HP G62-47NR Laptop Auto-Dim Screen When Going to Desktop and Fuzzy Windows

Hi. I have just bought my G62 laptop and have pretty much no complaint except the backspace's bounce seems to be a bit off and a little loud. However, I seem to notice this weird dimming issue when I set my laptop to either Power Saver or HP Recommended mode. When I go from the internet browser to the desktop and wait like 3 seconds, the screen seem to dim just a tiny bit. Sometimes it dims twice. Most noticeable when using the lowest brightness level. It's really bothering me, does anybody know what it is? It's not the auto-dim feature, because it dims in like 3 second. It just flickers a little bit.

Also, when I move a browser or window up and down, I can see this fuzziness on the outline of the window, including the outline of the search bar. I updated the display adapters, I have Intel HD Graphics display adapters.

My specs are:

i5-430m
4GB
Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium

Please somebody offer some suggestions. Thank you.

 

is the machine somehow going to a resolution that is less than the 'real' resolution of your display panel?

 

The resolution is 1366 x 768 I believe at 60 refresh rate. Those are the highest settings for my laptop. A bit disappointing. -__-

 

well, it's not like the manufacturer could have possibly lied about the panel resolution.........

 

What about the subject regarding the flickering and dimming issues?

 

how does the screen backlighting (LED right?) behave if you manually run the brightness up/down with the fn+f7 and f8 keys? do this test while on full power battery and full power plugged in.

 

I have a G62 too, only with an i3 but the ATI graphics. I don't have that behaviour on my machine. The auto-dim feature does what it's supposed to do and kicks in just when I set it to do so.
Maybe there's something wrong with the backlight of your machine? Does this happen with all backlight settings or only when you're using the lowest settings (I don't use the higher settings either unless I'm using my laptop outside).

 

I just purchased a G62 and received it yesterday for my mother. As I was going through setting everything up for her, I thought I noticed it dimming randomly too but I thought I was just crazy.

I have the same specs as yours. The standard screen is a LED-backlit 1336x768 15" panel. I also updated the graphics drivers last night.

 

@ newsposter It brightens and unbrighten when I press it up and down.

@ Radical 53. You don't have that problem? Do you mean back light meaning brightness? I have changed brightness but the higher brightness is just harder to see the difference, but I know it is still doing it. I have noticed that this dimming problem is much more consistent when using HP Recommended or Power Saver, less so on High Performance. It doesn't have to be internet browser either. It can be a different window. When I go back to my desktop from a window I stare at the screen, 3 seconds later, it gets a tiny bit dimmer. When I go back on the window after 2-3 seconds it brightens a bit again.

@ ROCKETR, you notice it too?! Is it very apparent or just a little bit like mine? We have to call HP, I left my phone at home and I'm in the dorms right now so. =[

 

not what I really cared to know, does it brighten in a jerky/bad/unpleasant manner when you manually brighten/dim the backlighting? Or does the backlighting brighten/dim smoothly or differently when compared to the power plan or some other software controls.

this will tell us if you potentially have a hardware problem or if it might be a power plan or device driver setting problem.

can you track the jerky screen backlighting to any possible increase or decrease in processor speed caused by a power plan kicking in?

is the system bios fully up to date?

 

It is not really jerky, it is subtle. It so in the matter of 3 seconds. I updated everything, not sure how to update bios.

 

@briocloud: Yes, the brightness settings. I'm running an adjusted HP power saver scheme and I don't have this problem. The screen stays absolutely the same until it switches to the dimmed brightness, in my case after two minutes.

 

Well, in two minutes it is okay, because that's probably the auto-dim feature to preserve power. It is found in the battery plans and can be adjusted. I'm talking about a constant back and forth between bright and then a little dim switching from a window to the desktop, constantly.

 

Exactly that's what it is, yes. That's the only dim I get, nothing else.

 

This is exactly what I have. It does it a little bit almost constantly.

I cannot find any pattern with it doing it because of the power plan changing or anything like that. When I dim and brighten the backlighting using the controls, it does it exactly as all of my other laptops have. However, for whatever reason, this laptop's screen almost flickers with it dimming and brightening nearly constantly just enough for the eye to see and cause a distraction.

 

I see that we have the same problem ROCKTR. Hey, we should call HP, I left my phone at home and I'm in the dorms right now, can you call them and tell us what happens?

 

ROCKTR, I hope you reply soon.

 

It's RocketR, there's an E in there.

I don't have the laptop with me as I already gave it to my mother. I set it up at her house the other day and I never noticed any flickering so I didn't mention it. I told her to let me know if anything went wrong (in general). She's said nothing but praise as to how much "faster" it is so we'll see. Is the flickering still occuring for you?

 

I have found a partial fix that doesn't really "fix" it but only temporarily. Turns out, if I shut down my computer in power saver mode, then turn it back on, this dim screen happens. However, when I restart my computer in high performance mode, this dimming screen disappears, even if I switch back to power saver. If I again turn it off in power saver mode, this problem appears again. Please, does anyone have an idea of why this happens? It is VERY annoying to be on an internet browser, then go on the desktop and watch the screen gradually dim lower and lower only to slowly brighten up when back on the browser.

 

Bump! I need help!

 

I think the only thing we can do right now is wait my friend. I'm hoping they'll release a fix in a BIOS or driver update of some sort.

 

Similar issue have been mentioned on Dell's forum's for the 1564 which uses the i3 with Integrated Graphics. Forcing the installation of the latest drivers from Intel has fixed most people's issues.

 

From Dell forums where similar things have been seen on the 1564, same i3 processor:

After doing a little more research and spending hours on the phone with Dell. My Husband found out the problem with my laptop was with a setting in the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator. This is how he fixed it.

1. Click on the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD icon in the lower right area of the task bar (I had to click on the up arrow to see it)

2. Select the Graphics Properties option from the menu

3. Then Select Power ---Power Features

4. On the right hand side there will be a drop down menu select the On Battery Option

5. Make sure the check box next to Display Power Saving Technology is not checked.



After doing these steps my screen brightness stays to the settings that I have adjusted using the Windows 7 power option menu. I hope you all get the same results.

 

I stumbled across this thread from google searching while trying to figure out the answer to the same problem. Now that I figured it out, here's to help anyone else who might have to deal with this later.

What thepfy said is the solution. But perhaps it will be easier to follow by checking out the nice visuals contained towards the bottom of this thread:

Anyone know how to disable dimming/brightening of screen?? - [H]ard|Forum