automatic backlight control

[Paul Fox]

[ resending to cc: the lists ]

dj wrote:
 > 
 > Can the keyboard backlight control have an extra step at the end,
 > going trom "bright" to "dim" to "off/color" to "off/mono" ?
 > 
 > Then the auto-backlight would be allowed to bring it down to
 > off/color, and the user could go the extra step to off/mono.
 > (assuming, based on my scant knowledge of the technology, that
 > backlight+mono doesn't make sense here).

perhaps.  in practice, i suspect most users simply hold the dim key
and let it auto-repeat until the backlight is off.

backlight + mono actually does make sense, and has been requested
in the past.  because there's no color averaging going on, you get
the full 1200x900 resolution, instead of something effectively less.
so reading an ebook, for instance, you might prefer it.

paul


 > 
 > Alternately, have the system remember when the user manually switches
 > from off/color to off/mono, and use that as the new auto target
 > (i.e. remember both the "off" user preference (off/color or off/mono)
 > as well as the "on" user preference (bright..dim)).
 > 
 > Think of it (perhaps document it) as switching between "indoor" and
 > "outdoor" modes automatically, with the user able to adjust the
 > settings on a per-mode basis.  On the older XOs, it could at least
 > remember the color/mono preference for each state, for consistency.
 > 
 > Might be amusing to see if the sensor is good enough to at least tell
 > the difference between "indoor lighting" (i.e. a classroom) vs "night
 > reading" (i.e. nighttime without any lights) and offer a third
 > remembered setting for that.
 > 
 > As for the undiscoverable control, make it a Sugar science activity.
 > Give the user the actual sensor readings, sliders to control the
 > thresholds and hysteresis, etc, and let them play with it.  Teaches
 > them about the sensor, the circuitry behind it, the concept of
 > "hysteresis", energy conservation (tie in the battery power meter),
 > contrast, and "industrial" controls.

=---------------------
 paul fox, pgf at laptop.org