FIX: Content Adaptive Backlight - G2 General

I've seen a few threads/comments here about the flickering/adjusting of the backlight level at lower (less than 50%) brightness levels even though auto-brightness was off. As was suspected, it's just due to a content adaptive backlight module. It can be shut off by just running the CABLPreferences activity of the com.qualcomm.cabl app. It also looks like there is a "quality" setting in there to play with that just varies the aggressiveness of the effect.
If you don't know how to launch an activity, you can do the following:
Via ADB:
Code:
adb shell "am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.qualcomm.cabl/com.qualcomm.cabl.CABLPreferences"
Via Terminal on your phone:
Code:
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.qualcomm.cabl/com.qualcomm.cabl.CABLPreferences
I haven't done any more checking, but I'm guessing this is just a flag that could be set in sys/devices/blah... by init.d script on boot as well.
If you prefer a gui, there are plenty of launchers out there that can select an activity to start. I actually had it set up as a long-press pie on LMT while I was playing with it.
It seems (on my phone, at least), that the app wasn't as good at turning it back on, but you can just clear the app data/cache on "Content Adaptive Backlight Settings" in application manager, reboot, and you'll be back to stock behavior.
Sorry I didn't post this sooner. I've been too busy playing with the G2!

this doesn't work.
I've tried this weeks ago. simply telling the app to turn it off does nothing, as it's still on no matter what. deleting the app produces the same exact effect.
in the build prop, the line pointing to cabl is set to false. therefore it's really not even reading what the app is saying it seems.
I believe it's a kernel issue that can only be solved once we get a custom one.
again, this isn't a fix and doesn't turn it off at all sadly.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slwkFhpiYbs&feature=youtube_gdata_player this video was made when it was set unchecked and set to off.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

I read your post about this a couple of weeks ago and saw that you mentioned deleting the app, but did you try running it, unchecking the box and rebooting? Deleting it won't do anything, as the app is set to run on boot and (as far as I can tell) set whatever selection you have chosen. I did and this seems to have worked for me I checked by scrolling through a spot on settings that had normally triggered it. I'll play with it more later to see if I either got lucky when I tested it or it is still happening. I agree that this is working on a kernel level.

Is this issue on all carrier versions?
I use auto-brightness and the annoyance I have is that it doesn't change brightness right away when entering different lighting environments. It either takes time or doesn't change at all until I uncheck/check the auto-brightness setting.

xdabbeb said:
I read your post about this a couple of weeks ago and saw that you mentioned deleting the app, but did you try running it, unchecking the box and rebooting? Deleting it won't do anything, as the app is set to run on boot and (as far as I can tell) set whatever selection you have chosen. I did and this seems to have worked for me I checked by scrolling through a spot on settings that had normally triggered it. I'll play with it more later to see if I either got lucky when I tested it or it is still happening. I agree that this is working on a kernel level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, if the app is deleted, then it can't run unless defaulted to on without the app. . so i tried deleting it, and then i also tried un checking the box, and it still does it. no matter what, there must be a setting somewhere else to actually turn it off. did you see that line in the build prop? it's set to false... weird right?
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

jayochs said:
yeah, if the app is deleted, then it can't run unless defaulted to on without the app. . so i tried deleting it, and then i also tried un checking the box, and it still does it. no matter what, there must be a setting somewhere else to actually turn it off. did you see that line in the build prop? it's set to false... weird right?
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I did...and I remembered I had set it to true before I even began messing with the CABL App. I was thinking that could be the difference between what you and I had tried, but I just did a bit more testing to see if it was happening still and unfortunately I think I may have seen it. I'll play with it a bit more later to be sure. I also did a quick look in the usual places for this to be turned on/off in /sys/class/ and couldn't find anything. I suppose it's possible LG built the kernel for this device without the ability to turn it off. If so...that'll be unfortunate.

xdabbeb said:
Yep, I did...and I remembered I had set it to true before I even began messing with the CABL App. I was thinking that could be the difference between what you and I had tried, but I just did a bit more testing to see if it was happening still and unfortunately I think I may have seen it. I'll play with it a bit more later to be sure. I also did a quick look in the usual places for this to be turned on/off in /sys/class/ and couldn't find anything. I suppose it's possible LG built the kernel for this device without the ability to turn it off. If so...that'll be unfortunate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the original Nexus 7 had this feature in the kernel too. However, in custom kernels you could use Trickster mod to toggle the feature off. I think the kernel devs had to expose the setting though, so maybe we'll get this taken care of if we can get a custom kernel.

