Vaio Z brightness keys doesn't work on the dark

Hey all, i got my new Vaio Z (VPCZ112GX) about three months ago. Since then i got a few times that my brightness adjustment keys didn't work. After a while, I've found out that this problem only happens when the sensor sense a dark room and when the backlit keyboard is on.

I'm now sitting in a dark room, when I'm pressing on the adjustment brightness keys i see the adjustment bar on the screen changes but the screen brightness wouldn't change. when i open the light in the room the brightness keys work and the brightness of the screen changes.

I know that if i turn of the auto brightness off it "solves" the problem but i wanted to know if there is a way to keep the auto brightness on and still be able to adjust the brightness at dark.

 

Anyone got the same problem?

 

I think most of us leave the auto brightness off as it works pretty lousy.

 

Yup, for some* reason only Apple are able to get auto-brightness working at a level where it's better to actually have it on (in their iPhones and Macs). No flamewar intended, just stating my observations.

* - perhaps cuz they make the OS and the hardware themselves, so they don't have to rely on creating 3rd-party utilities that run on top of Windows, instead they just integrate that stuff into the OS, the way it _should_ be.

 

I actually think the auto brightness is a nice thing, but i don't understand why i cant change the brightness in a dark place...
so you're saying that i should turn off the auto mode?
There is no way to adjust the brightness in auto mode and in dark place?

 

Just turn off auto brightness. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

It's probably because the brightness keys work within a range that's relative to ambient light when the auto brightness is enabled. When there's zero ambient light there is zero range for tuning with the brightness keys. Not a great excuse, but I suspect it's what's happening.