Latest news with #brightness
CNET
22-07-2025
- CNET
How to Dim Your iPhone Display Beyond the Minimum Brightness Level
No matter how low your iPhone display can go, sometimes it can still shine like a spotlight despite being at its dimmest setting. Whether you're doing some last-minute scrolling before bed with a sleeping partner or you have a headache that's making you more sensitive to light, the dimmest your iPhone can go isn't always dim enough. The current generation of iPhone displays can go all the way down to a single nit of brightness, but if that feels too bright, you're not without options. There are a series of small tweaks that can reduce the minimum brightness of your display even further if you know where to look and what to change. Here's how to reduce the brightness of your iPhone's display with some common and not-so-common methods. For more, don't miss when you can expect the iOS 26 public beta to release. iPhone Pro Tip This tempered glass screen protector, designed for the iPhone 14 and older models, protects your display from cracks, scratches and dust. And the screen protector is coated with a special filter that allows light to pass through only from certain angles, to protect your privacy. Details Get privacy and protection with this iPhone screen protector $8 at Amazon 1. First, enable Night Shift The iPhone Night Shift setting automatically adjusts your display -- using your phone's internal clock and geolocation -- to warmer colors that are easier on your eyes as the day progresses to night. Every morning, the display returns to its regular settings. You can turn it on in your Settings or via the Control Center. While it may not be as effective as we once believed it was in suppressing melatonin, Night Shift still provides benefits by lowering the blue light on the display, and that's definitely a good thing. Method 1: Settings Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift. From here, you can either schedule the feature at a certain time or enable it for the entire day and have it disabled in the morning. You can also adjust the color temperature by using the slider at the bottom of the page -- you can choose between less warm and more warm. Method 2: Control Center Swipe down from the top-right to access the Control Center. Then press and hold the Brightness icon and tap the Night Shift button to turn it on and off. You can access Night Shift from your settings or the Control Center. Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET 2. Use this accessibility feature to reduce the display's white point You can also reduce the white point on your iPhone to adjust how intensely colors appear on your screen. Bright colors are especially illuminated at night time, so try this setting to dull them a bit. In Settings, go to Accessibility > Display & Text Size and toggle on Reduce White Point. A marker will appear under the setting, which you can use to adjust the intensity of bright colors to your liking. This adjusts the intensity of bright colors on your display. Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET 3. Add a low-light filter with the Zoom accessibility feature If you're only interested in dropping the brightness and don't want warmer or less intense colors, you can lower just the display brightness. Using the Zoom accessibility feature, you can add a low light filter over your display to make it darker than usual. Launch the Settings application, go to Accessibility > Zoom, and make sure that the Low Light option is chosen under Zoom Filter. You can toggle the Zoom feature here, but the easier way is to triple-click the side button from anywhere on your phone to use Zoom. When Zoom is enabled, your phone will automatically add the low light filter to your display, making it darker, even if your brightness is already at its lowest. A small floating circle will appear on your screen, indicating that Zoom is currently turned on. If you tap the controller, you can hide it. To disable Zoom, simply triple-click on the side button again. The easiest way to enable the low light filter is to quickly triple-click the side button. Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET Need more? Don't miss all of the iOS 26 features that we're excited about that aren't Liquid Glass.
