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Where are the light sensors?

MowingDevil

MowingDevil

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 30, 2008
1,588
7
Vancouver, BC & Sydney, NSW
I was wondering why my keyboard kept the backlight going no matter how bright the lighting in the room was....checked the prefs and the right setting was checked....then I tilted the screen back a bit more and bingo the backlight turned off on the kybrd. So whats the deal if you want your screen more upright the sensors are blocked? ...or is there a defect there?

I guess that begs the question as to how far do you tilt your screen back during normal use. On mine if you have it straight up so it forms a 90 degree angle the display washes out a bit. If you tilt it back just a bit everything levels out and is perfect. Too far back and it starts to darken over. Thing is, why would having the screen more upright cause the light sensors not to work? The whole point of getting a proper viewing angle w/ a laptop (according to Apple at the big keynote) is being able to move it to an area of the room that has optimum lighting (so the glossy isn't a problem) and this includes tilting the screen so its the best viewing experience (depending on your changing environment/lighting).
 
I believe the sensor is next to he camera in the display. I've noticed the auto brightness change when I sit in front of it versus when I move to the side.
 
It's next to the camera, on the opposite side to the green light that comes on when the iSight is in use.

On the MacBook Air it's in the same place but it's behind a stack of holes drilled in the aluminium.

On older MacBook Pros/PowerBooks it's under the speaker grilles.
 
MowingDevil said:
I was wondering why my keyboard kept the backlight going no matter how bright the lighting in the room was....checked the prefs and the right setting was checked....then I tilted the screen back a bit more and bingo the backlight turned off on the kybrd. So whats the deal if you want your screen more upright the sensors are blocked? ...or is there a defect there?

I guess that begs the question as to how far do you tilt your screen back during normal use. On mine if you have it straight up so it forms a 90 degree angle the display washes out a bit. If you tilt it back just a bit everything levels out and is perfect. Too far back and it starts to darken over. Thing is, why would having the screen more upright cause the light sensors not to work? The whole point of getting a proper viewing angle w/ a laptop (according to Apple at the big keynote) is being able to move it to an area of the room that has optimum lighting (so the glossy isn't a problem) and this includes tilting the screen so its the best viewing experience (depending on your changing environment/lighting).
Click to expand...

If you are already aware of this, ignore me. But if not, check this out. Someone directed me to this when I had a similar concern.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/labtick.html
 
Yeah it's on the left side of your iSight.
I think this is actually better placement than under speaker grills. I have had much less brightness variation, especially while watching television compared to my old MBP.
 
Ok that makes sense. So perhaps the reason the kybrd lights go on when the screen is more upright is due to my (not so bright lighting) is above. When I move the screen more towards a 90 degree angle the lighting goes on because the the light most likely isn't registering w/ the sensor IN the screen. I tilt it back and the lighting goes off. Makes sense. It probably wouldn't happen in a sunlight lit room then; I just didn't expect the angle of the screen to affect how the computer gauges light (thinking the sensors were in the speakers).
 
RE: Where are the light sensors?

To add on: F5 and F6 on a macbook pro are keyboard backlight (may need Fn + F5 or F6 depending on settings). F1 and F2 are display backlight keys. If it doesn't adjust how you like it, change it :).
 
MowingDevil said:
Ok that makes sense. So perhaps the reason the kybrd lights go on when the screen is more upright is due to my (not so bright lighting) is above. When I move the screen more towards a 90 degree angle the lighting goes on because the the light most likely isn't registering w/ the sensor IN the screen. I tilt it back and the lighting goes off. Makes sense. It probably wouldn't happen in a sunlight lit room then; I just didn't expect the angle of the screen to affect how the computer gauges light (thinking the sensors were in the speakers).
Click to expand...

Yup!
Im typing this under a bright desk lamp but the lamp is behind the MBP so my backlit still goes on.
I just use my F5 keys to lower it down or turn it off.
 
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