Sensor next to front cam? - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Questions & Answers

Hi guys,
Noticed a very interesting thing today: suddenly a white light started to pulse next to the front cam every time I was tilting the phone. It was quick 3-4 pulses with strict intervals as if a sensor was working. It didn't pulse when phone was in a fixed position, only when tilting, in all apps.
A reboot fixed this, but I wonder if there is any sensor there that activated because of something? Never experienced this before!
Any thoughts what it can be? Thx.

Sounds like proximity sensor to me.

znel52 said:
Sounds like proximity sensor to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I also thought so but the phone didn't turn off the screen when I was placing my finger on that sensor. The proximity sensor should turn the screen off as far as I am aware. Maybe a glitch after doing a video call via Viber?

VirtualWaver said:
Thanks. I also thought so but the phone didn't turn off the screen when I was placing my finger on that sensor. The proximity sensor should turn the screen off as far as I am aware. Maybe a glitch after doing a video call via Viber?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.

Limeybastard said:
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this! I did test my screen and all looks good but this is worrying. However, this only happened once although I use Viber video calls every day.

VirtualWaver said:
Thanks for this! I did test my screen and all looks good but this is worrying. However, this only happened once although I use Viber video calls every day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im going to try this out myself next week and see what's going on. Mine ain't coming until Monday.

Limeybastard said:
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hoe bright is it?
Normally it could blink during SOT and with that duty cycle it will outlast many of the other screen pixels.
Or is there something I'm missing???
Are it's pixels IR?

blackhawk said:
Hoe bright is it?
Normally it could blink during SOT and with that duty cycle it will outlast many of the other screen pixels.
Or is there something I'm missing???
Are it's pixels IR?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who's a hoe?
Probably much ado about nothing. But I can't test it. , The only thing that came to mind was screen being full brightness and proximity sensor being on for hours causing this. But just a hunch .

Limeybastard said:
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Limeybastard said:
Who's a hoe?
Probably much ado about nothing. But I can't test it. , The only thing that came to mind was screen being full brightness and proximity sensor being on for hours causing this. But just a hunch .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even at full brightness because it's flashing, it's duty cycle is less than the surrounding pixels plus it will "flash" by darkening its pixels depending on screen color.
If it has specialized IR emitters I could see that happening maybe; if there's a design or manufacturing flaw.
Because it's flashing visible light it would be hard to use a cam to detect IR... which is how I normally check IR emitters.

While it was easily seen on the Note 10 i can't see it on the Note 20

Nastrahl said:
While it was easily seen on the Note 10 i can't see it on the Note 20
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Maybe it uses IR diodes?
If it doesn't display when it's active maybe that's why some think it's "burnt out"?
Lol, until someone mentioned the flashing circle I never noticed it.

blackhawk said:
Interesting. Maybe it uses IR diodes?
If it doesn't display when it's active maybe that's why some think it's "burnt out"?
Lol, until someone mentioned the flashing circle I never noticed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know.
I've read that they replaced all the sensors with the front camera, and that′s one of the battery killer since a few were completely passive like the ambiant light one, that's now active.
When a passive sensor needs no electricity to operate, an active needs to, and the camera can't work passively so it drains battery.
They advised to turn off all the features that use the front camera as a sensor like the auto brightness, smart stay (and also what can use the accelerometer like smart alert and raise to turn on the screen), etc. to avoid the process Android System to take to much battery.

Nastrahl said:
While it was easily seen on the Note 10 i can't see it on the Note 20
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nastrahl said:
I don't know.
I've read that they replaced all the sensors with the front camera, and that′s one of the battery killer since a few were completely passive like the ambiant light one, that's now active.
When a passive sensor needs no electricity to operate, an active needs to, and the camera can't work passively so it drains battery.
They advised to turn off all the features that use the front camera as a sensor like the auto brightness, smart stay (and also what can use the accelerometer like smart alert and raise to turn on the screen), etc. to avoid the process Android System to take to much battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even passive sensors use some current although it may be in the microamps.
Autobrightness is a trash apk anyway.
Seems highly unlikely that the whole cam be used for these functions if at all.

