Is the brightness of the new M1 Pro/Max MBPs capped to 500 nits for non HDR content?

[Mick84]

Its ridiculous. why would I buy a new expensive really expensive Mac PC if its brightness only goes 1000-1600 nits on HDR content? Also, I like the Touch Bar! And still no Face ID and matte/NTG display option! WTH!

 

[Sanpete]

I have no idea why you would buy it, since you don't give any hints, but yes, non-HDR content is limited to 500 nits, as it has been since 2016.

 

[chrismu]

I don't get the point of this thread. Yes, it is limited to 500 nits for SDR content. Would 600 nits like the iPad Pro be cool? Sure! Does anyone force you to buy it? I don't think so. Even better for you, if you don't like it, you can save some money and keep using the device you already have.

 

[haruhiko]

Who knows what issues will the panel have if it’s constantly displaying 1000-1600nits for all pixels at once and for a long time. It’s designed like that and it’s well known by now. Your retinas may burn out too staring at 1600nits constantly, who knows.

I’m more mad about Google disabling HDR content on YouTube for Macs at this point.

 

[orthorim]

Its ridiculous. why would I buy a new expensive really expensive Mac PC if its brightness only goes 1000-1600 nits on HDR content? Also, I like the Touch Bar! And still no Face ID and matte/NTG display option! WTH!

Why is it limited? What do I need to do to remove the limitation? Why is HDR 1000? Does that mean the screen goes uo to 1,000, but they're sort of artificially limiting it?

 

[chrismu]

Why is it limited? What do I need to do to remove the limitation? Why is HDR 1000? Does that mean the screen goes uo to 1,000, but they're sort of artificially limiting it?

Yes. Probably for temperature control (Pro Display XDR with 100nits has active cooling) or battery life.

 

[metapunk2077fail]

SDR content at well over 500 nits wouldn't be colour accurate. Most professional colourists set their displays all the way down to 120 nits.

Super high nits is only suitable for certain HDR scenes to show details in shadows and effects of bright areas.

Go to 13:30 in this video to see the display modes and profile specs for each use case.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

I don't know if it's capped to 500 nits, but the screen does get brighter than the previous generation of MacBook Pros.

 

[MiBook84]

Isn't this also the same for iPhones? When I look at some night photos with bright lights it feels like the bright elements is much more vivid than I usually see my screen. I guess this is a part of the High Dynamic Range which means those pictures contains more data and can hold more contrasting levels than a regular image can, which means there is more to show than otherwise. A way to show those contrast is to extend the light output of the screen otherwise those details would be lost. Maybe I am wrong.