Laptop Brightness Fluctuating

bnot

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2007
52
0
18,580
Hey guys,


Recently my laptop has begun showing signs of bizarre behaviour. Whilst on charge the brightness will change by itself, and I don't mean brighten/dim when the power cable is being inserted, I mean at random intervals regardless of how long the charger is in on how full the battery is. I have been into my control panel and changed the power settings, as well as creating a custom power config but the problem remains. I originally thought it may be a brownout but no other device in the house seems to be effected. Another possibly related problem is that when first put onto charge, the screen will dim, and when running via battery the screen will brighten. Therefore doing the opposite of how the power config is setup. I really am confused with this one, I am 99% certain it's not power related via an external source (i.e. a brownout). Any ideas on how to fix this? The laptop is a HP G5000 running XP 32bit should it be relevant.
 
Solution
Well my first thoughts would be that it is either
1. A short in the cable causing it to quickly be unplugged and replugged without notice.
2. The connection is lose in the laptop.
3. The Power supply is starting to go out.

Try setting the system completely to "Performance" under any circumstance and see if that helps it. I doubt it is an issue with the laptop or the display otherwise it would be doing the same issue when you are on battery.

Also try setting it very flat with the cable also flat and leaving it for a few minutes, the average amount of length that normally passes before you see this problem start to happen. If it doesn't happen while just being completely flat that helps point to a connection issue or to a short.

If...

IInuyasha74

Honorable
Well my first thoughts would be that it is either
1. A short in the cable causing it to quickly be unplugged and replugged without notice.
2. The connection is lose in the laptop.
3. The Power supply is starting to go out.

Try setting the system completely to "Performance" under any circumstance and see if that helps it. I doubt it is an issue with the laptop or the display otherwise it would be doing the same issue when you are on battery.

Also try setting it very flat with the cable also flat and leaving it for a few minutes, the average amount of length that normally passes before you see this problem start to happen. If it doesn't happen while just being completely flat that helps point to a connection issue or to a short.

If neither of these attempts resolves or reveals anything, I would just try to ignore it until something else happens like the screen goes out, system dies, charger dies and it no longer charges. If it is any of these issues you will not be able to do anything to fix it that doesn't require you buying replacement parts. As long as it is still working its best you avoid that. I highly doubt it is the display or the full system is dying, however should either of those happen I highly recommend you just buy a new system as your laptop is becoming quite old now. I would only recommend buying a charger if the current charger dies, and avoid buying anything else.
 
Solution
Check your power options for the screen/backlight settings and if you have something along the lines of 'ambient light sensor' where the backlight intelligently dims/brightens based on the light in the room, turn that off as well. Hopefully it's just a software configuration you need to change. :)