Are 2024 TVs Too Bright? | Why Brighter is Still Better

Whether you are a bona fide TV enthusiast or you’ve just started your journey into researching a new TV to buy, It's important that we have this conversation about TV brightness. The brightness wars waged among TV brands have never been more intense.

What is with this obsession with brightness on TVs? How and why are brightness wars a thing? What is a nit and should you care? How bright does a TV even need to be? How much should you even care about brightness ratings when shopping for a new TV?

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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:44 What is a Nit?
01:58 Nits vs Lumens
03:17 Brightness & Contrast
05:27 Average Picture Level
07:56 Specular Highlights
09:09 Will TVs Use High-Brightness Responsibly
12:23 Tone Mapping Explained
16:12 Final Thoughts

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[Caleb_Denison]

Hey everyone! TCL did 115-inch and Hisense 110-inch, not the other way around!!!! One critical component among a few I didn’t for into this video: twice the nits is NOT twice as bright! I’ll do something on that in upcoming videos. What else about brightness should we be talking about?

[Caleb_Denison]

Hey everyone! One critical component among a few I didn’t for into this video: twice the nits is NOT twice as bright! I’ll do something on that in upcoming videos. What else about brightness should we be talking about?

[Ultimate_Power_]

"With great power….. comes a high electricity bill" -uncle Ben or something

[LHH]

Should’ve said, “But before we get into the NITty gritty.” Would’ve been perfect 😂

[princevalium]

I helped my parents replace our 12 year old Samsung this past summer. Their TV sits in front of a big window that lets in tons of light, so we needed something super bright. We originally went with the Samsung S95B which looked awesome, but was warped. Then the LG G2, which wasnt bright enough. Eventually I saw your video talking about how the TCL QM8 was super bright, and we went with that. Man, I didnt know a TV could burn your eyes

[alekssl]

I just got my new U8K 65in yesterday and maaan, that TV is briiiight! I placed it in a well lit living room and I still keep it at 80% max of brightness. In overall am in love with that U8K.

[puresynergyflo]

Found this helpful in regards to “nits”: The term nit is believed to come from the Latin word nitēre, "to shine", which is why the measurement is denoted as, for example, 1 nt more commonly than 1 candela per square meter (q cd/m²). 🕯️

[TomideAdeleke]

Hey Caleb, I dont have anyhting to say but thank you for the effort you put into explaining technical details of audio-visual technology.

[nicholasgilbert]

I enjoyed the joking around in this video, I'm actually quite unwell today and the little laughs were nice.

[chrishammersley]

One of the best videos I have seen. Now I understand the Tone Mapping. Thank you. Also, the processor for a TV is a big deal.

[daneg]

I watch movies on my LG C2 with the lights off at night, and the white titles (especially the white "skip" button on streamers) is so bright, I sometimes squint! 😎 (always filmmaker mode) never look directly at the light! 😄

[trollzone]

When they hit 5, 000 to 10, 000 nits I'll be super happy. (As an actual commercially viable and affordable products.)

[dotsmada]

I remember 20 years ago when I got my first projection type TV it lit the room up like I've never seen before. Had to squint it was so bright, or at least brighter than what I was used to. Obviously, I got used to it pretty quick. I can't imagine a TV being too bright unless it's washing out the picture and there's a lot of bloom.

[deankat]

Excellent job as always! Appreciate your clear and interesting explanations. Keeping us up-to-date on TVs.👍

[CasepbX]

I learned how bright a monitor should be.... and what limit it should be. I have a 34" Mini LED that gets to 1200 nits and oh boy it can make you squint like the sun is shining! I believe fullscreen white gets over 600 nits which isn't all that fun after a while. I'm in a pretty dark room and it can just be too bright for me at times. Now I will admit some outside scenes in games look so damn bright and nice. Explosions and fire looking super bright is also so awesome.

[buschg]

For me, my 85-inch QM8 requires the brightness turned down in my all windows living room. Rather that than underpowered. I love that it highlights the, umm, highlights incredibly well without the entire screen needing to be too bright/ washed out. It even maintains the blacks while doing so on a large scale.

[amitavraja]

Look forward to seeing your reviews in the light of tone mapping and brightness, how brightness is used effectively in tone mapping that’s an interesting part of the review that’s not often covered. Just because a TV can get insanely bright doesn’t mean it’s using its brightness effectively. Also the things to consider is shadow details and coming out of black, which is a shortcoming for OLED TVs. I think we are so focused on brightness that we forget other things like shadow details.

[travelinSmooth]

Personally I have to either turn auto brightness at night or turn down the brightness since I usually game/watch movies in a pitch black darkness.

[PatWalsh-ly]

I love my brandy new 75 inch Hisense U8k, but I find myself dialing back on the brightness. Maybe my feelings will change once I get used to it.I definitely don’t have to worry about it being in a bright room

[thomasassim-ita]

I love contrast in my tv a lot. It brings out the beauty in every picture. Interesting topic coz it's the contrast that will make me buy any television