Peculiar auto-brightness behavior...

[bill-p]

So I noticed that on Catalina, the internal display of my 16" MacBook seems to drop contrast (and brightness) noticeably when auto-brightness is on. Turning auto-brightness off and adjusting brightness to about the same amount as compared to the when auto-brightness is on doesn't drop brightness. Blacks are still black.

This is very noticeable when using Lagom's LCD test. Auto-brightness on makes all of the squares light up regardless of brightness level. Auto-brightness off makes the darkest squares barely visible (though still visible). It's not subtle.

Black level - Lagom LCD test

www.lagom.nl

Auto-brightness ON - all squares easily visible, max brightness seems to be "clipped" even in direct sunlight.
Auto-brightness OFF - only up to 7 is barely visible. Anything lower is less visible unless in a completely dark room. Max brightness is much higher especially in direct sunlight.

No, it's not True Tone. I turned True Tone on/off and that didn't seem to help with anything.

Turning off "Automatic graphics switching" doesn't seem to help. But... turning on "automatic graphics switching" with the iGPU on causes the Display Contrast slider in Accessibility to freak out when it's enabled. Forcing the dGPU on lets the Display Contrast slider work as expected.

This doesn't bother me all that much but... it's worth noting.

I'm guessing this is more Catalina bugs. And also more display drivers bugs. What a mess.

Note: I have a 13" MacBook Pro still on Mojave. No such problem. Auto-brightness gives max brightness and proper contrast. It's truly "auto".

 

[MrGimper]

So I noticed that on Catalina, the internal display of my 16" MacBook seems to drop contrast (and brightness) noticeably when auto-brightness is on. Turning auto-brightness off and adjusting brightness to about the same amount as compared to the when auto-brightness is on doesn't drop brightness. Blacks are still black.

This is very noticeable when using Lagom's LCD test. Auto-brightness on makes all of the squares light up regardless of brightness level. Auto-brightness off makes the darkest squares barely visible (though still visible). It's not subtle.

Black level - Lagom LCD test

www.lagom.nl

Auto-brightness ON - all squares easily visible, max brightness seems to be "clipped" even in direct sunlight.
Auto-brightness OFF - only up to 7 is barely visible. Anything lower is less visible unless in a completely dark room. Max brightness is much higher especially in direct sunlight.

No, it's not True Tone. I turned True Tone on/off and that didn't seem to help with anything.

Turning off "Automatic graphics switching" doesn't seem to help. But... turning on "automatic graphics switching" with the iGPU on causes the Display Contrast slider in Accessibility to freak out when it's enabled. Forcing the dGPU on lets the Display Contrast slider work as expected.

This doesn't bother me all that much but... it's worth noting.

I'm guessing this is more Catalina bugs. And also more display drivers bugs. What a mess.

Note: I have a 13" MacBook Pro still on Mojave. No such problem. Auto-brightness gives max brightness and proper contrast. It's truly "auto".

Confirmed on my 16" using Catalina 10.15.5 beta 4. How very odd. I can see the squares appear and disappear before my eyes when I click on the Auto-brightness checkbox. That's so bizarre!

 

[bill-p]

Well, I'm guessing it's the "Power Saving mode" kicking in for the Intel integrated graphics. I thought that only the AMD driver was sh*t with the 16", but apparently, even the Intel driver is not up to par.

And I'm betting Apple will ignore this issue and continue to come out with the "next version of Mac OS" after Catalina anyways. I knew the Mac was getting thrown to the back of the bus in terms of development, but this is getting ridiculous. If Apple never ever resolves these driver issues during this 16" MacBook's lifetime then... it's most likely the last Mac device I'll own. It's nice, but the software quirks signal to me that they simply don't care anymore.