VirtualWaver said:
Thanks. I also thought so but the phone didn't turn off the screen when I was placing my finger on that sensor. The proximity sensor should turn the screen off as far as I am aware. Maybe a glitch after doing a video call via Viber?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if anyone told you this sorry haven't had time to read the thread but I would suggest avoiding viber calls on this phone. The proximity sensor is damaging the screen when on viber. It seems viber is accessing the sensor too aggressively.
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

warriorvibhu said:
Not sure if anyone told you this sorry haven't had time to read the thread but I would suggest avoiding viber calls on this phone. The proximity sensor is damaging the screen when on viber. It seems viber is accessing the sensor too aggressively.
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know this is most likely a digital circuit; a fixed voltage of an either high or low value... those values are fixed and don't change. Even firmware can't alter that let alone apks. Duty cycle rate/length maybe.
This urban rumor about the proximity sensor causing screen damage has been around since at least 2015, long before OLED screens.
A Google search yielded nothing except this:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S10/Proximity-sensor-issues-S10-S10/td-p/498492/page/9

blackhawk said:
Even passive sensors use some current although it may be in the microamps.
Autobrightness is a trash apk anyway.
Seems highly unlikely that the whole cam be used for these functions if at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trash apk ? Sorry i meant the built-in adaptive brightness.
---------- Post added at 01:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 AM ----------
blackhawk said:
You know this is most likely a digital circuit; a fixed voltage of an either high or low value... those values are fixed and don't change. Even firmware can't alter that let alone apks. Duty cycle rate/length maybe.
This urban rumor about the proximity sensor causing screen damage has been around since at least 2015, long before OLED screens.
A Google search yielded nothing except this:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S10/Proximity-sensor-issues-S10-S10/td-p/498492/page/9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally never heard about it. Thanks for the insight

Nastrahl said:
Trash apk ? Sorry i meant the built-in adaptive brightness"
I personally never heard about it. Thanks for the insight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My opinions.
There certainly are long standing Samsung issues that span more then one generation of phones. The proximity sensor trashing the screen doesn't appear to exist at all. If anything it conserves screen life.
Auto brightness was always twitchy even on my S4+.
Auto brightness was never truly adaptive... and still isn't. Lol, all it does is give me a headache and waste resources.
The other thing is I always try to avoid using my phones in direct sunlight. Very rarely do I ever go past 65% brightness.
Direct sunlight+high ambient temperature+high power consumption can really overheat a phone fast.
Even worse...
Auto brightness on+charging+sunlight+accidental screen turn on that's not noticed, can fry a phone in a few minutes. Real easy to do in the car... been there.

blackhawk said:
My opinions.
There certainly are long standing Samsung issues that span more then one generation of phones. The proximity sensor trashing the screen doesn't appear to exist at all. If anything it conserves screen life.
Auto brightness was always twitchy even on my S4+.
Auto brightness was never truly adaptive... and still isn't. Lol, all it does is give me a headache and waste resources.
The other thing is I always try to avoid using my phones in direct sunlight. Very rarely do I ever go past 65% brightness.
Direct sunlight+high ambient temperature+high power consumption can really overheat a phone fast.
Even worse...
Auto brightness on+charging+sunlight+accidental screen turn on that's not noticed, can fry a phone in a few minutes. Real easy to do in the car... been there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, i never thought about that so it's a very valuable information.
Just in case if it can be useful :
A few years ago I found an app called Underburn which is a complete new approach about adaptive brightness.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.out386.underburn
Instead of adjusting the screen brightness from the ambient light, it set it according of the amount of white pixels displayed on screen to avoid binding you, and it doesn't care about sunlight.
The more white is displayed, the more it will dim the screen (by reducing the screen brightness, not by applying a filter ; even if there's also a setting for that if its too bright for you even at the minimum level) by the amount of your choosing.
It can play a role to save battery too somehow.

Nastrahl said:
Thanks, i never thought about that so it's a very valuable information.
Just in case if it can be useful :
A few years ago I found an app called Underburn which is a complete new approach about adaptive brightness.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.out386.underburn
Instead of adjusting the screen brightness from the ambient light, it set it according of the amount of white pixels displayed on screen to avoid binding you, and it doesn't care about sunlight.
The more white is displayed, the more it will dim the screen (by reducing the screen brightness, not by applying a filter ; even if there's also a setting for that if its too bright for you even at the minimum level) by the amount of your choosing.
It can play a role to save battery too somehow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
I'll take a look at it. I'm running on dark mode but since it's Pie it's not native to all apps like Gmail which burns my eyes out.
*I'm playing with it. It will run on Pie. It takes some time to set up but definitely has potential.
Haven't been able to fairly gauge it's configured battery usage.

Related

[Q] Does the ambient light sensor even work?

