Despite rapid developments of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on emerging perovskite nanocrystals (PeNCs), it remains challenging to achieve devices with integrated high efficiencies and high brightness because of the insulating long-chain ligands used for the PeNCs. Herein, we develop highly luminescent and stable formamidinium lead bromide PeNCs capped with rationally designed short aromatic ligands of 2-naphthalenesulfonic acid (NSA) for LEDs. Compared with commonly used oleic acid ligands, the NSA molecules not only preserve the surface properties of the PeNCs during the purification but also notably improve the electrical properties of the assembled emissive layers, ensuring efficient charge injection/transport in the devices. The resulting champion LED with electroluminescence approaching the Rec. 2020 green primary color demonstrates a high brightness of 67 115 cd cm(-2) and a peak external quantum efficiency of 19.2%. More impressively, the device shows negligibly decreased efficiency at an elevated brightness of 20 000 cd cm(-2) and a well-retained efficiency of over 10% at around 65 000 cd cm(-2), presenting a breakthrough in LEDs based on PeNCs.