did this, except when you turned them to max they stopped flickering. The s6 is the first device that does not allow you manual control over brightness, so I just want to know if custom roms have done this.
IF you don't know what I mean this is how they flicker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2f0TZtpRA4
Also you are wrong that the extra brightness is just contrast, it increase the lumens as well as reduces or stops the flicker PWM effect. This is how phones using PWM reduce brightness, by making the screen flicker on and off, whereas in phones like the S2 the actual display dimmed. Some people can see this and are sensitive to it, some people are sensitive to to it but they don't know it, and some people dont see it and aren't affected by it.
But it doesn't look like anyone has made a Kernel that allows for full control over the AMOLED in the S6 so I plan on selling the phone soon.
Lastly I hope someone moves this to a more appropriate section where a DEV can see it, not the basic QA section like how do i change wallpaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't see the problem. All of the phones today flicker, that's how they show images on the screen. You're not going to find custom roms on this device because AOSP is not working on the phone yet, so if its a deal breaker go ahead and return it and get a new phone.

Yuge said:
I can see the phone flicker even when the brightness is on max setting, because it is not truly the the max brightness of the screen hardware. All the galaxy phones after the s2 did this, except when you turned them to max they stopped flickering. The s6 is the first device that does not allow you manual control over brightness, so I just want to know if custom roms have done this.
IF you don't know what I mean this is how they flicker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2f0TZtpRA4
Also you are wrong that the extra brightness is just contrast, it increase the lumens as well as reduces or stops the flicker PWM effect. This is how phones using PWM reduce brightness, by making the screen flicker on and off, whereas in phones like the S2 the actual display dimmed. Some people can see this and are sensitive to it, some people are sensitive to to it but they don't know it, and some people dont see it and aren't affected by it.
But it doesn't look like anyone has made a Kernel that allows for full control over the AMOLED in the S6 so I plan on selling the phone soon.
Lastly I hope someone moves this to a more appropriate section where a DEV can see it, not the basic QA section like how do i change wallpaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Questions do not belong into Development. It will be clear once you read the respective section rules.. I'm afraid that you'll have to live with the thread in Q&A

DC dimming

I am interested in getting either this phone or the regular one plus 7, but I have horrible time using a oled screen due to pwm. I suffer from severe headaches and eye strain.
So Im wondering if there is anyone else out there that suffers like I do, is using this phone and does dc dimming actually help?
Please if you dont know what pwm is or if it's not a problem for you Dont Comment.
I appreciate any help you can give.
Thank you!

I wonder if the 90Hz refresh would help....

I don't have that issue while using dc dimming but if i turn it off, after about 5 min i do notice my eyes hurting and stuff. DC dimming only works when the brightness is very low (i believe)

Hi, I know the thread is old but I wanted to share my views about this topic.
I am one of the few people who are sensitive to PWM flicker used in OLEDs. Before I switched to OP7 Pro, I had OP3. OP3 display destroyed my eyes and i came to know that PWM was the cause of my eye discomfort and headaches.
I switched to OP7 Pro as it had DC dimming which reduces the discomfort to PWM sensitive users. And to a huge extent this has helped me with the discomfort. But I still get headaches after prolonged viewing of the screen so I take frequent breaks and avoid extensive reading on the phone.
I have done some research about OP7 Pro display and turns out that PWM frequency is around 350hz (the more the better) when the screen is kept at 90Hz refresh rate and around 150hz PWM frequency at 60 Hz refresh rate. SO it is advised to keep display at 90Hz. All other phones have roughly 250Hz PWM frequency. Also, our phone’s display uses PWM when brightness drops below 50% which is really good as some other OEMS use PWM brightness control below 95% display brightness. So I keep the DC dimming on and use the phone at low brightness. I also use an app called OLED saver though I dont know whether it is redundant as it does same thing as DC dimming.
Recently I started noticing something after upgrading to OOS Android 10. I noticed that DC dimming implementation is different on OOS android 10 than on OOS android 9. I started getting headaches and eye discomfort on OOS android 10. I noticed that the PWM flicker is much more evident on OOS 10 .I used camera pro mode on another phone and reduced the shutter speed to 1/1000th and viewed OP7P screen through it. The flicker was evident. So I reverted back to OOS 9 and the discomfort was greatly reduced. I think I will stay on OOS 9 for the future
There is one thing I am very clear about is that all the OLED screen phones nowadays use PWM brightness control and even if DC Dimming is implemented the OLED screen will still flicker slightly. And if anyone is very sensitive to PWM then buy LCD screen phones. It’s the only option