I have been playing with my TF for a little over a month. I updated to 3.1 so I don't know it this is an issue. My problem is the ambient light sensor. It doesnt seem to work. No matter what brightness i have or if it's on auto or not I have never seen my screen get dimmer or brighter in any situation. I put a flashlight right on the sensor and I see nothing change onscreen. Anyone else have this going on?
My light sensor appears to work. It does have a fair amout of hysterisis in it otherwise it would drive you nuts.
Sounds like you're either not shining your torch at the actual sensor or yours really doesnt work. It's about an inch to the left of the front camera in case it's the former. It should poll every 4 seconds when on 'auto' brightness, and change the screen accordingly. I find that it works, but it doesnt really change the screen brightness to the best level for viewing. I'm sure there's an app to deal with this although I usually just set it manually. It's easy enough to do.
Oyeve said:
I have been playing with my TF for a little over a month. I updated to 3.1 so I don't know it this is an issue. My problem is the ambient light sensor. It doesnt seem to work. No matter what brightness i have or if it's on auto or not I have never seen my screen get dimmer or brighter in any situation. I put a flashlight right on the sensor and I see nothing change onscreen. Anyone else have this going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's perfectly possible the sensor is sensitive to IR or some other wavelength in daylight that's not emitted by your flashlight. The sensor definitely works just fine for me.
I never notice the screen changing brightness (it's designed to gradually change according to the different light exposure so human eyes don't notice it changed, but in reality it did change). When I'm in a car however, if there's trees near by and it blocks the sun every so often, I can clearly see the brightness suddenly shooting up and dropping down. I don't think it works with lamps though (turning on my lights didn't make the display brighter), only light from the sun.
It works quite well now that I'm updated to 3.1. It went through various stages of not working or just messing up back on the 3.0 updates. Now it reacts, increases and decreases and the screen is bright enough.
Mine seems broken too. Strange, because this would be the first thing wrong with me Transformer and it doesn't even seem like a common problem.
This and the browser typing lag alone are making me think of selling it.
Okay, mine is definitely broken.
I just tried it by going out in the balcony and then going in the bathroom and shutting the door - nothing happens.
Seriously Asus, what were you doing when you designed and built this thing? My Tranformer is otherwise perfect - no light bleed, no creaks, no pubes under the screen, no issue at all. Except the light sensor... it seems maybe the perfect Transformer doesn't exist.
mine works
Okay, some progress.
Shinning my HD2's bright dual LED's right onto the sensor actually makes the sensor work.
But still, this thing is apparently not calibrated well because going from outside to a totally dark room didn't change the brightness - it doesn't matter if putting two LEDs right onto the sensor makes it work, that's not why it's there.
On my TF, it takes about a minute for the brightness to change when I move from a dark room to the great outdoors.
Give it a little time for the software loop to kick in
Is this any way to calibrate this sensor? It's works horrible!
Shawn_230 said:
Okay, some progress.
Shinning my HD2's bright dual LED's right onto the sensor actually makes the sensor work.
But still, this thing is apparently not calibrated well because going from outside to a totally dark room didn't change the brightness - it doesn't matter if putting two LEDs right onto the sensor makes it work, that's not why it's there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a screen protector?
Not to go off topic but I only had keyboard lag when I was using the Asus keyboard Shawn, have you tried the default Android keyboard?
There is an app in the market called androsensor that will tellyou the values for many sensors including the light sensor.
Mine is measured in lux and ranges from 0 to 400 indoors it does not update quickly mine updates every few seconds.
Sent from my Transformer TF101
vladdt said:
Is this any way to calibrate this sensor? It's works horrible!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a paid program i use and love called lux
Well worth the price imo. It essentially lets you manually adjust the screen brightness for the various light levels over time, remembers these and will automatically put the screen at those levels next time. It alo has some logic too but i cant talk to that.
Sent from my Transformer TF101
It seems to work for me except that it doesn't adjust the levels properly. I can be in a somewhat bright room and the brightness is still at its lowest level, making it difficult to read. However, in broad daylight, the brightness shoots up.
I might try Lux as suggested previously.
lrissman said:
There is a paid program i use and love called lux
Well worth the price imo. It essentially lets you manually adjust the screen brightness for the various light levels over time, remembers these and will automatically put the screen at those levels next time. It alo has some logic too but i cant talk to that.
Sent from my Transformer TF101
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for Lux - great app
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalkr

