Why is that LinkedIn image glowing brighter than white?

superwhite.app · explainer · by Nimrod Yarkoni

You're scrolling LinkedIn and one image stops you: it looks lit from behind - noticeably brighter than the white page around it. You screenshot it to show someone, and the screenshot looks completely normal. You're not imagining it, and your screen isn't broken.

It's an HDR trick, not a filter

Modern screens - recent MacBooks, iPhones, Pixels, most OLED displays - are far brighter than the "white" you normally see. Your operating system keeps regular content at a comfortable level (roughly 200 nits) and reserves the rest, often 1,000+ nits, for HDR video highlights.

The glowing image is exploiting that reserve. It carries an embedded HDR color signal - the same kind HDR movies use - that tells your browser: render my bright areas using the display's full power. The whites in the image land at 1,000+ nits while the page around them sits at ~200. Result: the image physically out-glows the interface.

Why only some people see it

• HDR display required - recent MacBook Pro/Air, iPhone, Pixel, OLED monitors. Older or budget screens show a normal image.
• Battery saver off - low-power modes disable HDR rendering.
• The original file only - re-saves, forwards through WhatsApp, and screenshots all strip the profile.

Is it safe? Is it allowed?

It's harmless to your screen - displays are built to run at these brightness levels for HDR films. As for platforms: LinkedIn's image pipeline currently preserves the color profile, so the effect works in feed posts today. Platforms clamped the same trick for HDR video after it flooded Reels and Shorts, so expect still images to be tone-mapped eventually too. It's a window, not a permanent feature.

How to make your own

You need to re-encode your image with the right HDR color signal while keeping colors accurate and boosting only the whites - done manually, it involves careful color-space math and file-level editing. Or you can use the tool this site exists for: drop an image, set the brightness, download. It runs entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

For the full technical breakdown - transfer functions, ICC profile splicing, where the trick survives and dies - read How Superwhite works, technically.