Gizmodo
16-07-2025
- Gizmodo
China's Wild World of AR Glasses Has Me Convinced Meta Is Cooked
I know I've said it 1,000 times, but AR glasses are hot right now, and arguably no one is more on fire than China. While the U.S. is patiently waiting for Meta to release anything even resembling its prototype AR glasses, Orion, China seems to be making strides day by day. The latest example? These glasses with full-color optical waveguide lenses and 900 nits of brightness from a Chinese company called Wigain. In plain speak, they're full-color AR glasses with enough brightness to actually use outdoors in the real world. And the kicker here is that Wigain says they're actually 'mass-producible.' The way Wigain talks about its glasses, they sound an awful lot like the Orion-based glasses Meta is slating for 2027, except they're actually a real thing you can buy right now, or at least pre-order. Wigain says its AR glasses, called Omnision, have a 50-degree field of view, use Sony's micro-OLED screens, and have an 800p resolution with a full-color display. They're powered by Qualcomm XR2 Gen 1, too, which should make them fairly snappy. If you want more power, there's also a Wi-Fi 7-enabled 'station' that uses Gen 2 of the same Qualcomm chip. Wigain is claiming six hours of battery life—fairly solid for glasses that claim to do this much. Looks-wise, they leave something to be desired, but Wigain did manage to get the glasses down to a serviceable weight of 120 grams. Don't get me wrong, I'm skeptical of Wigain's claims here, but the fact that it recently demoed the glasses in real life at an Expo in Osaka, Japan, and they have a real launch date and pre-orders is forcing me to take the Omnison glasses seriously. There's also the fact that Wigain doesn't seem to be alone in its success with pushing the ball forward on XR. China's Xiaomi, as I recently covered, just unveiled a pair of XR glasses that pretty much kick the Meta Ray-Bans' ass. They aren't AR glasses, to be sure, but they double the Ray-Bans' battery life, are capable of first-person video calling, and can allegedly record video for 45 minutes as opposed to the Ray-Bans' three minutes, and they even have a mobile payment feature that uses QR codes and voice verification. Oh, and they cost about the same as Meta's competitor. Listen, I'm not a market analyst or anything, but if I were a betting man and you asked me to wager which country's AR glasses are going to actually succeed from a technical standpoint, I'm going with China all the way here. And as someone who's been covering technology for a while now, that story is as old as time—and not just relegated to XR glasses. EVs in China, for example, are not just incredibly cheap, but also arguably more advanced than the ones sold here in the U.S. On paper, Chinese automakers like BYD are winning by a mile, though the U.S. market is obviously a whole separate entity for political reasons, and vice versa. Either way, I, as a consumer, am once again on the other side of the coin, stateside, wishing that U.S. companies would take some cues from their Chinese counterparts. Because, damn, Wigain—if its glasses are the real deal—just beat Meta's Orion to the punch.
CNET
15-07-2025
- CNET
The New LG OLED TV Has the Brightest Screen I've Ever Tested
CNET's key takeaways The LG G5 series is the best and brightest OLED I've ever tested in the CNET Labs. At $3,400 for the 65-inch size, it's expensive compared to some of the competition. The G5's best-in-class brightness made gaming easier and more enjoyable than I expected. As a Call of Duty player, I know that quick responses can be the difference between clinching victory and languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard. But until I played Call of Duty Black Ops 6 on the new LG G5 OLED, I didn't know there was something else just as crucial. I've tested dozens of the best TVs over the years. My CoD session helped cement my opinion of the G5 as the best OLED I've ever tested. Why? One reason is this model's best-in-class brightness: It's the brightest OLED I've ever seen in the CNET TV lab. Its clarity ensured I was able to see both the bright and dark parts of the screen -- in a way the other TVs I've tested couldn't reproduce. For instance, it was harder for enemies to hide in murky doorways because the TV rendered shadows more crisply. Brightness for the win. My experience with LG G5 Evo AI OLED Carly Marsh/CNET Picture quality is so important when it comes to gaming because some of the latest advances, such as HDR10 and Dolby Vision, help to elevate the gaming experience in a meaningful way, and the G5 can take full advantage of these. Zooming around the Protocol map from Black Ops 6, I found out it was the clarity of the G5's images that really struck me. I toured the grounds of this map's old naval fort -- the sky was a brilliant blue and the buildings popped up out of the sea -- everything looked more lifelike, like in the way it would if you were actually wandering here on a fall afternoon. But in the middle of my reverie, I found that people were shooting at me. Like, a whole lot. Now Playing: LG C5 vs. LG G5: Which OLED Gives the Most for Your Money 03:03 As part of my testing, I compared the LG G5 against four other TVs, including the new Samsung S95F, the LG C5 and two LCDs, all connected to the same Xbox. (With five screens playing at once, it felt like I was starring in my own personal esports event.) I played several different games, including Doom, Ori and the Blind Forest, but Call of Duty was where I saw the biggest improvements. The thing that immediately stood out about the G5 when playing games was how bright it was. When combined with the TV's deep contrast, the G5's picture popped in a way that the competition didn't. The LG G5 is the best TV I've reviewed yet Ty Pendlebury/CNET That brightness I saw on the G5? That's thanks to LG's new four-stack panel, which literally stacks two blue OLEDS (and a red and a green) on top of each other for its dazzling light output. This is a technology that seems to be unique to the G5 for now, but it's not the only advantage it has over the slightly cheaper -- and slightly dimmer -- Samsung S95F. Unless something changes, a Samsung TV will never tick the Dolby Vision check box -- it's HDR10 only. So if you're an Xbox completionist, then the LG G5 (and others) will help you max out the Xbox 4K compatibility test. (Profile & system > Settings > General > TV & display options > 4K TV details). The specs Available screen sizes: 55-, 65-, 77-, 83- and 97-inch Screen type: OLED Native refresh rate 120Hz (165Hz variable refresh rate) HDMI ports: 4 Weight: 48.5 pounds without its stand (65-inch) CNET's buying advice YMMV Carly Marsh/CNET I can't say playing on the G5 in the CNET lab made me a better player -- there are other crucial factors, including networking, that can decrease lag -- but I had a blast revisiting old maps and new ones on this fantastic television. It's definitely a "must-see" for serious gamers. If you simply want a good TV for gaming, you don't need to spend $3,000; there are plenty of great budget TVs under a grand, and most of them will give you an enjoyable gaming experience. Even so, if you're looking for your ultimate gaming setup, then the LG G5 has everything you need.