Two major issues with the Nexus 5 ambient light sensor

1. The sensor reading often jumps to 30000lx momentarily, (measured using Lux Dash in Debug mode), and so the phone blinds you for while. This happens in a repeatable fashion when you hold the phone at certain angles. Try it yourself.
2. The N5 reads zero lux even in moderate/dim light, while my old N4 still reads around 10 lux. The N4 was much better as you could make a distinction between the dim light and no light at all.
On the new N5 you have to set the zero lux level so it's bright enought for moderate light, which means it's far too bright at night.
Why is the N5 sensor so poor? Or is the kernel? Really, this is pretty basic stuff. Come on Google, we want the autobrightness to work fine without having to download apps to try and fix the most basic settings.
(As per other threads, the N5 stock autobrightness is almost unusable!)
Same here. Only occurs in the kitchen under the spotlights. I've had 2 phones and the same has happened on both using lux.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Happy to see others having this issue as well. I always figured it was a Kitkat bug.
I had some dead pixels on my first N5, so I got a replacement. The replacement is now exhibiting this weird sensor issue (also spiking up to 30,000lux based on device orientation).
I have the same issue on my N5, sudden freak peaks of 15000 lux or more, then suddenly back to normal values of 50-80. Same behavior on stock kernel and Francos Kernel.
Hoping for a quick fix by Google.
Kusie
I'm having the same issue too, but it appears to be under certain lightbulbs that I have this issue. For example in 2 different situations, one I was in a restaurant and another while I was in my bathroom, and my phone would constantly pick up either 0 lux or 30000 lux (depending on the angle of the phone under the light). This is under halogen lighting.
When I get out of the restaurant and under regular lighting and when I'm in my bedroom (LED/CCFL lights), the light sensor would behave normally.
Anyone else have these issues?
Aria807 said:
Anyone else have these issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and it's not really reproduceable for me but it's very annoying and sometimes painful. This screen can get very bright and it's blinded me in the dark when this happens.
Is it the light sensor? Is it LUX? Does this happen without lux installed?
Can the sensor be calibrated or is it just bad hardware? This is a real annoyance. My S4 doesn't read 0 lux unless there is absolutely zero and it never jumps around. Even it's own screen reflecting on my face will cause it to read 1-10. That level of sensitivity is great for setting up lux to go subzero. Maybe the kernel is translating the sensor voltage output incorrectly?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
rabaker07 said:
Yes, and it's not really reproduceable for me but it's very annoying and sometimes painful. This screen can get very bright and it's blinded me in the dark when this happens.
Is it the light sensor? Is it LUX? Does this happen without lux installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lux is a measurement of brightness.
I thought it was Lux causing it, but I have tried full wipe + reflashing a new rom, and my sensors still go a lil whack. This is flashing new rom + immediately downloading a sensor tool and checking the readings before installing Lux or any other apps.
However, Lux came out with a new version a week or so ago and it seems to have been waiving those spiked readings, so my phone atm isn't acting up super dim to super bright and back.
I still have this issue on 4.2.2.,very annoying. Is this a software issue or bad sensors?
Starts to piss me off so badly I think about sending my N5 back to google.
Happens both on stock auto brightness and yaab.
Help please?
Kusie
Yeah same here, very annoying, have to use Manuel britness very often
