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Automatic Dimming of MBP Display

S

Smoothie

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 23, 2007
781
544
California
I posted about this in an old existing thread in the Mac OS X subforum, but I think that it might be more relevant here in case it's hardware related. I just bought a 15 inch SR MBP and my display sometimes dims after a certain amount of inactivity. As soon as I move the mouse or press a key, the display returns to normal brightness. This is not the display going to sleep where it's completely off. I have unchecked the power option setting to dim the display just before the display goes to sleep. I can't find any other setting in the OS to control this. This is my first Mac, and it's certainly humbling learning a new OS since I feel very comfortable with Windows machines. :)
 
yes, I can't seem to disable this feature also. I don't mind when I am running on a battery to save power, but when it's plugged in i want this feature disabled.
 
Go into System Preferences then click on Display.

You'll find this tab:

display_bright.png


Click off adjust brightness as....

:)
 
You know what's funny is [and maybe the older dim displays did this too but] the LED backlight with my glossy screen is so bright that if the screen is dimmed for ambient lighting in a dark room, and I switch to a webpage that is mostly or all white background, it lights up the room so much that the ambient sensor throws the screen to full bright! :D
 
Mr Fusion said:
You know what's funny is [and maybe the older dim displays did this too but] the LED backlight with my glossy screen is so bright that if the screen is dimmed for ambient lighting in a dark room, and I switch to a webpage that is mostly or all white background, it lights up the room so much that the ambient sensor throws the screen to full bright! :D
Click to expand...

LOL, hurts doesnt it? Happened to me a few times too.
 
Kilamite said:
Click off adjust brightness as....

:)
Click to expand...

Thats the auto dimming of the screen using the ambient light sensors.

I think the OP is after the one in System Prefs, Energy Saver, Options, Automatically reduce brightness of the desplay before display sleep.

That stops it "half" sleeping before it actually sleeps the display.

Dean
 
deanj said:
Thats the auto dimming of the screen using the ambient light sensors.

I think the OP is after the one in System Prefs, Energy Saver, Options, Automatically reduce brightness of the desplay before display sleep.

That stops it "half" sleeping before it actually sleeps the display.

Dean
Click to expand...

I have that checked off and the screen still dims. any other ideas?
 
Second thoughts - I think mine still dims down after a while.

I think its relative to the screen saver. I have my screen saver set at 15mins and it takes it about 12mins to dim.

Best thing is to set screen saver to 30mins, then set one of the hot corners to start the screensaver.

Like, my bottom left corner starts screen saver if the mouse is there for more than 2 seconds. It's really handy when you are about to leave your computer temporary then quickly slide mouse to bottom left and boom screensaver on.

Just like locking your computer.
 
Thanks for the replies. The screen dimming is not related to the screen saver, since I've got that set so it never comes on. It doesn't appear related to the ambient light sensor since the ambient light isn't changing when the screen dims and the screen comes back to original brightness if I move the mouse. As mentioned in my original post, I've got the power setting unchecked for dimming of the screen prior to the display going to sleep. I may turn off the ambient light sensor just to see if that makes a difference anyway.
 
The setting you're looking for is in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options. Uncheck "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep." Remember that this setting is actually there twice in the panel. Chances are you have it set to not dim when your computer is plugged in but you're running on battery power (or vice versa), so it dims anyway because the battery power setting is still checked.
 
Sbrocket said:
The setting you're looking for is in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options. Uncheck "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep." Remember that this setting is actually there twice in the panel. Chances are you have it set to not dim when your computer is plugged in but you're running on battery power (or vice versa), so it dims anyway because the battery power setting is still checked.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I've got it unchecked for both.
 
Sbrocket said:
I tested it before I made that post and it worked for me so I'm not sure why yours isn't working.
Click to expand...

Yea i've been having the same thing happen as the OP, i have that option unchecked and it dims just before the screensaver comes on. Cant seem to disable it.
 
Uncheck both boxes, close System Configuration, and open up terminal. Run this command and post what output you get.

Code: 
grep -A 1 -e 'Display Sleep Uses Dim' /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Power*
 
This is a known issue that still doesn't seem to have been fixed. The trick is to enable the "dim display before sleep" and then disable it again. You have to do this every time your computer reboots.

Link
 
Thanks, aquajet! I had a feeling that the selection was not being retained. I'm also glad to know that it's not hardware-related.
 
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