Super Brightness on MacBook Pro M1 13"

[mkozjak]

Hi,

Sorry if I failed to find this info somewhere in existing discussions or docs, but I can't seem to find a way to make my built-in MacBook Pro M1 13" (Touch Bar) screen use "software brightness upscaling" or something similar to BetterTouchTool's "Super Brightness/HDR" action. Maybe it's not real upscaling that it does, maybe it's just some color profile change or something, but I'd like to switch to using BetterDisplay for this functionality if possible. Thanks!

[waydabber]

Hi there, the M1 13" has a 500-nits display which is available in SDR without limitation (the display is not HDR capable, although it can simulate HDR to some extent using EDR if the max brightness is reduced). So I am not sure what is the "Super Brightness/HDR" feature of BetterTouchTool. Does it simply force EDR for the display? If so, I am not sure that makes sense, as that simply drains battery and prevents the backlight from dialing down when you decrease brightness. You can simulate the same by disabling HW brightness control in BD, cranking the HW panel brightness up to 100% and use software-only dimming via the app. You can also adjust gain or gamma under Image Adjustments to further crank up a perceived brightness.

[mkozjak]

https://community.folivora.ai/t/xdr-superbrightness-1600nits/38338/2

I'll copy the text if you can't open this link.

[waydabber]

Oh yes. But this is for XDR displays. The 13" M1 MBP doesn't have one, unless you use the Pro Display XDR as external display. For that the feature should be available (in the menu you'll sea "Brightness Upscaling" button). With a standard (non-XDR) Apple display the filter values mentioned in the post simply adjust the color table (or a metal overlay) - both are available in BetterDisplay, you can use Image Adjustments to change gain, contrast etc.

[mkozjak]

Thanks!

[mkozjak]

Any “presets” that you can recommend for this type of a screen for working outside with heavy sunshine? 🙃

[waydabber]

Well, what you can do is to increase gain and/or gamma. But since the max brightness is limited and both options will cause color distortions (gain will clip without HDR headroom, gamma skews the luminance curve), you have limited options I am afraid. You can create presets with the macOS Shortcuts, using the BetterDisplay provided Image Adjustment action and assigning a keyboard shortcut for the Shortcut.