Here are some build props for Qualcom devices that control the CABL
Code:
ro.qualcomm.cabl=1
hw.cabl.level=Auto
persist.qcom.cabl.video_only=1
By adding / editing these lines in the build.prop you should be able to adjust as noted in the lines.
And yes, it is in the kernel.
Dont know why LG has an app for it?

Scott, I sent you a message on hangouts but in my build prop, i don't show a 1 for the cabl setting.. i show false... as if it's already turned off in the build prop. I changed it to true once and it didn't do anything. those two top settings seem to be what's in the app.. you can check a box to turn it on and off (the first line) and then you can set the degree to which it handles the cabl (second line.) I've messed with both in the app and it did absolutely nothing... does the kernel need to be changed as well?
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

xdabbeb said:
I've seen a few threads/comments here about the flickering/adjusting of the backlight level at lower (less than 50%) brightness levels even though auto-brightness was off. As was suspected, it's just due to a content adaptive backlight module. It can be shut off by just running the CABLPreferences activity of the com.qualcomm.cabl app. It also looks like there is a "quality" setting in there to play with that just varies the aggressiveness of the effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure you really want to "fix" this feature.
LCD screens (like the one in the LG G2) have inherent low contrast ratio (just 1500:1, in comparison to infinity, with AMOLEDs). In order to compensate, LCD screens use a feature called "dynamic contrast", in which the backlight dims when the screen shows darker content, in order for the perceived black levels to appear darker (and not grey). I'm not sure you want to disable this feature, because the outcome will be grey blacks.

we do want to bc it causes horrible screen flicker issues. you can be sitting on a pic and it doesn't know what to do so it flickers badly
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

Noam23 said:
I'm not sure you really want to "fix" this feature.
LCD screens (like the one in the LG G2) have inherent low contrast ratio (just 1500:1, in comparison to infinity, with AMOLEDs). In order to compensate, LCD screens use a feature called "dynamic contrast", in which the backlight dims when the screen shows darker content, in order for the perceived black levels to appear darker (and not grey). I'm not sure you want to disable this feature, because the outcome will be grey blacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know about the contrast ratio on these screens. Makes sense what you are saying.
However like Jay said it does not react smoothly or at appropriate times.
Some will need to edit the kernel code to fix this.

Noam23 said:
I'm not sure you really want to "fix" this feature.
LCD screens (like the one in the LG G2) have inherent low contrast ratio (just 1500:1, in comparison to infinity, with AMOLEDs). In order to compensate, LCD screens use a feature called "dynamic contrast", in which the backlight dims when the screen shows darker content, in order for the perceived black levels to appear darker (and not grey). I'm not sure you want to disable this feature, because the outcome will be grey blacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. What @jayochs and @scrosler said. What you wrote does make sense, and I had noticed that it behaves the opposite of the CAB implementation on AMOLED screens (where it dims on lighter colored content)...so that gives even more credence to what you're saying, but the implementation is a little buggy. It transitions abruptly and causes the "flickering" that many have reported. I certainly wouldn't mind having it enabled if the transitions were slower/less frequent, but it's kind of annoying as it is. I never was able to find a way to disable it in the stock kernel anyway, so hopefully it can be fixed one way or another now that the source is available. Still the best phone I've owned!

So any success with any method here or elsewhere?