Same Problem
daninantro said:
Hi, I know the thread is old but I wanted to share my views about this topic.
I am one of the few people who are sensitive to PWM flicker used in OLEDs. Before I switched to OP7 Pro, I had OP3. OP3 display destroyed my eyes and i came to know that PWM was the cause of my eye discomfort and headaches.
I switched to OP7 Pro as it had DC dimming which reduces the discomfort to PWM sensitive users. And to a huge extent this has helped me with the discomfort. But I still get headaches after prolonged viewing of the screen so I take frequent breaks and avoid extensive reading on the phone.
I have done some research about OP7 Pro display and turns out that PWM frequency is around 350hz (the more the better) when the screen is kept at 90Hz refresh rate and around 150hz PWM frequency at 60 Hz refresh rate. SO it is advised to keep display at 90Hz. All other phones have roughly 250Hz PWM frequency. Also, our phone’s display uses PWM when brightness drops below 50% which is really good as some other OEMS use PWM brightness control below 95% display brightness. So I keep the DC dimming on and use the phone at low brightness. I also use an app called OLED saver though I dont know whether it is redundant as it does same thing as DC dimming.
Recently I started noticing something after upgrading to OOS Android 10. I noticed that DC dimming implementation is different on OOS android 10 than on OOS android 9. I started getting headaches and eye discomfort on OOS android 10. I noticed that the PWM flicker is much more evident on OOS 10 .I used camera pro mode on another phone and reduced the shutter speed to 1/1000th and viewed OP7P screen through it. The flicker was evident. So I reverted back to OOS 9 and the discomfort was greatly reduced. I think I will stay on OOS 9 for the future
There is one thing I am very clear about is that all the OLED screen phones nowadays use PWM brightness control and even if DC Dimming is implemented the OLED screen will still flicker slightly. And if anyone is very sensitive to PWM then buy LCD screen phones. It’s the only option
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Click to collapse
Actually I am facing the same problem I can't look at the phone more than 10 minutes
and installed "OLED saver" and nothing happened the same problem
I was wondering is this a problem my eyes with all AMOLED displays or it's just Oneplus only ?

Pixel 4a PWM flickering causes eye strain! :(

"Pixel 4a Horrible PWM OLED flicker test feat. Oneplus 7 pro" https://youtu.be/s7GHb_traI4
"Pixel 4a PWM causes eye strain" (display flickering on low backlight level) - "This sucks because I want to love this phone."
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pixel4a/comments/idpv79/pixel_4a_eye_strain/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pixel4a/comments/idpv79/comment/g2ar513
4a PWM flickering is slow: "the display flickers in a frequency range between 122.5 and 255.1 Hz depending on the brightness level, which could cause difficulties for users with sensitive eyes." https://www.notebookcheck.net/Googl...w-It-s-not-about-the-megapixels.494895.0.html
Pixel 3 and 2: 245 Hz PWM flickering
Pixel 3a: "frequency of the flickering is quite low at between 88.65 and 271.7 Hz. Subjectively, we did not notice any bothersome flickering, but PWM can be an issue for sensitive users, causing headaches or dizziness at low frequencies." https://www.notebookcheck.net/A-Nexus-style-Pixel-smartphone-Google-Pixel-3a-Review.427169.0.html
Pixel 4: "increased PWM frequency range typical for 90 Hz panels regardless of display brightness. That said, PWM frequencies fluctuated significantly between 176.1 and 367.6 Hz and are thus low enough to potentially cause eye strain and headaches in sensitive users." https://www.notebookcheck.net/Googl...ger-at-the-smartphone-forefront.444731.0.html

........

