A battery powered electronic appliance, including a first device, a visual display and a camera device having a camera sensor that is configured to sense ambient light in the environment of the electronic appliance; an ambient light measurement module coupled to the camera sensor that is configured to measure the sensed ambient light to produce an ambient light value that indicates a measured level of ambient light; and a light control module that is configured to determine a level of illumination of the visual display based on the ambient light value.