I'm currently using Xposed to try and figure out what is going on here (I have several updateBrightness() events hooked, and am logging stack traces from them). It happened again less than an hour ago, so I need to go through that stack trace and see if I can figure out whether or not the actual brightness update can be blocked.
This has nothing to do with CABL, incidentally. I have CABL turned off, and I've seen the flicker-flicker-flicker-brightness drop issue with nothing more than a web page open. I usually keep my brightness around 68%-69%, too.

antinorm said:
I'm currently using Xposed to try and figure out what is going on here (I have several updateBrightness() events hooked, and am logging stack traces from them). It happened again less than an hour ago, so I need to go through that stack trace and see if I can figure out whether or not the actual brightness update can be blocked.
This has nothing to do with CABL, incidentally. I have CABL turned off, and I've seen the flicker-flicker-flicker-brightness drop issue with nothing more than a web page open. I usually keep my brightness around 68%-69%, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm thinking it's CABL, but it's kernel level, NOT software level, which is why disabling it does absolutely nothing.

I've been using Lux Auto Brightness to fix the issue.
Cheers!

Rayan said:
I've been using Lux Auto Brightness to fix the issue.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's not an issue with auto brightness, that's a completely different problem.
this is the content adaptive backlight problem.

so no solution was ever found for this (besides a new kernel)? my phone doesn't flicker but on the brightness below 50% i can notice it's trying to readjust itself slightly once in awhile (with xda app or play store for example).

Encountered this issue as well. So, the cause of this has something to do with the software and not the hardware? Don't want to send my phone back just to receive yet another problematic set.. I set my screen brightness to 38 which it flickers on certain photos and apps. Bumped it up to about 45 and it seems to have stopped.

Related

[Q] What should be in Screebl 3.0?

I want to get back to Screebl this fall and roll version 3.0. I'm going to focus on updating it to make it more 2.3/3.0+ friendly, and try to spend some time on dealing with the variety of issues that come in the form of "I've installed my own custom ROM on my toaster and Screebl doesn't work", which may mean simplifying things a bit. But I digress.
You guys at xda are the most demanding, critical, unrelenting, inflexible, opinionated crowd that I know of. You're also pretty smart. I'm curious to hear what those of you that use the app want to see in a 3.0 release.
dk
Surprised no one has chimed in here yet. First off I would like to say that Screebl is easily my favourite app, even though I mostly forget it is there. Whenever anyone new to Android asks what apps to install, Screebl is at the top of my list. OK, now that the brown nosing is out of the way...
Note: I have a Samsung Epic, currently running the latest leaked build of GB (EH06 as of writing this).
I would like some clarity on the interaction of Screebl and docks. For some reason I can't seem to figure out if it is ever enabled/disabled correctly while docked.
Ever since I started running GB leaks, Screebl has shot to the top of the battery consumption list. This may not be a Screebl issue, but instead something to do with how GB measures battery performance?
I would be nice to include the option to control time between screen off and screen locking.
A slider for choosing the maintained screen brightness, and/or the option to set it to the phone's default.
The option of a 'night mode', with different settings for maintained screen brightness and screen timeout.
Different settings for timeout while on the lock screen vs homescreen vs apps.
Glad to hear you'll get back to this app soon.
Since I updated my Galaxy S to 2.3.4 it stopped working.
I was so sad about this. Now my phone always turns off the screen without me wanting it to..
Wish you good work on it.
Peace
I have a couple of D2Gs running Gingerbread, since the update to Gingerbread the greatest consumer of battery life is the Display, I regularly see 40-60% usage and often only minutes of actual time on.
It seems to be a conflict between the built-in auto brightness and the Screebl low brightness setting. Low brightness is great except when you pull the phone out of your pocket and need to see something at midday...
I discovered that the Juicedefender brightness control manages to keep the brightness at a super low level most of the time, but still auto brightens the screen when required in bright light.
I guess my feature request would be either to have an option to completely remove the brightness control or to take it over with a system that keeps it on minimum brightness but with an user controllable setting to auto increase the backlight when the light sensor detects a particular value.
Thanks for a great app!
I need to update the docs and settings descriptions, but choosing "min brightness" will defer to the phone's sensor generally. That's what I use on my phones.
Dock stuff has been flaky and needs some revamping. I'm planning on redoing the entire loop and eventing framework for the app. It's gotten crazy complicated with all of the device-specific tweaks and conditions involved.
Support for custom lockscreens would be nice. E.g. disable Screebl when MiLocker is in the foreground. Had to stop using Screebl since I started to use MiLocker becuase I can't stand the stock ugly lockscreen.
Just wanted to give those of you that registered interest in Screebl 3.0 a heads up that I've done a ground-up rewrite of the app. It's in beta now -- not pretty, but the underlying engine should be better in many ways, including:
- more compatible with a larger number of devices (moved the accelerometer usage to more modern APIs)
- better with respect to power consumption
- simplified, removed some of the functionality that just didn't work well (like stillness detection)
Still lots of work and polish left to do, but if you want to play with the latest engine, take a look here:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.keyes.screebl.beta
Let me know what you think!
keyesdav said:
Still lots of work and polish left to do, but if you want to play with the latest engine, take a look here:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.keyes.screebl.beta
Let me know what you think!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried Screebl Beta, and noticed that the proximity sensor is always on, even though the checkbox for it is not checked.
They way I can tell, is that with one of my old phones, the proximity sensor actually glows a faint red light when it's on. To save battery, shouldn't the sensor be off if the checkbox is not checked ?
Firstly, let me say thanks on producing a great app. Always my first installation on any new device.
I've had a small issue on my nexus 5, running 4.4.2 where screebl lite and screebl beta keep turning themselves off. It happens roughly once a day and I have to go into settings and re-enable screebl. Its only a niggle, and not worth uninstallation thankfully.
Good luck on Version 3. :victory:

Screen brightness problem

Hello this is my first tablet so sorry if this is a basic question, but i have my screen set on a certain brightness (not auto) yet sometimes when i watch a movie or use a certain app, the screen would quickly change brightness. Its just for a brief moment but noticeable. Not sure if it's the device or a setting im missing.
mrfrenchfry said:
Hello this is my first tablet so sorry if this is a basic question, but i have my screen set on a certain brightness (not auto) yet sometimes when i watch a movie or use a certain app, the screen would quickly change brightness. Its just for a brief moment but noticeable. Not sure if it's the device or a setting im missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found that auto brightness is finicky. I finally gave up on it and just set my brightness at a comfortable 15%. But yes I am having the same issue. I think it has to do with the built in power settings, seems to do it less on balanced and normal power setting.
Interesting. Don't have one myself yet, but I believe the Tegra 3 does do some image adjustments to lower power use while maintaining picture quality. Maybe try different power settings and see if it makes a difference.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Hmm, yeah that could be really annoying. Hope it's not a built in feature.
Interesting article explaining the tegra 3 feature that helps you save battery life by adjusting the pixel brightness and color...
http://pocketnow.com/android/nvidia-tegra-3-chips-will-offer-power-saving-display-hack
Yeah i have a similar thing on my laptop, but i could turn it off so was just curious. Anyone know the best case to get?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
mrfrenchfry said:
Hello this is my first tablet so sorry if this is a basic question, but i have my screen set on a certain brightness (not auto) yet sometimes when i watch a movie or use a certain app, the screen would quickly change brightness. Its just for a brief moment but noticeable. Not sure if it's the device or a setting im missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, happened a lot to me too
This aggravates me so much any fixes?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