SGH-i200 said:
"Pixel 4a PWM causes eye strain" (display flickering on low backlight level) - "This sucks because I want to love this phone."
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pixel4a/comments/idpv79/pixel_4a_eye_strain/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pixel4a/comments/idpv79/comment/g2ar513
Pixel 3 and 2: 245 Hz PWM flickering
Pixel 3a: "frequency of the flickering is quite low at between 88.65 and 271.7 Hz. Subjectively, we did not notice any bothersome flickering, but PWM can be an issue for sensitive users, causing headaches or dizziness at low frequencies." https://www.notebookcheck.net/A-Nexus-style-Pixel-smartphone-Google-Pixel-3a-Review.427169.0.html
Pixel 4: "increased PWM frequency range typical for 90 Hz panels regardless of display brightness. That said, PWM frequencies fluctuated significantly between 176.1 and 367.6 Hz and are thus low enough to potentially cause eye strain and headaches in sensitive users." https://www.notebookcheck.net/Googl...ger-at-the-smartphone-forefront.444731.0.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do we know the cutoff for PWM on the 4a? I know some devices only utilize PWM below a specific brightness level.

Low_Key_Slaps said:
Do we know the cutoff for PWM on the 4a? I know some devices only utilize PWM below a specific brightness level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All OLEDisplays I know, use PWM when dimmed below 100 %. PWM is used from 99,9% on ("≤ 99 % brightness setting") and the frequency slows down proportional to the dimming of the display.
Why PWM is used? DC dimming distorts the color reproduction of OLEDisplays! "Analysis: DC Dimming vs. PWM – Can you dim AMOLED displays without the flickering?" https://www.notebookcheck.net/Analy...displays-without-the-flickering.423121.0.html
The website www.notebookcheck.net will upload a review of the Pixel 4a in the comming weeks and will tell us the PWM values they messured.

SGH-i200 said:
All OLEDisplays I know, use PWM when dimmed below 100 %. PWM is used from 99,9% on and the frequency slows down proportional to the dimming of the display.
The website www.notebookcheck.net will upload a review of the Pixel 4a in the comming weeks and will tell us the PWM values they messured.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sick thanks!

SGH-i200 said:
All OLEDisplays I know, use PWM when dimmed below 100 %. PWM is used from 99,9% on ("≤ 99 % brightness setting") and the frequency slows down proportional to the dimming of the display.
Why PWM is used? DC dimming distorts the color reproduction of OLEDisplays! "Analysis: DC Dimming vs. PWM – Can you dim AMOLED displays without the flickering?" https://www.notebookcheck.net/Analy...displays-without-the-flickering.423121.0.html
The website www.notebookcheck.net will upload a review of the Pixel 4a in the comming weeks and will tell us the PWM values they messured.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good info, but dc dimming on amoled is actually available. My oneplus 7 pro (and most recent oneplus devices) has an option for dc dimming which doesn't screw with colors much at all. My eyes can't tell the difference between pwm dimming and dc dimming, but plenty of folks on the forums swear by it.

xxBrun0xx said:
DC dimming on amoled is actually available. My oneplus 7 pro (and most recent oneplus devices) has an option for dc dimming which doesn't screw with colors much at all. My eyes can't tell the difference between pwm dimming and dc dimming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your device is still flickering with DC dimming on: https://youtu.be/qKB_vATi-UA

Low_Key_Slaps said:
Do we know the cutoff for PWM on the 4a? I know some devices only utilize PWM below a specific brightness level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 4a uses PWM for any brightness setting below 100%.
"Google Pixel 4a smartphone in review: It's not about the megapixels" https://www.notebookcheck.net/Googl...w-It-s-not-about-the-megapixels.494895.0.html
"the display flickers in a frequency range between 122.5 and 255.1 Hz depending on the brightness level, which could cause difficulties for users with sensitive eyes."

I added this video to the OP: "Pixel 4a Horrible PWM OLED flicker test feat. Oneplus 7 pro" https://youtu.be/s7GHb_traI4

Question Increase max screen brightness?

