Increase brightness on my Dell and Mac

[jpmort]

I recently got an external Dell for my MacBook Air m1. And I see that the monitor has not been optimised for Macs, nor does it have software that allows me to change settings. I can only use the OSD. I realise that the brightness of the monitor is really too low, and I have put the brightness on max. And I have just installed Betterdisplay, to see if I can increase the brightness.
I have spent some time looking through the settings and I have not found any way to do this. Can I use BetterDisplay (currently on trial mode) to improve my experience of the monitor? The connection is HDMI, connected to a small USB C hub.

I have had a look through previous posts and cannot find anything that is exactly the problem I have.
Thanks

[waydabber]

Sorry - by increasing the brightness you mean using a macOS tool to change the brightness, or you want to increase the brightness beyond the max brightness the display can output? If the latter, then that is not possible, as it is probably a hardware limit. You can use BetterDisplay to increase the brightness for third party displays in HDR mode beyond the SDR level, but I assume this is not what you are seeking. But since I am unsure about the display type and how it is configured, I can only provide a generic answer.

[jpmort]

Thanks for your reply. I was under the impression that the Dell monitor, not being approved for Macs, turn out less bright than on PCs. I read form other posts, that BetterDisplay would be able to increase the brightness past the 100% of the usual hardware setting.
If that is not possible, then thats fine. Thanks for your reply.

[waydabber]

No, displays should provide the full brightness at 100%, but while most Mac displays (like the M1) outputs 500 nits and many external displays usually output 250-350 nits only, they might feel comparatively dim. But I'd need the actual model number for the Dell display to check its specs.

[jpmort]

Ah, and in my description I failed to even include the model of the monitor! Its a S2425HS, 250 nits.

[waydabber]

Right. The problem is the 250 nits output, so your problem is not a Mac specific issue, it's just a display that was designed mainly for a dimmer environment (this display would be ideal for a studio setup for example with low ambient lighting).

[jpmort]

Thanks for that straightforward answer. I never even thought to look at the brightness spec.