I have this same problem too. Using the Lux app debug mode I rotated the phone while in a room lit with incandescent bulbs and one lit with daylight. When rotating the phone I sometimes see a spike of 30000 lx but more importantly the sensor drops to 0 even though there is plenty of ambient light. During daylight I don't see the 30000 lx spikes but I still see the sensor dropping to 0 when there's plenty of ambient light.
I feel like the sensor is too far recessed into the phone and causing a tunnel effect. If the phone is looking at a dark shirt or surface that's a foot away from it, it will register 0 even though there's plenty of ambient light. This seems like a design flaw or a flaw in android's API.
Using the full version of Lux app might be able to fix it since it allows you to use the camera for ambient light detection but I haven't purchased the full app yet so I don't know.
Really wish android would have a solution for this because it's quite irritating.
Are you guys using the Lux app? I haven't had this problem with stock auto brightness.
clocinnorcal said:
Are you guys using the Lux app? I haven't had this problem with stock auto brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the stock auto brightness it was too bright in most cases and also in some cases the brightness would spike. Downloaded the free version of lux app in order to try to fix the problem and while it can adjust the brightness to be lower, the problem is that the light sensor gives low readings straight from the api.
I just installed Lux and I can't reproduce it on my Nexus. Mine always behaves correctly in automatic brightness, so I guess it's a hardware problem that only affects some devices?
I jump now in here as i have the same problem unfortunatley. I have no clue if its hardware related or software, but on my HTC One with kitkat running the same rom i dont have such issues s i guess its a HW fault. If anyone finds a solution or something that fixes this mess, would highly appreciate if wwe could keep this thread alive
I hope it's just a kernel issue where it's not translating the sensor output to the OS granularly enough. On my S4, it has to be truly zero light for it to see 0lx. Even in low low light, it's registering a value between 1 and 100. It makes it very easy to distinguish between no light (laying in bed) and low light (driving in the car, movie theater, etc). I hope they fix it because it's rather annoying that we're having this issue.
coolguy949 said:
I hope it's just a kernel issue where it's not translating the sensor output to the OS granularly enough. On my S4, it has to be truly zero light for it to see 0lx. Even in low low light, it's registering a value between 1 and 100. It makes it very easy to distinguish between no light (laying in bed) and low light (driving in the car, movie theater, etc). I hope they fix it because it's rather annoying that we're having this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The next interesting thing is that it happens only in 1 out of 6 rooms at home. I hope I'm not totally crazy but could it be a bad combination between a sort of light bulb and the sensor?? I know this sounds totally stupid but I only can reproduce it with one light bulb. Or it is because that one light bulb is really low dimmed. I have to test that further tomorrow. Only have one dimmable light bulb atm to test so I will dim the others tomorrow that working atm.
noNeedforAsig
n3ocort3x said:
The next interesting thing is that it happens only in 1 out of 6 rooms at home. I hope I'm not totally crazy but could it be a bad combination between a sort of light bulb and the sensor?? I know this sounds totally stupid but I only can reproduce it with one light bulb. Or it is because that one light bulb is really low dimmed. I have to test that further tomorrow. Only have one dimmable light bulb atm to test so I will dim the others tomorrow that working atm.
noNeedforAsig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember reading something weeks ago that the sensor doesn't work well with certain bulbs. I can't seem to locate the thread though.

