Microsoft Explains Why Surface Laptop Ultra's Local Dimming Zones Struggle

Microsoft has confirmed that the Surface Laptop Ultra’s Mini LED display supports local dimming, despite earlier reports questioning whether the feature works properly.

However, reviewers continue to report ghosting, blooming, and disappointing contrast, raising concerns about the display’s performance.

Surface Laptop Ultra has 1,344 local dimming zones

According to Windows Central, Microsoft confirmed that the Surface Laptop Ultra features 5,400 Mini LEDs divided into 1,344 local dimming zones.

These zones independently adjust brightness depending on the content, allowing darker areas to remain dim while brighter parts of the screen stay illuminated.

However, reviewers have noticed visible blooming around bright objects on dark backgrounds, along with ghosting and weaker-than-expected contrast.

While Microsoft confirms that local dimming works, the results appear to depend heavily on the display configuration.

How to improve local dimming on Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft says users can make local dimming more noticeable by enabling Change brightness based on content and disabling HDR.

With HDR turned off, the display produces more noticeable local dimming, but blooming and ghosting can also become more apparent.

Enabling HDR can reduce these visible artifacts, although it makes the local dimming effect less noticeable.

As a result, users may have to choose between stronger local dimming and fewer display artifacts, with neither configuration completely resolving the complaints.

Microsoft has also released the first Surface Laptop Ultra firmware update, addressing long reboots, screen flickering, and unexpected restarts. However, the update does not address the reported local dimming issues.

In other Windows news, Microsoft recently released Windows 11 KB5134133 and KB5134134 emergency updates to resolve certificate trust problems on certain devices.