l501x Low Brightness is Too Bright.

I have the l501x or xps 15 from Dell. I really like it, especially the wonderful screen on this bad boy. The only issue I am having is the brightness won't go very low on Windows 7. I put Ubuntu on my laptop and that gives me much more control over the brightness, I can get it very dim and very bright. Where as Windows 7 goes medium to very bright. This can be annoying when I'm trying to work late at night with others in the room. Does anyone know a way to have more options in my brightness? Even if it is something like a registry edit I would be fine with that. It doesn't have to be hot-keyable, but would be nice. Thanks for any help, I tried searching but haven't found anyone else complaining about this.

 

This would be a wonderful thing to have for my 502x.

 

They are very similar, I think the screen is the exact same so I would imagine it would work for both if a solution was found.

 

Hi,
Have you try the Intel Graphics Properties -> Color Adjustment -> Brightness/Contrast /Gamma?

I also like the Windows Theme: High Contrast Black...Very slick - Movie like, easy on the eyes, save power/screen life... 90%+ blackness instead of staring at 90% white/light bulb ;-).

Thanks.

 

The problem with that, as it appears to me, is that it messes with the clarity of the screen. It also kind of defeats any energy saving because the backlight it still going to be draining extra energy. Actually if this is led backlit it may still save energy, now that I think of it. If thats saves battery then I would think the high contrast black may as well. Anyone put either of these to the test? I'm not sure if this uses a backlit panel or if each pixel is self illuminated with leds.

It is a temporary fix for when I do need it dark and need to use windows 7. Still annoying to have to manually do it each time I want it real dark in situations. Would much rather just turn down the brightness with the hotkey that is already there.

When I am using Ubuntu and turn the brightness way down I get incredible battery life. The thing estimates 6:30 to 7 hours. Which in the past it's estimator has been pretty accurate for me.

edit:
Tried each one out while letting my laptop idle. I adjusted each separately through the intel display options and made the brightness real high, made it real low, made the contrast real high and real low as well. Neither of these made my discharge rate drop. I only saw an slight increase if anything. When I changed the brightness with the hotkey the drop in discharge rate is apparent. I can take screen shots of it later if anyone is curious. I was a bit surprised I was hoping it would save battery. Well at least it makes the screen darker when I need it darker.

If the brightness dropped to the level that ubuntu's does then I think windows would get the better battery life. Because at full brightness windows seems to fair better.

 

Hi xCaldazar,

Have you tried Windows Theme: High Contrast Black...Very slick - Movie like, easy on the eyes, save power/screen life... 90%+ blackness instead of staring at 90% white/light bulb ;-).

Thanks.

 

A black screen wont decrease power usage. It's LED, not e-paper of amoled. The backlit is always on, and pixels barely take power. (i heard less than 0.5w for an average screen)

 

Thanks Darkstone,
0.5w is 30%-60% of total discharge rate based on BatteryBar v3.5.1. Not sure why before it was round 0.85w now it's around 1.6w. It says Battery capcity is 5,000 mWh. Dell specs say this 6 Cell is 56Whr.

Are you saying that the black pixels of the screen can't be turned off like when the entire screen is power off? So if 90% of the screen is black you can't turn off those black pixels and there is no difference in 90% black versus 90% white in screen longevity, or power saving, but only in eyes fatique?

Much thanks.

 

Hi,

I have xps l502x and the same problem.

I almost tried everything
-dimmers (these are not backlight adjustments and colors are affected badly)
-intel hd3000 adjustments (not backlight adj., colors are bad again)
-dsdt modding (and some tries reaching video card backlight registers, but no success)

I saw useful address at
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-laptop-led-backlight-screen-s-minimum-2.html

With the help of equus, asl and iasl (use for disassembling, asl is buggy), something little can be achieved.
Standard min. backlight of xps 502 is 16.
I add two steps with dsdt modding: 8 and 12. (also add various steps 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 etc.)
But, something prevents the backlight go under 13 in windows. Dell or windows made something, and machine has this limit.

Now;
12 gives backlight 13.
8 is the my spare one, if I succeed.

-------------
At this time, for under the min. backlight 13, I use DimScreenD. This one doesn't change your intel 3000 color adj. and provides 5% slice up and down in brightness with some hot key. Not perfect but easy one.

My last words; "Shame on you Dell. You ruined my days and hours for really unnecessary thing. This machine was beautiful. Screen, sound, everything is almost perfect. I wish not to shade my feelings to this machine."