Digital Trends
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
You Asked: What Specs Actually Matter When Buying a TV? Projector vs. Huge TV?
On today's episode of You Asked: What are the most important specs to consider when buying a TV? Should you go for a big screen TV or projector for your vacation home? And… was I wrong about OLED being the highest mainstream standard for TV performance? What specs matter most when buying a TV? Pete asks: What are the most important specs to consider when buying a TV? Pete, I'd say there are a few, but the first thing to consider is where you're placing the TV in your home. Is it a living room? Bedroom? Dedicated theater-style area? Workout room? I won't go down the rabbit hole on each one of those, but let's assume it's a living room TV. Depending on if you've got a lot of big windows that will add a lot of light during daytime watching, I'd say brightness and the panel type are both important specs to start with. Starting with the latter: if you don't have a lot of ambient light or you can control the light in the room well, I'd consider OLED if you've got the budget for it. It's going to give you the best picture quality in terms of contrast and HDR viewing. A lot of the newer models also get bright enough to battle added light in the room. The Samsung S95F, especially, has an anti-glare screen that does a great job handling reflections, and its QD-OLED panel in the 55, 65, and 77-inch sizes is quite bright. Now, if there is a lot of light that's going to be pumping into the viewing space, you don't want your TV to struggle to compete with it. The simple answer in this case would be to go with a Mini LED TV. Fortunately, most of the ones we talk about on this channel get plenty bright. If you've got the budget, Sony's Bravia 9 is a top-notch option. The Samsung QN90 series sets are also great performers. TCL and Hisense have a number of more budget-friendly options that can still compete with some of the more expensive models. What those TVs I listed also have in common is their backlight technology: Mini LED with full-array local dimming. This is another spec to consider for the best viewing experience. These TVs will have much better contrast and be the best performers when it comes to HDR viewing. It's not quite OLED levels, but they are getting very, very good with improved contrast these days. Mini LED TVs are also pretty fairly priced. So if you're serious about a purchase, it would be the bare minimum I'd look at in terms of tech. The operating system is another feature that I wouldn't say is a dealbreaker, but it shouldn't be something you don't understand or don't enjoy using since you're going to be using it every day with the TV. To be honest, most of them are fine in my book. Google TV is probably the easiest to use on Sony, Hisense, and TCL TVs, but Samsung's Tizen and LG's WebOS aren't difficult to learn. They all make it pretty easy for users to find what they need. All of them are finding ways to get more ads in front of us, but I don't find them obnoxious, especially on Tizen. I'd say Fire TV is the only one I'm not a big fan of. Amazon is just a bit pushy with those ads sometimes. But as always, if you don't like an operating system, just pick up your streaming box of choice, like an Apple TV 4K, and you can easily work around it. Speaking of which, inputs are also important—especially for gamers. For the latest-gen consoles and PC gaming, you're going to want at least one HDMI 2.1 port to get the most out of the console output and maximize what I'd assume is a faster refresh rate on the TV, like 120Hz or more. And certainly, if you have more than one console or know you'll be connecting a streaming box and external audio devices as well, just know what you're working with in terms of HDMI capability so there aren't any surprises when you start setting things up. The last thing I'd say goes on my most important spec list is size. I can see you rolling your eyes—of course you need to consider size—but seriously, you want the TV to fit your space well. If it's too small, you'll know right away and feel it with the empty wall space around it. If it's too big, it may dominate your room and just be too much if you aren't sitting far enough away. Now, some of you might also say sound is an important spec, and I'd mostly agree. Certainly do your research there if you're going to rely on the TV speakers. I think a lot of mid to top-tier models do have good enough sound, and many are starting to take speakers more seriously. But I'm just Team Soundbar these days—especially when you can find good ones for as little as a hundred dollars. They'll add clarity and an experience that most TV speakers won't compete with. Big TV or projector for a rental? Dennis asks: I have a short-term vacation rental and one of the rooms is set up as a theater. Currently, it uses a 75-inch Samsung LED. I'd like to upgrade and go bigger. My question is: Do I stick with a TV and go with something along the lines of a 100-inch Hisense QLED or 98-inch TCL QLED? My other option is going with a screen