TV Brightness Estimator
Work out how bright your next TV needs to be, in nits, based on your room's lighting and whether you watch SDR or HDR content. Avoid overpaying - or buying a TV that washes out by day.
Look for a TV with about
800-1500 nits
HDR peak brightness (highlights)
SDR sustained
250-400 nits
HDR peak
800-1500 nits
Panel tip
A bright OLED or a Mini-LED both work. Favour higher brightness if you do a lot of daytime viewing.
Nits (cd/m²) measure brightness. SDR figures are sustained full-screen targets; HDR figures are short-burst peak highlights. Manufacturer peak-brightness claims are often measured on a small window - check independent measurements before you buy.
How much TV brightness do you actually need?
Brightness is measured in nits (candela per square metre). The amount you need depends almost entirely on two things: how much light is in your room, and whether you watch standard dynamic range (SDR) or HDR content.
For everyday SDR viewing, the reference is around 100 nits in a dark room - but real living rooms need more to overcome ambient light, scaling up to 400 nits or beyond in a sunny space. HDR is different: it uses brief, intense highlights, so a high peak brightness of 600 to 1,000+ nits is what makes sunlight glints and explosions look spectacular. This estimator combines your room and content into a single target range, then flags which panel technology suits your conditions.