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UKapple73

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 13, 2014
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I’ve had my 12pm since November. Recently I switched auto brightness off, and I immediately noticed the display seems much more vibrant somehow, even at similar brightness levels. Also it seems when auto brightness is on, the display flickers more, you can test this at lower brightness and move your eyes very quickly it will strobe slightly. With auto brightness off, it doesn’t flicker and I wonder if PWM is much reduced or even off when auto brightness is off??
 
Auto brightness definitely increases PWM on my 12 Mini, as it generally keeps the brightness around 30% where the flickering is the most. When i turn off auto brightness and keep it at 50% i get no eye strain or headaches at all.
 
Auto brightness simply measures the environmental brightness and adjusts the display brightness accordingly.
If the auto setting is too dark for you just increase the brightness manually and the new "reference level" for the current measured brightness will be saved.
This whole process has no different effect on the PWM than manually adjusting the display brightness.
 
Auto brightness simply measures the environmental brightness and adjusts the display brightness accordingly.
If the auto setting is too dark for you just increase the brightness manually and the new "reference level" for the current measured brightness will be saved.
This whole process has no different effect on the PWM than manually adjusting the display brightness.
I’m not sure you’re correct
There is demonstrably less strobing when you have auto brightness off. I’m assuming this is either down to much higher frequency PWM or it’s off altogether
 
Auto brightness just changes the display brightness slider, you can see it in action if you move from a dark to a bright place while the control center is visible.
PWM depends only on the brightness of the pixels. If you set a brigthness manually the resulting PWM is the same as when auto brightness sets it to the same level.
 
No, the brightness is definitely higher when auto is off, at the same slider position. There is definitely something more fundamentally different about auto brightness than simply it alters the slider
 
This is not normal, there must be something wrong woth your device then.
All iphones i used behaved the way i described it.
 
It is normal, because it’s been the same way on all the oled iPhones I’ve owned. Try it yourself. Tell Siri to set brightness to say 40%, and see how much better auto brightness off looks, and how much less strobing effect there is
 
As i wrote, there is no difference, the PWM and brightness are identical.
 
Yes, had the X, XS, 11 Pro and now the 12 Pro. They all behave the same, PWM and brightness level are the same with auto brightness on or off...
 
Well all mine have been brighter at same slider level with auto off. Maybe all mine have been defective
 
The 12PM is the first phone I’ve had that has had this auto brightness issue. I immediately noticed the screen was very dim until I turned auto brightness off and reset the phone.
 
Inasmuch as the PWM flickers the screen more at certain (usually lower) brightness, turning off auto brightness will let you set it at a level which is more comfortable for your eyes, preventing the phone from changing it. For some people sensitive to PWM this could help with eye strain and headaches.
 
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You could simply change the brightness to your desired level and the auto regulation will keep it at this brightness when you get to a place with the same environmental brightness. If you set it to a fixed level you would have to change the value once you get to a bright place...
 
No, the brightness is definitely higher when auto is off, at the same slider position. There is definitely something more fundamentally different about auto brightness than simply it alters the slider
you are right. my 12 mini auto brightness do exactly as you said. My IP 8 didn't do that, everything was fine. I don't know if it's from IOS 14.4, because i bought the phone with 14.2 and restored to 14.4 on the same day..
 
Interesting discussion, to be honest i never thought about this but when i had a 12 and had less pwm issues while using it i always had brightness on manual setting and around 40 to 60 percent.
 
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