[Q] Screen is always Dim

When I unlock the phone it always starts up very dim and sometimes it turns bright sometimes it doesn't. I have auto-brightness off and I have my brightness set to 100%. I have to move the slider off of 100% and back to 100% to get it that bright. It is very weird. Anybody know how to fix this?
I have the same problem.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Settings > Display > Auto adjust screen power (untick). Try now.
Been unchecked since day 1. Still does it. Possible that I have a defective unit?
HaruSoul said:
Been unchecked since day 1. Still does it. Possible that I have a defective unit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it dim on the home screen or certain apps? cuz internet browser, video etc got their own brightness settings built in that you have to change from the settings within the app.
manbatistuta said:
Is it dim on the home screen or certain apps? cuz internet browser, video etc got their own brightness settings built in that you have to change from the settings within the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is dim from the lock screen. Everything once I unlock it is dim. If I lock and unlock the phone like 3 times fast it is fine, but it's a pain in the ass. I'll see if I can take a video of it later when I get home.
I know you said "everything" but try to go to internet browser and disable "auto-brightness" under brightness setting.
Also upgrade your firmware to the latest one to see if that help. My Smart detect is not working and after upgraded it work every single time plus the cell stand by is much improved
I just got my phone back from service, they updated to LF5 - so far it has solved my proplems with dim
I have had 2 handsets that do this now. Its really annoying especially when you are outside.
Basically what is happening is that when your screen dims down before it goes off thats what is happening when you unlock the phone.
I can be using it for 5-10 secs before the full brightness kicks in.
It has nothing to do with power saver or internet. Just running through the home pages and apps list it is doing it.
I am on the latest firmware too.
Does anyone know whats causing it? Is it just a faulty handset (or 2)?
Mine the same. I don't think there bad devices I think its just software related tbh
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Well im glad some others of you have experianced this also.
I just hope its something that will be fixed in an update.
It really p****s me off when it does it and im outdoors.

