Level 1

5 points

Screen flickers at low brightness

My screen just started flickering while reading a book. I have brightness set to about 20%, which is optimal while reading in bed at night.

The flickering is random but persistent. It gets worse when something is moving on screen (like a page wipe). I also noticed on Safari while a page was blank during loading.

I can't use the iBooks reader at night any more because the flickering is too distracting, so I'm going to return the iPad.

Anybody else have this problem?

MacBook 2 GHz, Mac OS X (10.4.10), 2 GB RAM

Posted on Apr 13, 2010 7:43 AM

Top-ranking reply

Oso Grande

Level 2

156 points

Posted on Apr 23, 2010 7:21 PM

There's nothing wrong with your iPads, almost [anything|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Moniwv8ewU] with an LED backlight display will show it at low brightness.

LEDs don't actually dim like old CCFLs, they flicker at specific frequencies to appear as though they are dim. Some people are more sensitive to this than others. I see it on my LED backlit MBP and on my wife's iPad (each at low brightness). The only real workaround is to turn your brightness up a tad.

Here's the best description I've found...

+The average brightness of the LED would also be the same if measured electronically. The difference is in the brightness perceived. The human eye has a certain amount of persistence. If exposed to a bright light the eye will "remember" the light for a short period of time. This allows us to view a motion picture or TV screen as a steady image when in fact it is flickering at 24 to 30 times a second. When the LED is flashed on brightly for a short time and then turned off the eye "remembers" the light at the high brightness level. The result is that the perceived brightness of the back light is closer to the high pulsed brightness than to the lower average dc brightness.+

Source :: http://www.tstonramp.com/~pddwebacc/lcd_backlights.htm

Message was edited by: Oso Grande

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39 replies

FusionLA

Level 1

5 points

Jun 23, 2010 1:07 PM in response to FusionLA

Just an update of my screen flicker issue.
I keep the brightness turned very low to use it to read at night.
The flickering definitely seem to be tied to the low brightness setting and the charge level.
After the charge level reaches below 90% the flicker goes away using the same low brightness setting, but when fully charged it comes back.

Apr 14, 2010 8:05 AM in response to MeniThings

I just noticed this as well. This morning I plugged it in to charge and while I was playing around in the settings I noticed a slight flickering. I only notice it on something with a light background (i.e. settings, ibooks, safari, etc.) I didn't notice this until I started charging it for the first time. When it finishes charging I will test it to see if it is still flickering.

Hope this is not going to be an issue.

May 3, 2010 8:19 AM in response to MeniThings

hi there, i have nearly the same problem. On low brigtness and white background my ipad display is blinking and flashing and even changing a bit colour from white to light pink... is this normal? When i turn auto brightness of and set it to medium, its ok, otherwise its really disturbing.

The question is - because i am from Europe - if it makes sense to send it back to US to apple to get a new one. Or if it is possible to get new one in the store from hand to hand, because a friend of mine is going there next week. Thanks for any infos.

FusionLA

Level 1

5 points

Jun 5, 2010 5:25 PM in response to FusionLA

It seems that the auto brightness does not have any affect on the flicker for me, I keep the brightness turned down on mine, but noticed it happens mostly when its at full charge.

Apr 24, 2010 1:53 PM in response to hingli

This is really disturbing! We were getting close to ordering one, but I'm particularly sensitive to visual distractions (would never buy a Kindle because of the screen flashing on page turning).

I use an iPod Touch in the middle of the night and have no problem with flickering.

I do have a problem with a 2008 MacBook Pro when scrolling down a web page--never had that with an iBook G4.

If this is indeed a common or inherent feature with the iPad, we may have to reconsider our plans. Hope some others chime in that can report they DON'T have the problem!

fseixas

Level 1

0 points

May 9, 2010 9:46 PM in response to MeniThings

Just an update.

I don't know if I made any configuration that affected this but for some reason the flicker has stoped completely. And I can't reproduce it anymore. I can't figure out why.

Maybe this only occours in an certain battery charge level.

This is getting very wierd. My guts say that this is a software problem.

Fabio

May 26, 2010 6:36 AM in response to MeniThings

Where did you buy the iPad originally? It's bizarre that you didn't drop it but it had a dent. Could a family member or someone else have dropped it and not said anything! 🙂

Could it have come that way?

FusionLA

Level 1

5 points

May 30, 2010 10:53 PM in response to MeniThings

Add me to the list of the screen flickering.
It seems to mostly happen with the brightness turned down.
Usually I keep the brightness down to read book in iBooks, matches my nook screen a lot better.
But I don't know if it is happening only when the iPad is fully charged or not.

MeniThings Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 5, 2010 5:52 PM in response to AstroMacMan

I bought my iPad at the Grove in LA. I don't remember dropping it but I did put it down pretty hard on a table right on my iPhone once. I bought a case soon after specifically because I was nervous whenever I put it on a hard surface. Here's hoping nothing goes wrong with it as it's officially out of warranty.

Judging by the responses here where others are having the same issue I'm fairly confident that the screen flickering is not caused by mishandling on my part but rather that it's an issue with either software or hardware out of the factory. I hope it's a software issue so that it could potentially be remedied with an OS upgrade.

Dabon8r

Level 1

0 points

Jun 9, 2010 9:50 AM in response to Itchystiches

Would it not make sense to implement a "night view" mode, which reverses background / text colors (white page becomes black, text becomes white)? This is done in my Kindle App and in my Stanza reading app. iBooks needs this feature BADLY!

For that matter, some form of "night view" mode is needed on other apps. I would love to use the navigation apps while driving but the glare off the screen, even on low brightness, makes it too hard to see down a dark road so I just use my Garmin Nuvi, which has a very good automatic "night mode".

This problem is too easy to solve for Apple to leave it unaddressed. Please!?

FusionLA

Level 1

5 points

Jul 8, 2010 11:33 AM in response to FusionLA

Has anybody that had there iPad replace still having the flickering issue?
I don't know if it's a software issue or hardware.
Just don't want to get it swapped out and have the same problem, plus would have to buy a new screen protector for the new one.

ankzap

Level 1

0 points

Apr 16, 2010 3:00 AM in response to MeniThings

Yep, me too. I have the same thing - flicker is worse when something is moving, but noticeable even on a static page (ibooks/safari).

hingli

Level 1

1 points

Apr 17, 2010 5:34 AM in response to ankzap

My iPad screen flickers too. I tried turning off auto-brightness but it did not really do anything but dim the display.

Apr 23, 2010 9:45 PM in response to MeniThings

When the LEDs flicker, the power draw can slow the timing just enough to show the flicker at low brightness.

Good luck.

x0SiN0x

Level 1

10 points

Apr 24, 2010 5:24 AM in response to Oso Grande

I'd ask then why not all ipads display this same behavior and how come after a reset things seem to be better (time will tell)

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Screen flickers at low brightness