10bit vs 8 bit in calibration

[Steve Smith]

Hi Florian…

Do you think I’d be better off setting my new 10 bit TV (and video card) to YcBcr 4:2:2 10 bit color for calibration\profiling purposes? Will it make any difference in quality compaired to 8 bit Full RGB? (Greater latitude to adjust color values maybe?) Or give me a better percentage of color REC 709 gamut coverage?

My understanding is that Windows only operates at 8 bit color so I’m a little confused about this…

Thanks. 🙂

• This topic was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Steve Smith.

[Florian Höch]

Chroma subsampling has some drawbacks for picture elements that are supposed to have sharp, clearly delineated edges (like UI elements). It will not affect the gamut (although out-of-gamut colors can occur upon chroma reconstruction). See the Wikipedia article on chroma subsampling for details.

If you can, use 10 or 12 bit RGB instead of YCbCr.

[Steve Smith]

Thanks…

Which is better if I don’t care about sharp text:  8 bit RGB Full or 10 bit YcBcr 4:2:2 Limited?

I don’t have 10 or 12 bit RGB as an option, only 8 bit full.  (Nvidia 1070 videocard with a newer Sony 4K TV mostly used for photo editing).

Edit: Just had a thought. Maybe I have an RGB ‘limited’ option that allows for 10 bit… I’ll go check. 🙂

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Steve Smith.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Steve Smith.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Steve Smith.

[Florian Höch]

Which is better if I don’t care about sharp text: 8 bit RGB Full or 10 bit YcBcr 4:2:2 Limited?

Try it and see if there’s a visible difference.

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