This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: Microsoft Sensors Blog articles.
Last Updated: 01/11/2019
This blog will introduce you to the various tools and test cases available for sensors upgrade testing. The purpose of upgrade testing is to make sure the sensors on the system work as expected after an OS upgrade, so the tests need to have a good coverage of scenarios for confidence in the upgrade.
List of Sensor Testing Sources
- Test tools on GitHub
- Sensor Upgrade Testing Part 1
- SensorExplorer app or source
- Tracing and logging scripts
- Building a Light Testing Tool (MALT)
Manual Brightness Test Cases
Manual brightness test cases are described in the whitepaper “Integrating Ambient Light Sensors with Computers Running Windows 10 Creators Update” ( https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/whitepapers/integrating-ambient-light-sensors-with-computers-running-windows-10-creators-update ). Different aspects are taken into consideration, including correct sensor readings under various conditions, smoothness of transition, and functionality of percentage brightness.
The test cases are summarized below. For more details and instructions, please refer to “Test cases” sections located at the end of the whitepaper.
The following table lists test cases for all systems that support adaptive brightness,
Test Case |
Test Goal |
ALS Calibration |
Ensure the ambient light sensor is properly calibrated for a given set of ambient lights. (i.e. the sensor lux readings are accurate)
|
ALS Granularity |
Make sure the ambient light sensor changes in light are fine grained, with no delay.
|
Sleep Transitions |
Make sure the ambient light sensor is still functional when coming out of sleep or when the lid is opened.
|
Smooth Transitions |
Make sure the display panel smoothly changes brightness.
|
Starting and Stopping Ambient Light Sensor |
Make sure the ambient light sensor is reporting the correct value when starting/stopping the sensor.
|
Reactivity to Brightness Changes |
Make sure the backlight panel is reactive to brightness changes.
|
The following table lists test cases for systems that support manual brightness,
Test Case |
Test Goal |
%-to-Nits Curve |
Validate the percentage-to-nits curve in the display driver.
|
0% Brightness |
Make sure 0% brightness does *not* turn the display off and keeps the Windows UX visible to the user.
|
V2 ALR Curve |
Make sure the system is using a V2 ALR (Ambient Light Response) curve. This test is only applicable to percentage brightness systems.
|
ALR Curve Configuration |
Configure the ALR curve brightness.
|
Lowest Brightness |
Make sure the lowest brightness settable by Windows on percentage-based systems do not result in a black screen.
|
Using SensorExplorer
SensorExplorer is a Microsoft Store app that can help you ensure the accuracy and simplify the process of upgrade testing.
Please refer to Sensor Upgrade Testing Part 1 (https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Sensors-Blog/Sensors-Upgrade-Testing-Part-1/ba-p/297572) for step-by-step instructions on how to run a sensor test using the app.
Device Tests
More information on Device Tests can be found here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/hlk/testref/device-input-tests