2019 iMac - Disappointing Screen Brightness

[Plx32]

I received my 2019 iMac this morning (i9 Vega 512 SSD) and I'm kind of disappointed with the screen peak brightness.

Sure the screen quality is overall still very nice, although I find the contrast a little disappointing, but the peak brightness is a bit too weak to what I was expecting.

I tried to calibrate it with my colorimeter and it helped a little but not enough.

But what bothers me most is that I used my colorimeter to measure the peak brightness of the screen.

And the result is that the iMac peak brightness does not exceed 370-380 nits.

I then tried my 2016 MacBook Pro and the peak brightness is measured at 450 nits.

Is that normal ? Should I consider getting my iMac exchanged ?

Of course 380 nits is still very bright to work on the iMac for most situations, but I find it a little weak for videos, and a little disappointing for a 2017 or 2019 iMac.

 

[dimme]

What are you calibrating for. For my usage Photography & Design work I set the screen At about half for a result of 110 to 120 cd/m2

 

[macduke]

I find it difficult sometimes to use it at peak brightness. I don't get all these people who want HDR 1000 scorching their retinas at 18-24 inches. At least with a TV there is light falloff over distance. Apple is rumored to be working on a new mini led panel for the 6K display and for future Macs which, if I remember right, will have higher peak brightness and local dimming zones. If it bothers you too much you could return yours and wait for those, but I imagine the pro models will get it first.

 

[mollyc]

I have never used any screen at full brightness. I would be blind. I use my 2017 iMac at about a maximum of 6 bars and often dimmer. And even then my screen is still too bright sometimes when I need to print photos.

 

[Plx32]

Like I said the full brightness is only needed for watching videos, or some photos full screen.

380 nits is not so much for full screen videos...

But the bottom line is that this iMac is quite less bright than my Macbook Pro (15% less).

And as both are supposed to be 500 nits displays, I'm a little disappointed and not sure to settle with this one.

I read in a 2019 iMac review that they measured the peak brightness of their model at around 420 nits, which was less bright than the 2017 model (450) but still very good. I think I would have been ok with that. It's like I'm missing the last level on my brightness adjustment...

 

[jerwin]

2016 macbook tech specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP749?locale=en_US
2017 imac tech specs https://support.apple.com/kb/SP760?locale=en_US
2019 imac tech specshttps://www.apple.com/imac/specs/

all specify 500 nits.

 

[Benz63amg]

I have my 2019 iMac set at 4 bars on the brightness scale, I’d go blind if I set it to full brightness and can’t imagine anyone sitting in front of the 27 inch screen with brightness set to full unless the iMac was outdoors in daylight (for whatever reason) or facing an extremely bright window with lots of daylight entering the room hitting the screen head-on requiring a bump in brightness.

 

[Brookzy]

Since the 2017 iMac you can’t get true full brightness without sufficient light being received by the ambient light sensor, e.g. natural daylight. 100% does not mean 100% any more.