No, we’re not talking about head lice here, but rather a piece of terminology used in the tech world.

The nits value of a monitor is usually mentioned on its box, or on the manufacturer’s website. And why are nits so important to you as a consumer?

682.2. One of these requirements for the HDR600 standard is to have a maximum brightness of 600 nits compared to just 300 or 400 nits on most earlier ThinkPad models.

Two candelas is equal to the brightness of two candles, and so on. In any size laptop, that display is standard in cheap laptops. Topping our list is the one convertible model that also happens to be the smallest in terms of screen size. The sun at noon is rated at 1.6 billion nits.

Your screen, whether it’s an internal one or an external one, outputs a certain number of nits and this measurement is a part of its basic specifications. If you managed to get 400 candles/nits into the cube before it burst into flames, the light per square meter would be 400 nits, which makes for a pretty nice laptop screen. As a result, the X1 Yoga HDR is also the brightest ThinkPad laptop available thus far. Don't despair, Apple users – you're not completely shut out of this top 10 list. When activated, the maximum brightness jumps to about 550 nits. © Allen Ngo, 2018-07-18 (Update: 2018-07-18). This app runs a series of tests to check if your screen can display HDR content or not.

Read our Dell Latitude 5290 2-in-1 review.

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The above article may contain affiliate links, which help support How-To Geek. Technically, a device starts counting as “sunlight-readable” when it hits at least 1,000 nits, but very few mobile displays go that high. The 12.5-inch HP EliteBook x360 1020 G2 is about two times brighter than most Ultrabooks in the market today including those from HP's own Spectre series.

The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. Detachable 2-in-1s like the Latitude 5290 deserve to go anywhere and do anything, and this tablet's 542-nit screen practically guarantees it. Since they’re commonly used outdoors, smartphones are definitely in the “more nits are better” category.

A speedy 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor ties it all together for an excellent package.

© 1996-2020 Ziff Davis, LLC. Their ranking makes a lot of sense, as you can make a better case for a convertible (which can cost more) when you can use it in tablet mode as you walk around not worrying about how much sun is drenching your room, or any light sources around you.

The sun at noon is rated at 1.6 billion nits.

If your screen has low nits, you won’t be able to increase it with software.

Just skimming through our brightest laptops list, you'll see that Dell's got a solid track record, with three of the four top entries — all above 500 nits. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors? Both the latest MacBook Pro 15 2017 and MacBook Pro 13 2017 can each reach over 500 nits when set to their respective maximums. Your email address will not be published. Nits is a measure of brightness, or more accurately, of luminosity.

You can use dedicated hardware to measure it as well.

Nits is a measure of brightness, or more accurately, of luminosity. 200 is on the low end but still usable, while above 400 is above average.

My display is already calibrated, just want to understand how my nits change with iris and power settings. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. The Thinkpad's excellent keyboard, one of the best we've ever tested, makes typing long projects a breeze, while its pointing stick is a bit of retro brilliance. Though resolution and color quality are more important, having a brighter screen provides a better experience.

Sure, your laptop's screen is easy to read when you're working at night, but how does it handle the scourge of natural light?

Other perks of this convertible include nearly 11 hours of battery life, an elegant platinum silver-white design and an ultra-wide 16:10 aspect ratio.

Thanks! Laptops and PCs are mostly indoor creatures, so they don’t need to be as bright.

He is an advocate of cryptocurrencies and other decentralized technologies, and hopes to see new generations of innovation continue to outdo each other. 630.3.

A measurement of the brightness of light. That’s right – candles are still the base unit of light measurement, and if you’re screen-shopping, you’ll probably come across the “nit” unit, which tells you how much candlelight per square meter your screen can emit. How to Install Third-Party App Stores on Android, How to Hide Most Used Apps in the Start Menu on Windows 10, 10 Great iPhone Home Screen Widgets to Get You Started, © 2020 LifeSavvy Media. RELATED: How to Get the Best Picture Quality from Your HDTV.

PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission.

We saw a maximum brightness of 441 nits when testing the 13-inch panel in this fast, long-lasting MacBook Pro. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Imagine you have a candle inside a cube with a total surface area measuring one meter by one meter (about the size of a bath towel or 20 iPads that have somehow been made into a cube). Light bulbs, flashlights, and projectors are all measured in lumens.

We don’t use candles anymore, and stuffing them into sensitive electronics is a terrible idea, so it’s sort of hard to tell how many of them you want in your screen without looking at a few numbers. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.

I don't know why you're specifically asking for a 14 inch laptop. While ruggedized laptops (which are made for service workers such as police or firefighters) are rated for up to 1,000 nits, we hope to see brightness scores of at least 400 nits on consumer systems.

The 575-nit Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR is a sleek, aluminum beast of a gaming laptop, and its brilliantly bright 4K HDR screen won't blink if you open the shade behind your game station. check if your screen can display HDR content. But nits and lumens measure different things.

Visit our corporate site. On occasion, we've seen screen scores in the 500's.

If you're used to dim laptops, you might need to look into a pair of sunglasses before you trip the light fantastic on the amazingly bright 626-nit organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel version of the Dell XPS 15. Required fields are marked *. The laptop was placed on a pad, which was situated directly in front of the user’s groin.

No, we’re not talking about head lice here, but rather a piece of terminology used in the tech world. Long story short, a nit is the unit of measurement that describes how bright a television, smartphone, computer monitor, laptop screen, or another type of display is.

On a more technical level, a NIT is the amount of light output equal to one candela per square meter (cd/m2 - a standardized measurement of luminous intensity).

We have premium almonds, peanuts, pistachios, cashews, bulk nuts & more at great prices. It does this regardless if your screen can support it or not. Nits — Think of a TV as like the Sun, which emits light directly. For a multi-screen set-up, move the app to the screen that you want to test. RELATED: Should You Get an "Ultra HD" 4K TV?

The panel also produces 125% of the sRGB color gamut, so all of your Netflix binges will come through in vivid hues.

Of course, we're hoping that the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro pumps a lot of nits out of its larger screen.

The gist is that the higher number of nits a TV has, the brighter the display is.

If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Glare will be heavily reduced but not completely eliminated because of the glossy panel. While its butterfly-style key switches are a bit controversial, its strong speakers and tried-and-true design are indisputably great. How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. Nits are even more important when it comes to smartphones, which you’re more likely to use outdoors in the bright sunlight.

As the table below shows, all five laptops crack the 500 nit barrier with the HP EliteBook x360 1020 G2 nearly breaking 700 nits. The most important thing is just knowing what a low, medium, and high nit number looks like for a given device so you can make an informed decision.