Dimming Screen Annoyance

[bimmerchop]

Okay, help me out here guys. I've had my new mbp for about a month, but I can't figure out how to stop the screen from dimming on it's own. This is probably an easy fix but I'm a noob so go easy on me lol.

I already went into my my energy saver preferences and checked off the box saying to automatically reduce the display brightness before display sleep... but every now and then, it still dims on its own if I don't use the computer for say 10-15 minutes. Am I missing something, is there another preference I need ot be looking for?

 

[siurpeeman]

when going to the energy saver preferences, you have to uncheck the box that asks to automatically reduce brightness on the screen for both power adapter and battery profiles. it could be that you unchecked the box for the power adapter, and it's still dimming while you're on battery or vice versa. try that, and see if it works.

 

[majordude]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/304283/

 

[bobcan]

I think you are fighting....

I think you are fighting an Uphill Battle here.... the Problem you have (not problem if you wanna save Power!!) is that most people wanna save power!! I think Apple has "Out Thunk You" in your quest...

I too have been annoyed at times but got over it sooner than later... I've had a MBP since Apr-06 and what you have done is IT I think... Power Saver> Options> and cypher what you want from there... I think if the computer is not doing meaningful work it will DIM.... Oh well!!

 

[bousozoku]

I'm impressed with how often this fails to follow the setting. I find my machine doing this again since 10.4.10 so hopefully, it will be repaired before Tiger receives its final update.

 

[bimmerchop]

I have it unchecked for both the battery and power adapter. I'll try the pmset when I get home majordude. I don't have my mbp in front of me now so it will have to wait till I get home later on tonight.

 

[looking4anotebo]

This also bugs me quite a bit. It often dims on me 1-2 minutes after I last touched something.

 

[cardsdoc]

I have the same annoying issue. There are multiple threads on this and it seems to be an OS X bug. For me (and others as well), the setting sticks only until the MBP goes to sleep or reboots then you have to check and uncheck the setting again no matter what solution you try. If anyone has a developer copy of Leopard maybe they can report back on this issue.

 

[maestrocasa]

I'm also having similar problems with my week-old MBP. my problem is that the auto dimm is so fast and sensitive, if my hand casts a brief shadow on the right side of the machine (like when deleting), the screen dimms, then relights 1/2 a second later when my hand moves. (it's happened 3 or 4 times while writing this post)

 

[aquajet]

This has been an issue for a long time now. It is annoying and hopefully it will be corrected at some point.

 

[klex]

This is an issue with intel based macs. Apple has an article about here
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304092.

The article reads:

Issue or symptom

The screen may dim before sleep on an Intel-based Mac's built-in display, even if the Energy Saver setting "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep" is disabled. This setting may no longer be in effect after restarting the computer.
Products affected

* Intel-based Mac with built-in display (MacBook, MacBook Pro)

Solution

As a workaround, to temporarily stop the display from dimming before display sleep, enable the Energy Saver preferences setting "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep," then disable it again.

You may also be able to temporarily avoid the issue by putting the computer to sleep and waking it.

Note: The issue will return each time the computer is restarted.

This document will be updated as more information becomes available.

See the "note" at the bottom where it says

Note: The issue will return each time the computer is restarted.

 

[bobcan]

Yup.. me too....

I'm also having similar problems with my week-old MBP. my problem is that the auto dimm is so fast and sensitive, if my hand casts a brief shadow on the right side of the machine (like when deleting), the screen dims, then relights 1/2 a second later when my hand moves. (it's happened 3 or 4 times while writing this post)

Me too... I don't know if my new SR is more sensitive to this Dimming Up/ Down but seems so from my Original 1.83 GHz MBP...

I think it generally happens when ther are some "shadows" on Keyboard as there is (I think..) a Light Sensor under the Keys on the Upper Left and Right both ... near the esc & Eject Keys... If there is "even" light across it seems to be usually OK...

 

[xpovos]

I'm also having similar problems with my week-old MBP. my problem is that the auto dimm is so fast and sensitive, if my hand casts a brief shadow on the right side of the machine (like when deleting), the screen dimms, then relights 1/2 a second later when my hand moves. (it's happened 3 or 4 times while writing this post)

Actually, your issue is not the one the OP is describing. The OP's issue is a bug in OS X that doesn't retain the proper setting in Energy Saver across reboots. It's a software issue.

Yours is a hardware issue, completely normal and due to the auto-dimming sensor being too sensitive. Shadows from your hands can trigger the sensor, dimming the display. If your hands move over the speaker grills quickly enough, the auto-dimming can even fool you into thinking you have a screen flicker defect.

If this over-sensitivity of the sensor bothers you (as it does me and many others), it's an easy fix to just turn that feature off in the "Displays" pane in System Preferences.