[Q] Dynamic contrast/Backlight pulsating at very specific brightness

I have a couple of "issues" with the phone. Not sure if its software related or hardware related. Maybe you guys can check on yours too see if it happens. This is all on stock ATT rom
It seems the One has "dynamic contrast" enabled by default. When scrolling on webpages, for example, if I come to an area with a dark advertisement, the brightness adjusts very slightly most of the time. Thats all well and good but the annoying thing is that it does it in steps causing quick blinks of the backlight. Its most pronounced at medium brightness. The same "blinking" happen when autobrightness wants to set the brightness to a very low level . It does it in very discrete steps and it takes a long time for the brightness to settle to its minimum.
If i set my brightness to 50% (most prevalent when the slider is under the "t" in brightness) I get a VERY subtle, but constant pulsating of the backlight. Again, Its a very subtle but my eyes pick it up regardless and its distracting as hell. I wouldn't mind it if autobrightness didn't hit this brightness level, but it does sometimes indoors. The effect is best seen on a mixed white and color screen, like a homescreen with a white widget and most websites. If the brightness goes a bit above or below this level, the pulsing goes away . Anyone else seeing this? maybe it happens at a different brightnesses on different screens.
Thanks
I noticed this when watching a video today. Maybe it only happens if you have autobrightness on?
Sent from my HTC One
It happens with autobrightness off for me. I actually tested it a bit more. I happens on a variety of backlight settings depending on what's on the screen.
At approx. 33% brightness (im using an app called screen adjuster to set the system brightness to a specific value), the screen does heavy pulsating on an all white image. For example, if I go to "about:blank" in the web browser. I can be seen on a desktop screen with a white widget or the settings menu.
Same thing at 40. Worst is 33% though. I have a feeling its dynamic contrast going haywire at certain brightnesses. If you turn the screen off then on, it doesnt do it for a second or 2, but then it will start. I haven't been able to find a demo unit anywhere around me to test this out. So if someone can check this on their device, I would appreciate it. Please use Screen Adjuster to get a definitive reading on the brightness. (Use the slider in "system brightness" to set it to a specific brightbess) and go to "about:blank" in the default browser
hi..
i had the widget set on the third setting, the fourth being the brightest. i had the same problem with my first phone and thought at the time it may have been a backlight problem? or power flow problem? i sent that phone back and the next phone did the same? after posting on here.. i removed the widget and manually adjusted the brightness. i like the screen quite bright, manual adjustment cleared the problem for me. i gotta say yep the flicker was more visible on screens with alot of white, google, facebook, texts? and way way annoying! i can only suggest you try the same as i did? perhaps it is just a quirk with the htc? or maybe the os? you never know, when the update to keylime or whatever it is called comes out the flicker may go totally?
JUST had this on facebook? hope it helps?
HTC One
HTC One : Update Available (1.29.401.12)
HTC is currently deploying an update for the new One
Version: 1.29.401.12 - Size: 229.04 MB
It includes :
- System Optimization
... - Updating Service Location
- HTC Zoe: Optimizing sound quality
- Camera: Optimizing Parameters
- Beats Audio: Sound enhancement
- other fixes
coming soon...
shep98 said:
hi..
i had the widget set on the third setting, the fourth being the brightest. i had the same problem with my first phone and thought at the time it may have been a backlight problem? or power flow problem? i sent that phone back and the next phone did the same? after posting on here.. i removed the widget and manually adjusted the brightness. i like the screen quite bright, manual adjustment cleared the problem for me. i gotta say yep the flicker was more visible on screens with alot of white, google, facebook, texts? and way way annoying! i can only suggest you try the same as i did? perhaps it is just a quirk with the htc? or maybe the os? you never know, when the update to keylime or whatever it is called comes out the flicker may go totally?
JUST had this on facebook? hope it helps?
HTC One
HTC One : Update Available (1.29.401.12)
HTC is currently deploying an update for the new One
Version: 1.29.401.12 - Size: 229.04 MB
It includes :
- System Optimization
... - Updating Service Location
- HTC Zoe: Optimizing sound quality
- Camera: Optimizing Parameters
- Beats Audio: Sound enhancement
- other fixes
coming soon...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I ended up looking at 4 more devices at 2 different stores and they all had the flicker. The sales associates even saw it. I got tired of doing exchanges and I ended up reversing my upgrade. Im going to wait and see what happens with this issue. Hopefully it gets sorted out with a firmware update, because otherwise its an awesome phone. Its a shame that the $100 trade-in offer is going to end by then and I wont be getting a free medialink device, but atleast i'd be able to get it in black, which is what I originally wanted.
Ive noticed this too and its really annoying me. Ive tried multiple roms including the new asop carbon rom and its even on that.
Mr Sliff said:
Ive noticed this too and its really annoying me. Ive tried multiple roms including the new asop carbon rom and its even on that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In addition to the phones I exchanged, every display model that I've come across has had it. I'm was a bit surprised at first that not many people have come across this. I'm starting to think that maybe the One has a PWM backlighting, which some folks are sensitive to and some don't even notice. I'm in the former category and I think you are too. It a shame really that this problem exist. Besides that, I couldn't find any other faults with the phone. It was perfect in every other aspect
I've run Into the same exact behavior using the HTC droid DNA with both sense 4+ and sense 5 ROMs. I smell tomfoolery afoot.
Screen Flicker
I'm glad I'm not the only one that has noticed this. It doesn't stay that way very long for me, but it is quite annoying. Seems to happen when there's a white or light-colored background the most. So I guess there's nothing specifically wrong with my phone and we'll either have to live with it or wait until someone figures out how to fix it?
I guess most people don't notice this.m it's extremely irrational going between this and my tablet and having the black.ighting flashing in my face when I scroll through webpages.

Does your auto brightness work?

I think is called "Adapt to lighting conditions" for Sony? I tried reseting, as well as flashing a new rom but still not worked.
I tested the Ambient light Sensor on the service menu and can see the value change according the the surounding brighness.
But never seen any different with the screen brightness actually adapting to the lighting in normal used. Any ideas?
gavbo said:
I think is called "Adapt to lighting conditions" for Sony? I tried reseting, as well as flashing a new rom but still not worked.
I tested the Ambient light Sensor on the service menu and can see the value change according the the surounding brighness.
But never seen any different with the screen brightness actually adapting to the lighting in normal used. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine used to work fine. Didn't do a service test on it, but never needed to.
- Currently on CM10.2... works even better!
Mine doesn't seem to work very well either. I end up just adjusting it myself.
No it definitely does not work.
I have no idea. Haven't checked. I'm using 100% brightness at day time and 0% at night.
Sent from my Z Ultra, using XDA Premium 4
I guess the optimise backlight and autobrightness is bugged in this version of firmware,,evidenced by their close relation to fake hang and SOD.
I tried to tweak around with these 2options but ended up inSOD, so..

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