Topic: Switch 2 screen looks colder than expected? I ran a simple comparison test; would love your feedback

Hi everyone, after reading Digital Foundry’s report on the Switch 2’s screen, I got curious and ran a small visual test at home. I wanted to see whether the colder tone they mentioned really affects how games look, and whether Nintendo has made any visual adjustments for this new display. I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts too, especially if you have the chance to test it yourself.

DF pointed out that the new LCD panel in the Switch 2 has a very cool white point, measured at over 7500K. This gives everything a noticeably bluish tone. What’s interesting is that this isn’t just compared to the OLED model, but even to the original Switch LCD. In other words, the Switch 2 screen appears colder than any previous model. And since the system doesn’t allow adjustments for white balance or color temperature, that cooler look seems to be baked in by default.

So I decided to check how this might affect the visual experience in practice. I captured screenshots directly on the Switch 2 using the built-in capture tool. I chose a few different sources, including Mario Kart World, the Virtual Console menus, the system dashboard, and some classic titles like Super Mario Bros. 3.

I then compared those same screenshots side by side on the Switch 2 and on a calibrated iPad display, which follows sRGB and P3 standards fairly closely.

The result was quite clear. On the iPad, the colors looked warm, balanced, and natural. On the Switch 2, those same images appeared colder, with a blue shift and often a more intense but less natural feel, like there’s no neutral grounding to the color.

One example that really stood out was the SNES Virtual Console startup screen. It shows a deep red background. On the iPad, that red looks rich and slightly orange-toned. On the Switch 2, it appears too bright and cold, completely changing the feel of the color.

I also tested SNES games like Donkey Kong Country, and unfortunately, the colder tone persisted throughout. I was honestly hoping that the Switch 2 would let me enjoy these older games with their original color palettes more faithfully, but this screen seems to shift the visuals in a noticeable and not always pleasant way.

What concerns me is that this might also affect newer and upcoming titles. Unless Nintendo decides to adjust the visuals in future games or updates, the colder tone may end up being a long-term feature of this hardware revision.

So I wanted to open this up to the community. Have you noticed something similar? If you have access to a calibrated display like an iPad, iPhone, MacBook or a properly adjusted monitor, I’d love it if you could run a quick comparison using a few screenshots from your Switch 2.

Even just checking the system menus or the SNES Virtual Console intro screen can reveal a lot. It would be helpful to gather feedback from more people, and maybe that could help push for improvements or at least raise awareness.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to hearing what you find.

I haven't noticed anything like this at all, to me the colours look good. I like that they are less aggressively bright and warm as on the Switch OLED.

Also, your post doesn't mention whether you turned off HDR when testing software that doesn't support it. I'm guessing you did?

@Ultra128

I'm guessing Nintendo have gone for a blueish display as this makes the display brighter when measured and they are claiming the screen is HDR when it's been measured at about 341 or is it 361 nits below the minimum standard of HDR 400 nits even with a blueish tint. So properly colour calibrated it's going to be less than that. The Switch Lite has a display over 400 nits so is technically within the entry point of HDR where as the Switch 2 isn't. The Switch 2 display is fairly poor I feel and one of the major failings of the console but I guess it makes a great selling point for the OLED Switch 2 model that is sure to come out. It's also a display with poor lag and a poor pixel response leading to ghosting worse than the very first version of the Switch. I think they could have improved how the display is driven but that would have taken more processing time and therefore battery power. It feels like a console that needs a upgrade out of the door so to speak. The other issue is 720p gaming on a 1080p display which can cause some issues but those were expected I guess going from original Switch to the Switch 2 display and that effects a lot of hardware like laptops etc. You get some aliasing due to the resolution difference something that Switch 2 native games can avoid.

Ultimately most won't care or notice these issues and just enjoy the console but it does seem so compromised and costed down I find it hard to justify its price outside Japan. Nintendo does love huge amounts of profit on its hardware though. I guess it was always going to be compromised hardware and what Nintendo could find cheap in the factories of China and Asia. Maybe there will be improvements to the display within only a few months as Nintendo improves the design with feedback from early buyers. That is not unheard of, we shall see. It really depends on how angry early adopters get I guess and how much they moan about it.