So how's the Gear 2 wake up behavior?

One of the most annoying things of the Gear 1 is the motion to wake up the watch. Is it improved? I watched a bunch of hands on but they all tell the same story. No word about the fact that the display can't be lit all the time and that you have to do some abracadabra to wake the device. Most curious about any improvements in this department.
appelflap said:
One of the most annoying things of the Gear 1 is the motion to wake up the watch. Is it improved? I watched a bunch of hands on but they all tell the same story. No word about the fact that the display can't be lit all the time and that you have to do some abracadabra to wake the device. Most curious about any improvements in this department.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well you can't have screen all the time due to technology used. AMOLED. if it would be LCD then you could have screen on all the time, but without background light (like in sony smartwatch 2). i already got used to blank screen, and i just turn the screen on/off with a single button.
hurdlejade said:
well you can't have screen all the time due to technology used. AMOLED. if it would be LCD then you could have screen on all the time, but without background light (like in sony smartwatch 2). i already got used to blank screen, and i just turn the screen on/off with a single button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I'm wondering if they made the watch more sensitive for motions, introduced a new or better wake up motion etc . Definitely want to know more about that.
if samsung did not mention it, then probably it's the same.
hurdlejade said:
if samsung did not mention it, then probably it's the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be a detail for people coming from the Gear1.
If the battery life is better they might have add a more sensitive option.
Btw personally I dont mind to charge the watch every night. Just some routine. I like it even better than checking the battery to see if it needs to be charged again. So if they made the wake up motion more sensitive and could still pump one day out of the battery, it would definitely be a reason for me to upgrade. Otherwise I see no compelling reasons.
I understand what OP is saying. I'm interested to know that answer as well. I actually had to turn motion off because the watch constantly stayed on while driving all day. It would kill my battery. With it off and me pressing the on button as needed, I get at least 3 days of battery life. A better motion sensor could possibly solve this issue.
alprazolam said:
I understand what OP is saying. I'm interested to know that answer as well. I actually had to turn motion off because the watch constantly stayed on while driving all day. It would kill my battery. With it off and me pressing the on button as needed, I get at least 3 days of battery life. A better motion sensor could possibly solve this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed having non-TW launcher caused issues with the motion sensor. Using stock had better motion sensor.
Sepharite said:
I noticed having non-TW launcher caused issues with the motion sensor. Using stock had better motion sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kind of issues did you have? i had none with nova.
I read a hand on today where the reviewer said it does turn on with the flick up of the wrist but that it doesn't turn on right away, like a couple of seconds delay. That isn't good. I want it to be quick like the pebble when you shake the wrist slightly the light comes on. Hopefully they tweak that before it is released....
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk
hurdlejade said:
what kind of issues did you have? i had none with nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any problems with it either.
everlast716 said:
I read a hand on today where the reviewer said it does turn on with the flick up of the wrist but that it doesn't turn on right away, like a couple of seconds delay. That isn't good. I want it to be quick like the pebble when you shake the wrist slightly the light comes on. Hopefully they tweak that before it is released....
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I want. I move my arm to that wrist up position to much so the watch is almost always on. I wish it had the option to shake the wrist instead so I have better control.
Personally the only good thing about this watch is the motion thing. It works like a good 90-95% of the time. Wake up is excellent on it. However, it goes crazy when your driving.