Is there any way I can set screen brightness above its maximum capacity?
It is no news that this phone doesn't have such a bright screen as it features an LCD display. But sometimes this gets even more annoying specially when it comes to gaming. That said, I've been wondering if we could increase brightness level beyond what it is. Maybe a feature on a custom ROM or kernel if possible (?)
I've also read somewhere that Android doesn't let you set actual max brightness by yourself on manual mode so it'll go into its maximum capacity only on auto/adaptive brightness mode. If this is true, could we trick on that somehow?

henriquehd97 said:
Is there any way I can set screen brightness above its maximum capacity?
It is no news that this phone doesn't have such a bright screen as it features an LCD display. But sometimes this gets even more annoying specially when it comes to gaming. That said, I've been wondering if we could increase brightness level beyond what it is. Maybe a feature on a custom ROM or kernel if possible (?)
I've also read somewhere that Android doesn't let you set actual max brightness by yourself on manual mode so it'll go into its maximum capacity only on auto/adaptive brightness mode. If this is true, could we trick on that somehow?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you cant increase it , if you probably do it will damage the screen , LCD has 450nits on manual and somewhere 550 nits on Auto(MAX),i didnt see any room with the feature of increasing to 550 in manual ,only auto works .

Everyone says the brightness is not really sufficient, but on my X3 Pro 8/256 max brightness is really bright/strong. Just got the phone a week ago. Is it possible they changed display panel in the manufacturing process?

Areasu said:
Everyone says the brightness is not really sufficient, but on my X3 Pro 8/256 max brightness is really bright/strong. Just got the phone a week ago. Is it possible they changed display panel in the manufacturing process?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, or it could be just a matter of perception. I've also wondered if it's possible to replace the original display for a brighter one but I think that would implicate other physical parameters such as voltage and current.

Antonio7489 said:
No you cant increase it , if you probably do it will damage the screen , LCD has 450nits on manual and somewhere 550 nits on Auto(MAX),i didnt see any room with the feature of increasing to 550 in manual ,only auto works .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I've found a way to do it. Derpfest ROM has a feature named "high brightness mode" or "HBM". It does increase brightness above the max level. It makes a slight difference but yet perceptible. I think it needs kernel support to work also.

henriquehd97 said:
Actually I've found a way to do it. Derpfest ROM has a feature named "high brightness mode" or "HBM". It does increase brightness above the max level. It makes a slight difference but yet perceptible. I think it needs kernel support to work also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do it on any rom which doesn't support hbm by default using root and changing the kernel but it will properly have some bugs.

su -c "echo 4095 > /sys/class/backlight/panel0-backlight/brightness"
Simple!

Question How is the PWM of the screen? (Screen flicker)

Anyone was able to measure PWM values? Is it as bad as 6 Pro?

Seems like now it have 240 hz
Google Pixel 7 Pro Display test - DXOMARK
We put the Google Pixel 7 Pro through our rigorous DXOMARK Display test suite to measure its performance across six criteria. In this test summary, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases. Overview Key display specifications: 6.7 inches OLED (~89.6%...
www.dxomark.com

This is crushing news. I'm one of those people that are susceptible to headaches from low Hz flicker. I was going to go for the P7 pro but this is a non starter for me if it's true. Anyone else that got the phone and has pwm headaches or eye strain please comment

(maybe this is a noob question)
Can this be somehow solved by a custom kernel that would make the phone use DC dimming instead of PWM?

In my experience (with previous phones) DC dimming makes no difference. It took some time for me to understand what flicker value would impact me. It seems that anything under 350 or so give me headaches. From what I understand this varies from person to person with about 5% of people being affected negatively. I can't actually see the flicker but after about 5 minutes of using a screen that las a low rate, I develop a headache. I can't read in cars either. It offsets the same feeling in me.

How come DC dimming makes no difference, when DC dimming doesn't use PWM (flicker)?

JULIUS_PONOZKA said:
How come DC dimming makes no difference, when DC dimming doesn't use PWM (flicker)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about the science behind it. I'm just giving my personal experience. I tried to upgrade my op 8 pro to a op 9 pro last year. As it turns out the op9 pro also has a low flicker rate. It also had the ability to enable DC dimming. It didn't fix my problem. I sent it back.