Best brightness level with AIR³?

The level of brightness has a direct influence on both readability and energy consumption and therefore autonomy. If the brightness is set to its maximum, the energy consumption will be maximum and the autonomy minimum.

Check this FAQ related to readability.

Check this FAQ related to autonomy.

Most smartphones or tablets have low screen brightness. This means that the pilots set the brightness to its maximum, without really having good readability. So pilots are used to set brightness to maximum, whatever is the readabitility.

With AIR³, you have to see things differently. The maximum screen brightness can be very high, higher than really needed. Who can do the most can do the least … but the opposite is not true.

First of all, remember that the best readability is obtained by having your look perpendicular to the screen. So no need for maximum brightness most of the time.

Using maximum brightness all the time is like driving a powerful car with full throttle and using the handbrake to slow down most of the time.

There are 2 ways to manually increase the brightness when needed with XCTrack Pro: use the on-screen brightness + widget or use one of the available physical buttons.

AIR³ 7.3 has been greatly improved in terms of brightness management, to increase readability and therefore autonomy. Read below more details. At any time while XCTrack Pro is running, press F1 or the brightness + widget to increase the brightness by 10%.

Once the pilot increases the brightness with F1 or the widget, the brightness level is”Overridden” by XCTrack. That overridden brigthness value will be maintained until XCTrack sets backlight to normal intensity. XCTrack Pro has a new brightness widget to indicate the current percentage of the brightness. Once XCTrack overrides the system brightness, (!) is displayed next to the value. If XCTrack can not determine the brightness value, (?) is displayed.

XCTrack Pro shipped with AIR³ has been configured to return to the system brightness level periodically through various events, setting the backlight to normal intensity.

AIR³ 7.3 has an interesting feature: “Adaptive Brightness” which was not available with AIR³ 7.2. By activating this Android feature, the system calculates the ideal brightness based on the lighting conditions. With strong light environment, the system increases the brightness level. In a more shaded environment, the system decreases the brightness level.

So whenever XCTrack Pro sets the backlight to normal intensity, the brightness level will be calculated by the system and will be modified, mostly reduced, compared with a setting with a all time maximum brightness.

In other words, with AIR³ 7.2, we recommend setting the brightness to 60%. Whenever you feel the need to increase readability, tap the brightness + widget. The brightness will be returned to the value you set on takeoff after one of the events has occurred.

With AIR³ 7.3 with adaptive brightness deactivated, you will get the same behavior as just described with AIR³ 7.2, but you can also use the F1 button to increase the brightness instead of the brightness + widget.

With AIR³ 7.3 with activation of adaptive brightness (default setting), the system will calculate the best brightness value. At any time, you can increase the brightness by pressing F1 or the brightness + widget. Once XCTrack sets the backlight to normal intensity, the new value will be determined by the system based on the lighting conditions.