Predator PH18-72 Issue with screen brightness

MackVol

Spent all day trying to figure this out. By the time I contacted Acer support all they could say was try resetting to factory (which I did twice) which didn't work. Every driver (and I mean every) is up to date. Already tried rolling back display drivers. Every option for performance is set to performance, every auto adjusting feature is off, every battery saving feature is off, every Google search result (well, five hours of them) has been tried and not resolved issue.

Issue 1: While set to only use the GPU, can not control screen brightness at all. The indicator slides up and down while nothing changes.

Issue 2: While set on auto or Optimus can control screen brightness but the screen is notably dim (several hundred nits) until I unplug and then plug back in the power cord (does this too while set to only use GPU mode but then can not control brightness while in that mode)

The laptop model is Predator PH18-72. Has the 14900hx and 4090. The display is the 1600 mini led.

Be a real shame to have to return this for something else, while it's working correctly at full brightness this is one of the best screens I've ever seen on anything. It's obviously a driver issue or flat out bug, after I unplug and plug back in it has no issues sustaining brightness level even while in HDR mode.

[Edited to add model name to the title]

AnhEZ28

@MackVol

You can try disabling fast startup. by going to the control panel, power options, choose what the power buttons do, clicking on the change settings that are currently unavailable, and disabling fast startup.

FrEaZeR

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1277652#Comment_1277652

BTW , isn't the screen going dim because it changes between them ? in your case NVIDIA is on lower brightness and the other higher . You can change the brightness in NVIDIA Control Panel .

nvidia.png

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/706370/predator-ph18-72-issue-with-screen-brightness

This is probably a power issue; you should keep the adapter plugged-in 24/7 and not disconnect during gaming. Make sure the battery is always fully charged when the battery capacity gets low the battery saver kicks in to preserve power that dims the Mini LED screen brightness. Disable the battery Saver feature may help. If you cannot charge the battery to 100% check if you are using a 330W barrel plug power adapter.

MackVol

It's been plugged in the whole time. Hasn't left 100%. Am using the "Liteon" 330w adapter that came in the box.

AnhEZ28

@MackVol

Try to update the BIOS to see if it resolves the screen brightness issue.

MackVol

@AnhEz28 One of the first things I did. It's on 1.08. I appreciate the replies but unless someone has some command prompt magic (that's more than a /scannow) or registry edit then it's been tried and/or done.

AnhEZ28

@MackVol

Is there any display mode setting in Nvidia control panel?

FrEaZeR

Yo , i also have the PH18-72 14900 4090 (IPS 250Hz) , for me it's not an issue at least not yet but yeah can't change it . Probably because some other app has control over it (it`s just a guess) . There are some settings in the NVIDIA control panel > adjust desktop color settings (just tested it and works) if that helps you .

This laptop was just released i`m pretty sure it's full of bugs and stuff like that at least for 6-12 months and even after , i still haven't fully went through it (including windows 11) . Acer disappointed me a lot with what's inside the laptop , things like the SSD a bit over the motherboard`s chipset , one of the RAM sticks with the chips facing the motherboard , lots of empty space which could've been used for better cooling and other stupid things like that .

PS: Puraw are you reading/understanding what people asks around here ? or you just like to increase your number of posts ?

Laquic

Yeah, Puraw doesn't know anything or even read the issue properly. He just trying to get many posts as he can.

MackVol

Ya, that crossed my mind it being new. Could be a Nvidia issue too with the brightness slider not doing anything while only using the GPU because i noticed while in that mode the monitor driver is different and the IGPU driver just disappears altogether until Optimus or auto is on. Did just find something interesting. Shutting the laptop down all the way then turning it on the screen is fully bright. Restarting it will come back dim until unplugged then plugged back in. Tested it four times and it's consistent. Does anyone know how you'd disable quick boot on this? I thought it's in the power settings but am not seeing it.

AnhEZ28

@MackVol

You can try disabling fast startup. by going to the control panel, power options, choose what the power buttons do, clicking on the change settings that are currently unavailable, and disabling fast startup.

MackVol

@AnhEZ28 Thank you. I had remembered right after i posted lol Interestingly with fast boot off then issue remains even when shutting laptop down. With fast boot on issue is there on restart but not when shutting down. I guess something going on at the kernal level that unplugging and plugging back in resolves, but I guess a restart will reset the kernal but with fast boot on the kernal stays awake on shut down and retains that change that occurs when unplugging and plugging back in? Who knows. I'm an equipment/heavy truck mechanic not a software engineer so this will do and will be nice if updates resolves it. I'm good with just shutting it down with fast boot on, and Optmius seems good at switching work loads to the dedicated GPU. I just didn't want to be unplugging and plugging in the cord all the time because typically that port is soldered to the board and I'd be screwed if it wears out too fast lol I'll consider this resolved enough. Thanks everyone for your time.

FrEaZeR

You should just use the NVIDIA GPU only and done , i don't really like integrated GPUs and this is a "gaming" laptop so i don't see any points of using the integrated one unless you want to save energy but even so i don't think it's much of a difference .

