TV brightness and nits explained: peak vs. full-screen

Every TV review quotes a brightness figure measured in nits. It is the first spec most people compare, and also one of the easiest to misread.

What a nit is

TechRadar describes a nit as the standard unit for measuring TV brightness, equal to candelas per square meter, the same as cd/m2.

Two numbers, not one

TechRadar's testing guide explains that its reviews give two brightness readings.

• Peak brightness is measured on a pattern covering 10 percent of the screen. It shows how bright highlights such as sunlight on water or a streetlamp can get. TechRadar also tests a 2 percent window, which can read higher and is usually what manufacturers quote, but it is less practical as a measure of real viewing.
• Full-screen brightness is measured with white across the entire screen. It indicates how a TV handles bright scenes in general, such as sports or news, and how well it stands up to glare in a bright room.

The two can be far apart. Tom's Guide says the Samsung S95H, one of the brightest OLEDs it has tested, reached around 2,700 to 2,800 nits in HDR highlights, but its average picture brightness is nowhere near what a similarly priced flagship LED TV offers. TechRadar adds that OLED full-screen figures are usually lower because the TV limits brightness on large bright areas.

Why 1,000 nits keeps coming up

HDR video can contain highlights well beyond 1,000 nits. TechRadar notes that HDR movies are commonly mastered for home release at a maximum of 1,000 nits. A TV that can reach that level shows the full range. A dimmer TV uses tone mapping, which compresses the brightest tones to fit, and how well it does that is crucial to HDR quality. TechRadar adds that Dolby Vision was built to do this job better on dimmer sets. See what is HDR for formats.

VESA, the group behind the DisplayHDR certification for monitors and some displays, uses tiers named 400, 500, 600, 1000 and 1400, with minimum peak and sustained brightness for each tier. Tier names correspond to a minimum measured brightness in nits, for example 1000 means at least 1,000 nits on a small center patch. The tiers show how widely 1,000 nits is used as a benchmark.

Real numbers from recent tests

• TechRadar measured the LG B6 entry-level OLED at 808 nits peak and a TCL mid-range Mini LED at 2,083 nits in each set's most accurate mode.
• TechRadar quotes peak HDR brightness of 1,489 nits for LG's 2024 flagship G4 and 2,475 nits for its 2026 successor, the G6. It puts the older B5 entry-level OLED at 668 nits.
• The Hisense UR8 reached 2,087 nits peak and 771 nits full-screen in one comparison, against 1,189 and 603 for a Samsung Mini LED.

Those figures show a pattern: Mini LED and RGB sets are brightest overall, flagship OLEDs have closed much of the gap, and entry-level OLEDs remain the dimmest.

How much do you need?

Tom's Guide's advice is practical. Entry-level OLEDs, such as the LG B5, look superb in dim and darkened rooms, but in a sun-soaked space a bright LCD TV may serve better. Mid-range OLEDs are bright enough for most rooms unless sunlight floods the space. Samsung's Glare-Free matte screens reduce reflections, though Tom's Guide notes they can lift black levels in bright conditions and give dark scenes a purplish-gray look.

A simple way to apply this: for a dim room, even an entry-level OLED is enough; for mixed light, look at a mid-range OLED or a Mini LED; for sunny rooms, shop Mini LED such as the TCL QM7L or Hisense UR8. The room-by-room version is in our best TV for your room guide.