IR I frared beacon/sensor always active?

I noticed the other night as I was using my pixel 2 and viewing a security camera monitor when it's infra-red/night vision was active that the IR beacon on the front of my phone pulses regularly even when I am not using the front camera of my phone, and don't have a camera app running at the time. Does anyone know why the phone is using the IR light and sensor when I'm not using the phones front camera?
I don't think the pixel 2 has an ir on it.
leveleyed said:
I noticed the other night as I was using my pixel 2 and viewing a security camera monitor when it's infra-red/night vision was active that the IR beacon on the front of my phone pulses regularly even when I am not using the front camera of my phone, and don't have a camera app running at the time. Does anyone know why the phone is using the IR light and sensor when I'm not using the phones front camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about the notification LED that sits in the top left hand corner or the camera LED flash? Your confusing me with this infrared/IR business. The pixel 2 doesnt have infrared.
enzyne said:
Are you talking about the notification LED that sits in the top left hand corner or the camera LED flash? Your confusing me with this infrared/IR business. The pixel 2 doesnt have infrared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I am certain it is not the notification LED. That is visible in normal lighting conditions. What I am referring to is only visible in night vision, which uses an infrared light and sensor. So this is clearly a blinking infrared light on the top of the front/face of the phone. I believe it is normally used to detect the distance of subject matter to help adjust the front camera focus depth.
Also, I don't know how the "n" in infrared got deleted after I finished typing in the rest of the title for this post, but I assure you that when I typed the word it showed up as "infrared" not "I frared". And now I can't seem to figure out how to edit the title of the post, so I guess it's stuck like this.
I'm starting to wonder if I've stumbled upon something that may be evidence that the phone is always using the front-facing camera - even when the user isn't using the camera or any app that uses the camera. I had my fiancée also come into the room so I could see if the same happened with her iPhone 6. On hers, no light on the front was active until she unlocked the phone. But as soon as she did, an infrared light on the face of it stayed illuminated *constantly*, whereas the one on my pixel 2 just flashes periodically.
My inner conspiracy theorist is starting to wonder WTF is going on here, and why these sensor arrays are active even when the front camera isn't in use.
I'm hoping a well-informed Android or Pixel 2 developer will see this and respond to address these concerns.
leveleyed said:
No, I am certain it is not the notification LED. That is visible in normal lighting conditions. What I am referring to is only visible in night vision, which uses an infrared light and sensor. So this is clearly a blinking infrared light on the top of the front/face of the phone. I believe it is normally used to detect the distance of subject matter to help adjust the front camera focus depth.
Also, I don't know how the "n" in infrared got deleted after I finished typing in the rest of the title for this post, but I assure you that when I typed the word it showed up as "infrared" not "I frared". And now I can't seem to figure out how to edit the title of the post, so I guess it's stuck like this.
I'm starting to wonder if I've stumbled upon something that may be evidence that the phone is always using the front-facing camera - even when the user isn't using the camera or any app that uses the camera. I had my fiancée also come into the room so I could see if the same happened with her iPhone 6. On hers, no light on the front was active until she unlocked the phone. But as soon as she did, an infrared light on the face of it stayed illuminated *constantly*, whereas the one on my pixel 2 just flashes periodically.
My inner conspiracy theorist is starting to wonder WTF is going on here, and why these sensor arrays are active even when the front camera isn't in use.
I'm hoping a well-informed Android or Pixel 2 developer will see this and respond to address these concerns.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting. I will try with my phone and nest camera and see if it acts the same on mine.
I just tested it again, holding the phone at varying angles from the security camera, activating and deactivating its night vision/IR mode to see the difference. I recorded a video of it and will post a link tomorrow. When infrared is active, there is a clearly visible blinking light located in the center of the top of the phone just above the speaker bar (the one to the right of the front camera).
I'm really curious to get to the bottom of this so that I can dismiss the paranoia that big brother is constantly watching me through my phone's camera.
leveleyed said:
I just tested it again, holding the phone at varying angles from the security camera, activating and deactivating its night vision/IR mode to see the difference. I recorded a video of it and will post a link tomorrow. When infrared is active, there is a clearly visible blinking light located in the center of the top of the phone just above the speaker bar (the one to the right of the front camera).
I'm really curious to get to the bottom of this so that I can dismiss the paranoia that big brother is constantly watching me through my phone's camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
?It's the proximity sensor.
ajrty33 said:
?It's the proximity sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly!!
But why is the proximity sensory active all the time? Is it so the Ambient display doesn't turn on when face down?
oSandmaNo said:
Exactly!!
But why is the proximity sensory active all the time? Is it so the Ambient display doesn't turn on when face down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its constantly trying to see if your phone is up to your ear or not.
I'm also wondering why the phone would need to have the proximity sensor active when I'm not using Ambient mode, and not currently engaged in a call. There's no need for it to be using the proximity sensor when I'm just browsing my home screen or using some other app. My phone isn't configured to turn off the screen if I set it face down for awhile or anything like that. So there shouldn't be anything using the proximity sensor.
This is common in modern phones, it's checking if you're holding it, if it if is by your face, in your pocket it allows gestures like wave to wake
Get used to it, it's not going away.
mrkhigh said:
This is common in modern phones, it's checking if you're holding it, if it if is by your face, in your pocket it allows gestures like wave to wake
Get used to it, it's not going away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the pixel doesn't have any of those features.
if u want to turn the sensor, disable all option in ambient display.
koax88 said:
if u want to turn the sensor, disable all option in ambient display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. I tested that a few months ago (this isn't the first time this has been spotted). You can turn the ambient display off completely and the sensor is still active.
Unless of course they've realised in the meanwhile that this is pointless and fixed it in a software update - I've not retested it recently.
Large Hadron said:
Nope. I tested that a few months ago (this isn't the first time this has been spotted). You can turn the ambient display off completely and the sensor is still active.
Unless of course they've realised in the meanwhile that this is pointless and fixed it in a software update - I've not retested it recently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Just tested my phone, the sensor did not blink at all if u turn off all setting in the ambient Display section. Even double tap to wake will make the sensor blink. I noticed this since 8.0 tho.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
oSandmaNo said:
But the pixel doesn't have any of those features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It certainly does. I use it to keep the screen off when my phone, in an Otterbox Defender, is in the holster, or when I lay it down face down. Both the front and rear cameras can see into the infrared. Just aim a TV remote at them when any camera app is running and press a button and you'll see the remote's IR LED going. (It has no IR output, though.)

