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2012 Nexus 7 Discussion Forums (1st Generation) => Nexus 7 General Discussion => Topic started by: iameatingjam on December 22, 2012, 05:43:20 PM

Title: reduce brightness
Post by: iameatingjam on December 22, 2012, 05:43:20 PM
I have very light sensitive eyes, and the minimum brightness level is still a little too bright for me. As well my nexus 7 battery only lasts 6 and half hours with everything off except wifi (which is set to off when it sleeps). If there was a way to reduce the brightness even more than in the settings menu I figure I could kill two birds with one stone. Is it possible to do such a thing?
Title: Re: reduce brightness
Post by: bjs229 on December 22, 2012, 08:14:15 PM
Hello and welcome. When you say minimum do you have auto turned off? When my brightness is turned all the way down with auto off,  it is almost too dark to see.  Ambient lighting can be used to help as well.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Title: Re: reduce brightness
Post by: birdastrompgman on December 22, 2012, 08:41:39 PM
Absolutely.  I'm an astronomer, so I needed a way to dim my screens.  I use ScreenDim Pro by Omega Centauri Software.  It lets you pre-select two levels of daytime brightness/contrast combinations, and three levels of nighttime combinations.  It does not require your Android device be rooted.

My Daytime 1 choice is below the minimum OEM brightness.  I set my Nighttime 1 level dim enough not to disturb my wife when I'm reading in bed.  My other Nighttime settings are for the astronomy field.
Title: Re: reduce brightness
Post by: iameatingjam on December 22, 2012, 09:49:54 PM
Hello and welcome. When you say minimum do you have auto turned off? When my brightness is turned all the way down with auto off,  it is almost too dark to see.  Ambient lighting can be used to help as well.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, the minimum with auto turned off is still too bright. Well its not really too bright, but I would prefer it lower. And since my battery doesn't last very long, and the main drain is the screen, and I could tolerate a significantly less bright screen, why not?

Absolutely.  I'm an astronomer, so I needed a way to dim my screens.  I use ScreenDim Pro by Omega Centauri Software.  It lets you pre-select two levels of daytime brightness/contrast combinations, and three levels of nighttime combinations.  It does not require your Android device be rooted.

My Daytime 1 choice is below the minimum OEM brightness.  I set my Nighttime 1 level dim enough not to disturb my wife when I'm reading in bed.  My other Nighttime settings are for the astronomy field.

Thanks for the help. This application somewhat helps. It seems it really just modifys the color rather than actually reducing backlight intensity (I can tell because the top bar/notifications remain the same). Its still better than it was before but if there was a method to actually reduce the backlight, that would be cool.

EDIT: I see now there actually is a backlight setting but it doesn't set it any lower than before.
Title: Re: reduce brightness
Post by: birdastrompgman on December 22, 2012, 10:03:58 PM
Are you trying the Pro version?  My N7 is rooted, but the app claims you don't need to be.  I can adjust brightness and contrast to a fraction of 1%, v. the OEM minimum of 25% brightness, and no control over contrast. 
Title: Re: reduce brightness
Post by: iameatingjam on December 22, 2012, 10:48:21 PM
Do you mean screendim full? I couldn't find one called pro. I'm using the trial, and it has the same description and doesn't mention and limited features except it only lasts 3 days. It says backlight goes down to .8% but it still looks the same. Considering rooting my device....
Title: Re: reduce brightness
Post by: birdastrompgman on December 22, 2012, 11:50:55 PM
Yes, ScreenDim Full. You need to toggle the "OFF" button near the upper left corner to "ON" in order to see your changes occur.  Go to ScreenDim's settings, and enter the Advanced options to change both brightness and contrast.

I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. 49.6 mpg avg for 38k miles in non-hybrid Scion xB