Note 9 display not as bright as Note 8?

MikeNY

Well-known member
Sep 11, 2011
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I am not sure if this has been discussed already but the note 9 feels as if the display iz about 15% reduced brightness conpared the note 8 that I also have. And I have the high performance thing on.

It's much harder to see outside in the sunlight and much harder when I'm wearing sunglasses compared to my note 8.

Now it might just be in my head but I feel sometimes throughout the day it is a little bit brighter but then again it goes back to what I feel is an inferior amount of light compared to the no 8. Has anybody else noticed this? Is this a known issue in some devices?, thank you.
 
I am not sure if this has been discussed already but the note 9 feels as if the display iz about 15% reduced brightness conpared the note 8 that I also have. And I have the high performance thing on.

It's much harder to see outside in the sunlight and much harder when I'm wearing sunglasses compared to my note 8.

Now it might just be in my head but I feel sometimes throughout the day it is a little bit brighter but then again it goes back to what I feel is an inferior amount of light compared to the no 8. Has anybody else noticed this? Is this a known issue in some devices?, thank you.

Yes , side by side I swear the Note8 is brighter. I'm not really sure what to do.i rarely use it in direct sunlight, but I thought the 9 was supposed to brighter!

We'll see if anyone else chimes in.

Also, did you install a screen protecter?
 
Just tried them both on max brightness in the dark on the first page of the Ebay app. The Note8 seems brighter. I say seems because I can also definitely tell the Note8 is a lot clearer than my Note9 with this Caseology tempered glass screen installed. So I am wondering if that is the cause?

On a side note, they both are brighter than any other phone I've had.
 
Yes but took off the protector and still not that bright.

Well , I really don't want to pull my protecter as it went on wonderfully and it functions well. There is no way I could do another install as well as this one went. I am not good at all with glass protecters. Will wait and see if we get any other posts.
 
I also noticed the N9 is slightly dimmer at all brightness levels than the N8 side by side. The N9 display does look crisper to me though.
 
I also noticed the N9 is slightly dimmer at all brightness levels than the N8 side by side. The N9 display does look crisper to me though.

Yea, rarely ever do I use max brightness, its not enough of a problem to send it back.
 
Yes, I took off my cheap screen protector sure it was to blame but I can see it wasn't the issue. I'm disappointed. I struggled to see details on the screen outside today.
 
You're right. If you follow the review by DisplayMate, the Note 9 is about 27% "brighter" than the Note 8 and the contrast is 32% higher than the 8.

But, the display maxes out at 1050 nits at peak brightness vs. 1240 nits on the Note 8 which is about an 18% difference.

I am not sure if this has been discussed already but the note 9 feels as if the display iz about 15% reduced brightness conpared the note 8 that I also have. And I have the high performance thing on.

It's much harder to see outside in the sunlight and much harder when I'm wearing sunglasses compared to my note 8.

Now it might just be in my head but I feel sometimes throughout the day it is a little bit brighter but then again it goes back to what I feel is an inferior amount of light compared to the no 8. Has anybody else noticed this? Is this a known issue in some devices?, thank you.
 
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I've been noticing it as well. I still have my N8 & compared them side by side in different lighting. Outdoors or in my car is where it's most bothersome. Yesterday I had to take my sunglasses off to follow GPS in way too bright sunlight to be comfortable driving in.

Dimmer screen should be easier on the battery. +++

That just pisses me off. Just another feature that the manufacturers and/or carriers as well as Google, remove and decide they should decide for us. Feels like a condescending "Don't you worry your pretty little head over that." If I want/need a brighter screen at the expense of my battery, for $1200+ I should be able to choose which is more important to me. Meh.
 
I doubt they made the display "dimmer" to save battery. I think with the 4000mah battery they feel safe pushing performance and having excellent battery life.

I think when it comes to the Note 9 display, as I mentioned above, you have a panel that's 27% "brighter" than the old. The screen is rated the best ever. They got that thing tuned to practically eye popping color perfection.

But when designing the best panel out there there are going to be trade offs. My guess either pushing the brightness in nits too high will mess up that color perfection or pushing the nits will burn cause burn out the panel sooner. Highest nits doesn't make it the best screen and 1050nits is still probably higher than most phones out there. I think the iPhone X can only max out in the 800nit range (which is also a Sammy panel tuned to Apples specs).

I've been noticing it as well. I still have my N8 & compared them side by side in different lighting. Outdoors or in my car is where it's most bothersome. Yesterday I had to take my sunglasses off to follow GPS in way too bright sunlight to be comfortable driving in.



That just pisses me off. Just another feature that the manufacturers and/or carriers as well as Google, remove and decide they should decide for us. Feels like a condescending "Don't you worry your pretty little head over that." If I want/need a brighter screen at the expense of my battery, for $1200+ I should be able to choose which is more important to me. Meh.
 
Note is is definitely brighter and i personally think I know why something that was not mentioned by anyone here TO ELIMINATE SCREEN BURN my note 8 had screen burn that i noticed when my phone was only 5 months old btw that i noticed no telling how long it was there before I actually noticed i hope this helps
 
Just to make sure, when out in the sun, you need to be in Auto brightness for that "torch" brightness level to kick in. Not sure I saw that mentioned in the posts above. Just wanted to rule that out in case that was the issue.
 
I have the same issue here, just purchased my note 9 two days ago switched from iPhone XMAX. Immediately noticed the note 9 is like at least 20% dimmer than iPhone screen when both at their brightest ( note9 at it's high performance setting ). It really bothers me when I am using it as GPS driving in my car, I just can't see it clearly under bright sun with my sun glasses on. Are all the Samsung note 9s are like this? Or it is a bug will be fixed later .... highly concerned.
 
You have a pretty good eye... according to DisplayMate review of displays, the Note 9 at manual max brightness (not using Auto brightness) has brightness of 363-544 nits. That’s quite a bit less than the 728 nits that the Note 8 was measured at. The iPhone X has a max brightness of 634 nits.

But if you are using auto brightness then the display should get from 710-1015 nits... super bright (1240 nits on the Note 8).

New display on the Note 9 rated to give more accurate colors measurements at max but I guess at the cost of max brightness. I guess also to reduce burn maybe even though my Note 8 seems to be just fine 1+ year in.

I have the same issue here, just purchased my note 9 two days ago switched from iPhone XMAX. Immediately noticed the note 9 is like at least 20% dimmer than iPhone screen when both at their brightest ( note9 at it's high performance setting ). It really bothers me when I am using it as GPS driving in my car, I just can't see it clearly under bright sun with my sun glasses on. Are all the Samsung note 9s are like this? Or it is a bug will be fixed later .... highly concerned.
 

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