Macbook air m1 LCD worse black levels

[echo754]

I'm not sure is this is just a limitation of current macs or I have a faulty unit. I received my new m1 air and noticed blacks & dark greys seemed to display on the LCD as the same shade of dark blue instead, even at low brightness which I haven't noticed with older macs. (Also night shift does not seem to make a difference)

Below is a comparison of previous models running at 40% brightness. I'm not sure if this a limitation of air displays vs the pro, however I assumed the 2 were supposed to be the same this year apart from brightness levels.

Has anyone else noticed this as well?
I'm usually not that fussy about displays, however this really seemed to stand out when editing photos or consuming content.

 

[mrfish84]

I've noticed that as well. Display is very good for vivid colors but very bad for dark scenes in movies

 

[Spacegray]

I would also like the black level on my MBA M1 to be better.
But on the other hand backlight is quite uniform and there is no visible backlight bleeding.
IPS displays in general do not have the best black levels.

 

[JPack]

This is a known “issue.”

In addition to the higher black level, the MBA has a display with lower contrast (1000:1) compared to MBP (1700:1). Refer to Notebookcheck for measured display specs.

 

[Significant1]

Check if another color profile is more to your liking in display settings. E.g. SMP TE RP 431-2-2007 DCI (P3). personally I use Adobe RGB (1998) but it is also relatively high contrast, though less than the standard. If you are still on Big Sur, you have to uncheck the check box for only seeing profiles for this display, to select them (no longer needed on Monterey).

 

[mrfish84]

Oh my god the profile SMP TE RP 431-2-2007 DCI (P3) is so much better!

ACL: Very good on vivid scenes but bad on dark scenes
SMP TE RP 431-2-2007 DCI (P3): Less contrast on vivid scenes but very good on dark scnes
Adobe RGB (1998); Seems a good compromise

 

[Spacegray]

Oh my god the profile SMP TE RP 431-2-2007 DCI (P3) is so much better!

ACL: Very good on vivid scenes but bad on dark scenes
SMP TE RP 431-2-2007 DCI (P3): Less contrast on vivid scenes but very good on dark scnes
Adobe RGB (1998); Seems a good compromise

This profile is good for contrast tests but IMO it washes out colors to much.
You might also try the Notebookcheck calibration result for the MacBook Air M1.
You can find it in the test of the MBA M1 under this link:

Download ICC File (X-Rite i1Pro 2)

This profile works much better for me.
Insert the profile under Library=>ColorSync=>Profiles and you can select it in the display settings.