and projector. What are the biggest differences? Pluses and minuses of each option? One thing to keep in mind: how easy will it be for guests to use? Starting with the last part first—I just assume most guests have not used a screen and projector. And what I know is a lot of people don't like change or having to learn new things on vacation. So if it's a screen and projector, while it sounds awesome on a list of amenities, I don't know if it's going to get used that much. Just my opinion. An extra-large Hisense or TCL TV, on the other hand, is going to be a bit more guest-friendly, and one big reason is the operating system. With Google TV, guests can sign in and out of their Google accounts on the TV and have access to all their usual subscriptions and content, making them feel right at home. Plus, it's a huge TV that a lot of people probably haven't used. So the experience will be right up there with using a large screen and projector. Now, I'm not super experienced with projectors. I've just used a few small ones that we've had around here. But a few things that are noticeably better on TVs: brightness, contrast, and color. Even if the projector is going in a theater setup in a darker room, the TV will produce better picture quality. But again, my main reasoning would just be ease of use and setup. TVs are pretty plug-and-play and won't require guests pinging you and asking how to use the projector. Is OLED still the peak of TV tech? Dru asks: You're crowning OLED as the peak of TV tech, highlighting some refinements still to come to match the limits of human vision. But is that title based on actual superiority, or just what's attainable and widely available right now? Because last I checked, the real king is Micro LED. It's just living in a castle most of us can't afford to visit yet. Dru, you are exactly right, which is why I said in that video: 'In terms of mainstream, affordable TVs, I'd say the current bar is set at OLED.' Keywords: mainstream and affordable—because yeah, Micro LED is insanely expensive. According to the 163-inch Micro LED TV released by Hisense in China costs the equivalent of $110,000. At least at one point, I know Hisense planned on releasing a 136-inch Micro LED TV here in the United States as well. And when you think of the tariffs on that thing, you just gotta laugh to keep from crying. That's a downpayment on a house. Anyway, seeing a Micro LED TV like that in person was an experience. Incredibly bright. Incredibly sharp. And noticeably more clear than OLED. So we haven't quite hit that peak yet. When it does come down from the castle and can be manufactured in a more reasonable, consumer-friendly price and size, it will sit atop the TV mantle and give everyone that can produce one a new standard to chase.
Android Authority
10-07-2025
- Android Authority
This new Android Canary feature will let you stop HDR photos from blinding you at night
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR HDR content can really stand out on a screen of SDR images, especially in low-light environments . In order to limit distractions like that Google's been working on an new set of 'Enhanced HDR brightness' options. After first spotting them in Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, they're now usable in the new Android Canary release. Google just opened the door on a brave new world of Android development, extending its existing program of Developer Previews and Beta releases to now offer a Canary track, bringing the most curious Android fans early access to its latest in-development features. Of course, we haven't wasted any time installing one of those Canary builds on our Pixel hardware, and are already crawling through to identify what's new. One of the first concrete changes we've spotted concerns a find we initially identified last month in the code for Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1. We're talking about that new 'Enhanced HDR brightness' settings option, which includes both a toggle for choosing whether or not you want to see HDR content at all (or if it should just be displayed at SDR levels), but also a slider for adjusting the intensity of the HDR effect. You might think that HDR is always better, but when you're viewing a single HDR pic amidst a screen of normal content, that one super-bright image can look a little odd. These controls let you avoid that situation entirely, or at least dial it back to a place where it feels a tad less jarring. While we were able to bring you an early look before, this wasn't yet user accessible in QPR1 Beta 1. But now we're in Canary territory, and not only are the settings present, but the feature appears to be operational, changing the HDR effect based on our choices. Everything looks just like we saw it before, except now it's ready for you to actually try out. Of course, running Canary means a much higher risk for running into phone-breaking bugs, so feel free to sit this one out and wait for the team at Android Authority to share the rest of what we find with you. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
