New Problem ? : Am I crazy or does the screen sometimes flicker?

[alpinadvl]

Either the ambient sensor is very sensitive - or the screen brightness occasionally changes up and down. And stays in a newer position for some time, then goes to another brightness level.

I only noticed this two different times - it last more than a couple of minutes, thought I was crazy - and both times I unplugged the notebook to make sure it wasn't a line voltage fluctuation.

Screen brightness set to 80%
MBA fully charge
Playing a flash video at the time.

Has anyone noticed this aberration ? Please comment if you have or if you "noticed" something...

 

[ayeying]

the sensor is sensitive... are you sure your head's not blocking it or something?

 

[dahcheet]

the sensor is sensitive... are you sure your head's not blocking it or something?

The sensor is extremely sensitive so if someone walked through your light or you moved your head and cast a small shadow onto the sensor (even a dull one) then the screen would change brightness.

 

[blairwillis]

You didn't describe your environment at the time... bright, dim, or dark?

I'm guessing "dark". In a dark room, the ambient light sensor is more tuned in to the light the screen is putting out. The clue here is that you were watching a flash video, so the average brightness of the video must have changed, with the screen brightness compensating (for itself, rather than the environment).

You shouldn't see constant changes when you're viewing a "constant" screen, say reading a web page or working on a text document.

 

[alpinadvl]

You didn't describe your environment at the time... bright, dim, or dark?

Definitely not a dark room - but not an overly bright room.... this happened during the morining (most recently) with overcast outside. I would not be surprised if you were right though - if the sensor is sensitive to the light from the flash video reflecting off me as I am watching it and scenes are changing !


Also, I do agree with others that the sensor is extremely sensitive. Might not be a bad idea to somehow "adjust" the sensitivity so that the brightness only changes if exposed to a change in ambient light for "x seconds"......

 

[joefrank64k]

I've experienced what you are describing...you think you're seeing things because it's so transitory but I finally figured it out...like the previous posters have said, that darn light sensor is super sensitive (which is probably a good thing in most instances) and "once in a while" it varies the brightness when you think there hasn't been any change in ambient light.