Display Issue on two Note 20 Ultra

I bought myself a Note 20 Ultra Snapdragon Version (Hong Kong Version). After around 2 weeks right we’re the proximity sensor is, a dark discoloration started to appear. It’s not super good visible, but still it was there. I tried to overlook it but couldn’t. So i started a repair/exchange process. After a huge war to get a perfect device the shop where i bought the mobile exchanged it with a new one. But again after 1 week this weird dark spot started to appear. Sometimes the splotch is faintly visible, sometimes he is very visible. Now i have payed 1300 Dollars but can’t have a perfect display. Anyone having the same issue?
From0toHero said:
I bought myself a Note 20 Ultra Snapdragon Version (Hong Kong Version). After around 2 weeks right we’re the proximity sensor is, a dark discoloration started to appear. It’s not super good visible, but still it was there. I tried to overlook it but couldn’t. So i started a repair/exchange process. After a huge war to get a perfect device the shop where i bought the mobile exchanged it with a new one. But again after 1 week this weird dark spot started to appear. Sometimes the splotch is faintly visible, sometimes he is very visible. Now i have payed 1300 Dollars but can’t have a perfect display. Anyone having the same issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask yourself , what rogue apps are you heavily using that cause this issue. These things normally occur during using VoIP apps on high brightness with screen left ON for long durations. Heat , bright screen and VoIP apps that use the proximity sensor continuously degrade it.
User KURDking posted about similar issues on this forum a month or so back.
Limeybastard said:
Ask yourself , what rogue apps are you heavily using that cause this issue. These things normally occur during using VoIP apps on high brightness with screen left ON for long durations. Heat , bright screen and VoIP apps that use the proximity sensor continuously degrade it.
User KURDking posted about similar issues on this forum a month or so back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First i use the mobile on very low brightness since i got it. Secondly i used nothing like the apps you described. So i can’t see how i caused this. And I’m not the only one. There are other cases with exactly the same issue. It’s a design flaw.
I forgot to mention that i carefully checked the battery temperature and cpu temperature all the time to avoid unnecessary strain on the display and the internals. But still after a short time on both mobiles the same issue.
From0toHero said:
I forgot to mention that i carefully checked the battery temperature and cpu temperature all the time to avoid unnecessary strain on the display and the internals. But still after a short time on both mobiles the same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what app are you using that is using the sensor all the time with display on? Let me guess none.
Limeybastard said:
So what app are you using that is using the sensor all the time with display on? Let me guess none.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol i own the mobile max 2 weeks. In this two weeks i watched videos. I used whatsapp for texting (maybe 2-3 phone calls). I used a video player to watch download videos, but i used nothing that would have left the display on for a long time with the proximity sensor working. I used the phone more for media, because i still own my iPhone 11 pro max for phone calls and alike. Hence i can’t explain why this is happening. I’m the first one who would say yeah i used the apps you mentioned on high brightness all the time, but that’s not the case.
Limeybastard said:
So what app are you using that is using the sensor all the time with display on? Let me guess none.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Btw your sarcastic questions are unnecessary. If you think your clever and everyone else is a moron, nice for you. But the Note 20 Ultra is not my first mobile, and i know what to avoid, and what to do in most cases. But when i get the same issue two times in less than 2 weeks without doing anything maybe causing this, i think it’s ok to ask if anyone else is having the same issue.
From0toHero said:
Btw your sarcastic questions are unnecessary. If you think your clever and everyone else is a moron, nice for you. But the Note 20 Ultra is not my first mobile, and i know what to avoid, and what to do in most cases. But when i get the same issue two times in less than 2 weeks without doing anything maybe causing this, i think it’s ok to ask if anyone else is having the same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can respond however I wish.
Now going back to your question, is the attached what you are talking about ?
Limeybastard said:
I can respond however I wish.
Now going back to your question, is the attached what you are talking about ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh gosh it’s not that severe. It’s much more faint. But still its there
From0toHero said:
Oh gosh it’s not that severe. It’s much more faint. But still its there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the thread I was referring to from KURDking. Not sure it will help or not.
Screen Issue!
So the other day i got a call on viber (a calling app) and when you get a call the status bars not transparent so it was still black anyway after the phone call i noticed a black dark pixel on my status bar and it annoyed me it was on my home...
forum.xda-developers.com
Limeybastard said:
Here's the thread I was referring to from KURDking. Not sure it will help or not.
Screen Issue!
So the other day i got a call on viber (a calling app) and when you get a call the status bars not transparent so it was still black anyway after the phone call i noticed a black dark pixel on my status bar and it annoyed me it was on my home...
forum.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly this thread i found before. It’s exactly the same issue. And i was in contact with a other guy over Reddit who also exchanged 3 mobiles with the very sane issue.
Limeybastard said:
Here's the thread I was referring to from KURDking. Not sure it will help or not.
Screen Issue!
So the other day i got a call on viber (a calling app) and when you get a call the status bars not transparent so it was still black anyway after the phone call i noticed a black dark pixel on my status bar and it annoyed me it was on my home...
forum.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your constructive help
From0toHero said:
Thank you for your constructive help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries bubba. I hope you find an amicable solution soon.
Yeah every n20u has it. Some people just don't have the eyes to see it or choose not to / conditioned to ignore it.
I can see it on demand but I forgot it was even there till this thread. No way around it, it's a design flaw of this generation.
My n10+ isn't visible unless it's being used but what can we do, Nothing.
My US Note 20 Ultra has that as well. I didn't notice it for 3 months, then there it was. It is from the proximity sensor, and it's only visible in dark environments, and on days when I've had long calls. Other times, it's not visible at all and I'm guessing the sensor is under the screen and that the visible flashing causes it to slightly offset the AMOLED pixels. Every Note 20 Ultra I've seen also has image retention issue (not to the point of burn in) but high contrast images fade off the screen for about 5-10 seconds and this is only visible on gray backgrounds. Looking for a "perfect" one may be a waste of time.

Categories

Resources