Galaxy S II: The Missing Manual

About the Screen

THE SCREEN IS WHERE you and the Galaxy S II do most of your communicating with each other. Compare the Galaxy S II’s screen to that of almost any other phone, and you’ll immediately notice how roomy it is—4.52 inches, measured diagonally (technically, that’s 800 by 480 pixels). When you turn it sideways, it switches to a widescreen TV and movie format.

But there’s a lot going on behind that pretty display.

Tip

Since you’re going to be touching the display with your fingers, it’s going to get dirty and streaky. Simply wipe it clean with a soft, lint-free cloth or tissue. The screen is scratch-resistant, but if you’re worried about scratches, get a case or screen protector. See Appendix B for ideas.

Built-in Sensors

Underneath its flat black screen, the Galaxy S II has four sensors that perform a lot of its magic:

• Proximity sensor. Have you ever noticed that when you’re talking on your Galaxy S II, the screen often goes blank? That’s thanks to the proximity sensor. It senses when your face is close to it during a phone call and automatically turns off and blanks the touch screen as you keep talking. It does this to save power, and so you don’t accidentally touch the screen while talking and perform some unwanted task.

  Tip

  High humidity may affect the proximity sensor and disconnect you from a call while you’re talking. If you’re in a closed car and perspiring, you may get knocked off a call. If that happens, turning on the air conditioner to dehumidify the air should do the trick.

• Ambient light sensor. Senses the light level, and adjusts your screen’s brightness, as a way to save battery power. So in bright light, it makes the screen brighter so that it can be more easily seen, and in dim light, it makes the screen dimmer, because bright light is not needed.

  Note

  The ambient light sensor takes a light reading and adjusts your screen’s brightness when you unlock your phone, and leaves it at that level until you lock the screen again. So if you unlock your Galaxy S II in a dim room and then bring it into the sunlight, it will still have a dim screen.

• 3-axis accelerometer. As its name implies, this sensor measures acceleration and motion. The Galaxy S II uses the accelerometer to sense the orientation of the screen and turn it to either landscape or portrait mode. But clever app makers use it for other things as well, such as automatic collision notification, which detects when you’re in an accident and then automatically makes a call for assistance for you. There’s even an app that works with the Galaxy S II’s magnetometer to detect potholes as you drive, and create a log about their locations, which you can then email to your local department of public works. (It’s called Pothole Agent. Search the Galaxy S II’s Marketplace app for it.)

• Magnetometer. Measures the strength and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. It’s used for compass apps and can also work with the accelerometer, as it does in Pothole Agent.