Watch out for the wake up from sleep/screen off (longer ones) the screen remains black , currently trying to fix it .🤣

FrEaZeR

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1277652#Comment_1277652

BTW , isn't the screen going dim because it changes between them ? in your case NVIDIA is on lower brightness and the other higher . You can change the brightness in NVIDIA Control Panel .

nvidia.png

MackVol

No. Does it whether IGPU is disabled or not. As of now, restarting computer will cause issue. Shutting down computer with quick boot enabled, after fixing it with unplug and plug in, will keep it fixed until computer restarts for whatever reason (Windows update for example). Difference between IGPU and GPU is brightness control does not work when set to GPU only mode via bios and/or predator sense but both will be dim, while brightness slider maxed, upon start up after a reset. The control in the Nvidia panel does work and just nudging that slider will bring brightness back (far more than what the slight nudge should do, so moving that slider also resets whatever is going on) but OS and keyboard level brightness control remains broken while in GPU only mode. I'm using this as a desktop replacement (until next wave of stuff comes out, will sell this and build desktop once 5090s can be had and AMD has its next iteration of X3D chip unless Intel is a better option at that time, I'm figuring AMD will have another gen of subpar RT performance and nothing to compete at the halo tier of GPU) so this will due until then. Was a console gamer my whole life, first built in 2019, tried to go back to console for simplicity, but literally can not stand juttery 30 fps now or playing in 1080p on a 4k screen (which will often be the 60 fps option) all with what would be low settings on a PC, so came back to PC gaming but too close to new desktop parts to drop 6 or so grand on a build (would be getting either ASUS mini led or one of the new 240hz oleds so selling this laptop will go towards that part) so settled for this (on sale for 2600) until the time is right. I'm happy enough with it now, stress tested everything and nothing throttles on performance mode, so as long as that liquid metal holds up for a year or so I'll be happy. I'm gonna go actually play some games now that I am not considering returning this. Thanks to everyone for the help.

FrEaZeR

So while trying to fix the " black screen " after the laptop wakes up from sleep or after the screen was off ( probably even hibernation ) i found another option for this issue .

First of all forget about the brightness from NVIDIA Control Panel , that should remain at 50(default) , it doesn't look like the same brightness from settings>system . I also recommend no fast startup .

Change the Display Mode from BIOS or Predator Sense to Auto and restart , after windows loads in 10-30 seconds the screen will brighten itself to the value you set it up ( no need to unplug anything ) .

Now if you want to change to NVIDIA GPU go to NVIDIA Control Panel and check Desktop > Show Dynamic Display Mode Tray Icon .

After that Click this tray icon and switch it to NVIDIA GPU Only .

After it switches to NVIDIA you`ll notice the screen will go a bit brighter than the Intel one (or it's just my imagination) , when in this mode you can change the brightness only from Fn + F5 - F6 .

Also watch out for the refresh rates , i don't know why but it kinda likes to change itself to 60 Hz .

When on NVIDIA GPU go to Settings > System > Advanced Display .

Select Display 2 ( LOL 🤣 ) Wired LMAO .

When on Intel GPU same but on Display 1 .

If you use this method you must switch it to Auto(probably Optimus too) before you restart/shut down , if windows starts with NVIDIA the brightness will be low , also when you switch to NVIDIA and back to Auto some apps will somehow still remain on the NVIDIA GPU so i think it will not fully turn off unless you restart/shut-down with Auto selected .

The fix for black screen after wake up from sleep or screen off is also by starting up windows with Auto in BIOS and Auto in the Tray Icon from the images above , if you start with NVIDIA GPU the screen won't turn on after sleep / screen off and the brightness will also start and remain lower than usual .

If the two issues (black screen and lower brightness) weren't present while starting with NVIDIA GPU only i would use only that , integrated graphics are[Sensitive Content] and puts 10-20 C(probably even more) more heat on the CPU .

I would love to report this to Acer but it seems impossible to reach them, the US site chat says that the product is out of warranty or something like that after i enter the SNID which is absurd since this is a new model , the UK site has an email but if you tell them something … they reply with update drivers and other useless waste of time solutions instead of reporting it further , but even so i will gather up all the emails i can find and send them a small feedback and the issues .

Maybe @Puraw can help me with some Acer support/bug reports emails . @Laquic

@MackVol i also bought this laptop as a desktop replacement , i need something portable at the moment , with the 3500euros~(4000+ in my case,3700 transport included + change of RAM and SSD) +1-2 k more i could've built a "space ship" desktop pc .
Whatever parts you`ll pick , DO NOT PICK something with INTEGRATED GRAPHICS . They always have weird problems/conflict .

Will stick around here for a month or so maybe i will find some fixes untill then .

[Edited the thread to hide sensitive content]

JackV123

Hey there!

I also have this model and am experiencing the same issues with the screen brightness remaining dim on either hard reset or restart, but not with fast startup.

However I never had an issue controlling the brightness when on dedicated GPU mode only.

Furthermore, it seems that not only is the screen brightness affected but there is some issue with the power management to the CPU, which causes stuttering and throttling despite the temps not going anywhere near the max (Around 80C) and once again an unplug and replug fixes this but only until the next restart.

Wondering if anyone found a fix to this issue or if its best to send back to Acer for repair?