The screen looks pleasing to my eye. And that's enough for me.

Now that I think about this topic more I think Nintendo were pushing for a higher price point so wanted to have 120Hz and HDR as selling points but didn't want to pay for a display capable of those figures properly or without some sort of compromises. It feels like the console would have been better if they just focused on providing 60Hz support and a properly calibrated display that ran well for the majority of games both Switch 1 and Switch 2. I feel 1080p was un-necessary for a handheld device like this. 720p would have been fine and that maybe could have meant a good implementation of HDR and maybe 90Hz. I have a 1440p 11" tablet and to be honest I don't care that its more than 1080p really. I have a small Celeron laptop that is 11" and has a 1366x768 display and its still good but just about noticeable a lower resolution but I've watched 4K videos on it and they look great. At 8 inches diagonal I feel the Switch 2 would have been fine with 720p. However maybe that would have meant the price point wouldn't be as acceptable. I wonder what people would think if the OLED version of Switch 2 came out with a 720p display but proper HDR and 120Hz support with great calibration of the display to give accurate realistic colours. This would mean many Switch 1 games would look much better and performance mode games like Cyberpunk that output at 720p would have 1:1 pixel map but 1080p Switch 2 portable 1080p games would be downscaled. Personally I would rather have 720p OLED than 1080p low end LCD display.

Just to add: the issue isn’t just about colder tones, colors like red and green also appear overly saturated, and not in a good way. I noticed that the red from the Switch logo or the SNES VC intro screen looks unnaturally intense and shifted toward cooler hues. This suggests it’s not just a white point issue, but also a broader color mapping problem.

Do you think Nintendo might release a patch to adjust this, maybe before titles like Donkey Kong Bananza launch? Some basic screen calibration options could really help. Maybe a ”neutral” option in the settings.

Nintendo never changed anything for the life of the switch. So, I don't think it's likely.

I personally think they won't as they have sold this display as HDR when it isn't but by having it as a colder more blue display it measures higher in brightness which makes the HDR claim a little less ridiculous. If people calibrate the display accurately it will be measurably darker and even further from the HDR claim. It's possible on a later Switch 2 revision not necessarily OLED but just a model making use of a better display panel they could enable it but then they would have to have a firmware revision that adjusts to the hardware but I think that is perfectly normal as many firmwares do that because of minor variations in electronics, i.e. different wifi chips. Ultimately I think Nintendo want to hide the fact they have launched the Switch 2 with a very poor quality panel or are driving it very badly to conserve power. It feels like these issues won't be addressed until a decent revision. Remember how much better the Mariko Switches were (unless you like modding) and how battery life massively improved. Also Switch Lite has a very impressive LCD screen I think and maybe that was only possible by the improved fabrication of the main chipset so there was more power for a brighter display even though battery capacity reduced. The Switch 2 is a typical day one hardware release I guess. It's a bit rough in places but those who bought it get to enjoy Switch 2 games early. I shall be looking to buy much later when there is more software and the hardware is better and to be honest I tend to buy my consoles secondhand or refurbished etc so I've probably got a bit of a wait. I bought my Switch Lite for about 62 pounds and my main Switch as a bundle with bits I didn't want to sell on separately to bring the price down to about 80-90 pounds. A couple cartridges, a extra set of controllers I didn't need. I paid 127 pounds for the bundle. I hate paying full price for anything to be honest.

One thing I’ve been thinking: if Nintendo didn’t alter anything on the original Switch, maybe that’s because it didn’t need to. The colors were already pretty faithful.
With Switch 2, though, the display doesn’t just shift things slightly. It actively distorts the intended look of everything, even the most iconic visual elements.
Take the Switch 2 logo. The red we see everywhere suddenly becomes a highly saturated, strawberry-like tone, far from the warm red it’s supposed to be.
Nintendo’s designers don’t choose colors randomly. The art directors for every series, even the team who created the Switch logo, spend huge amounts of time and money building a color language that defines emotional tone and identity.
When the screen shifts those colors not just subtly but consistently and strongly, it weakens the entire visual message they crafted.
Color is not just decoration. It’s emotional design. And the current LCD makes everything feel colder, harsher, more artificial. That goes directly against the artistic intent of many Nintendo titles.