Does anyone's backlight work properly? The backlight is always on whenever the LCD is on. The light sensor does not seem to do anything, it doesn't matter where I set the light level. The manual says the current light level is shown by the grey bars in the ligth level display. There is no grey at all.

I have firmware 2.0.38.1 which is the latest as far as I know.

This is annoying, I was looking forward to the backlight working after having a 2000 for a while.

Yes.


That was the short, direct answer to your question. Here are some details, in case you are interested.

If I am in a lighted room and tap the screen, the screen turns on with the backlight off. If I then put my hand over the top end of the Pronto (shading the light sensor) the back light will come on. After a while it goes back off. I can also also see the dark bar on the Light Level display change length as I reorient the Pronto. If I cover the end the length of the bar goes to zero. The display says my firmware is 2.0.38. I just got the Pronto last week and haven't a chance to do much yet (income tax time).

And a good answer it is. I think I must have a defective unit. I'll have to send it back.

Mine is the same way. I can see the grey bar, barely. But the back light stays on all the time. I have it set for like 6 second but it stay on the full 15 that the LCD is set for. I'm not sure what my firmwire is since I'm at work currently.

Same here. I think the newer firmware might have broken it.

My backlight worked properly but I now have it so the backlight always comes on. The display is easier to see in a semilighted room with the light on. On mine sometimes the light wasn't comming on and I had to press the light button or put my hand over the sensor to get it on to see the screen properly.

My backlight works in that it turns off before the LCD does, since it is set to a shorter time than the LCD screen.

i have found that with direct sunlight, a rarity in the PacNW, it works as promised and the backlight stays off.

What firmware do you have? There are several replies here which say it broke recently.

i upgraded to v2.0.38.1 right after i got it last month. Since that was the first thing i did with it, i can't say if it worked that way before making the upgrade. i did go in and set the timeouts to 4 and 6 seconds a few weeks ago and it's worked fine.

The one thing i've noticed is that once the backlight goes off, and i tap a button, sometimes it doesn't take, sometimes it does, then turns the LCD off, and sometimes it brings the backlight back on. Haven't performed a test with a stopwatch, but it seems to me to be when in that 2 second difference i push the button.

Yeah I just said forget it and don't care if the backlight is on, cause it has to be REALLY bright for anything to register, and I need it dark since I have qa nasty glare. And to see anything without the backlight is next to impposible unless I have every light in the room ALL the way up

Pat

Before sending it back try these steps:

Push the reset button with a paper clip.

Wait for unit to reboot.

Go to settings and set the Light Level all the way to the left. (Even if it's already there, move the setting again before leaving it to the left.)

Press one of the other Settings buttons.

Make sure the LCD Timeout is at least 5 seconds greater than the Backlight timeout.

Exit the Settings screen.

Let the LCD display time out.

Go to a well-lit room and press the backlight hard-button on the left. You should see the LCD and backlight come on. The backlight should go out after its specified time, leaving the LCD on for the remainder of its time. Tapping the display in a well-lit room should cause the LCD to come on without the backlight. If the backlight always comes on and stays on as long as the LCD dislay, then the unit's light sensor may be defective. The odds are it's a software issue, rather than hardware.

My 3000 appeared to be defective as well, until I downloaded the latest firmware (2.0.38.1) and played with the Light Level settings some more. There is a known bug that causes the 3000 to ignore the Light Level setting after a reboot. That's why I recommended re-setting it after the reboot.

Also, my PCF uses buttons with only black and white colors (no greyscale) for maximum contrast. That way the buttons are viewable even when the backlight is off.

This message was edited by remote618 on 04/10/03 23:17.

Thanks, it now seems to be sensing the light. However, its not sensitive enough. Its light enough to for the screen to be clearly visible, but the light meter isn't budging from the left end. I have to shine a flashlight at the sensor for it to register anything.