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In some ways, this is Apple pushing things forward... but in other ways, it's just them catching up. Until this update, there was no way to get 10-bit displays
by ryandamm 11y ago
In some ways, this is Apple pushing things forward... but in other ways, it's just them catching up. Until this update, there was no way to get 10-bit displays working with Apple products at all, even third-party monitors that were 10-bit capable. The OS simply wouldn't support 10-bit display. I know you could get it in Windows, and almost certainly in Linux with the correct voodoo.
My post guys wanted to stay on the Mac platform, so we dealt with 8-bit displays (color wasn't a huge part of our workflow -- but 10 bit would've been nice). But it was one of those head-smacking moments for a platform that was supposedly media-friendly.
Note, there's some confusion in the comments so far -- 10 bit is a professional display, and is extremely uncommon. Pro cameras and software can usually handle higher bit depths -- 16 for DSLRs, 10-12+ for pro video cameras -- but you're probably not seeing it unless you've carefully set up your computer. Those bits are still useful: they're the raw material for generating your 8-bit final image, so you don't get banding when adjusting color or exposure. And they're essential for containing a wider range of possible values, letting pro cameras represent a wider dynamic range than is possible in 8 bit systems.
And 8 bits is more typical -- it's literally baked into many file formats, like JPEG. Some crappy screens on consumer electronics can't even represent the full 8 bits per channel; 6 bits + dithering is sadly really common, even in screens that advertise themselves as 8/24-bit. Also, color depth can be reported both in bits-per-channel and total bit depth; a 10 bit-per-channel display is 30 bits of color information per RGB pixel, 10 each for red, green, and blue.
(Some of the confusion is probably intentional; I had a hardware partner brag about their '15 bit display,' which sounded very weird to me... until I realized it was really 5 bits per channel, which is roughly bad-ATM-screen quality.)
- jacobolus 11y agoHow much software fully supports the 10-bit Eizo or NEC displays on Windows these days? Do typical GPUs now support 10-bit color, or is it still only expensive workstation GPUs? My impression was that only a few niche applications have bothered (notably, Photoshop has had support for a few years), since 10-bit displays are so rare/expensive, but I’m not an expert. As for Linux, as far as I know the stable version of GIMP still only supports 8 bits/channel color, so displaying at higher bit depth is right out. I guess maybe some specialized video or 3d rendering software could use a 10-bit display? I doubt typical Linux apps support it. * * * Edit: In doing some web sleuthing, there seem to be endless issues with compatibility. (As you’d expect from a new technology that requires upgrading every part of the pipeline for support: applications, operating system, video card drivers, video cards, display interface, and the displays themselves) I see this on a random web forum: “I got an answer from an engineer at Adobe, why Photoshop CC cannot display 10bit/color under Windows 8, 8.1 and 10: There is no OpenGL-path with 10bit/channel like in Windows 7 any more :(” Adobe’s troubleshooting site says “Note: 30-bit display is not functioning correctly with current drivers. We are working to address this issue as soon as possible”
- nitrogen 11y agoLinux is a first class platform for many of the atypical apps that would benefit from higher bit depths.
- jacobolus 11y agoI’m seeing a lot of web discussions like this: https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/771081/30-bit-depth-with-linux-driver-does-not-produce-30-bit-output-on-monitor/ https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/771081/30-bit-depth... Can you find an example of someone talking about using 10 bits/channel color displays on Linux in practice, and having it behave properly? What kind of work are they using it for? (Maybe my google-fu is deficient, but all I can find are people complaining about compatibility problems and Nvidia marketing materials.)
- berkut 11y agoCompositing and grading for VFX/film. Most high-end VFX studios use Linux.
- gglitch 11y agoWith what software?
- modfodder 11y agoDavinci Resolve is what Company 3 uses (The Martian, Spectre, Jurassic World, etc). It's available on Mac and Linux, but the big shops use the Linux version as they can expand it allowing for more real time nodes. Baselight is another major platform for color grading that runs on Linux.
- photoGrant 11y agoResolve, Nuke, Flame, etc
- mminer 11y ago
- marssaxman 11y agoBragging about a "10 bit display" sounds very weird to me, having grown up with the progression from 1-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, up to 24-bit color! I suppose now everyone has gotten so accustomed to 24-bit color that the newbies have forgotten its name? I'm not sure how else to account for the moderately hilarious concept of "10-bit" color as an upgrade.
- avn2109 11y agoIt's 10 bits per each of the RGB channels, 3 x 10 = 30 bits total.
- marssaxman 11y agoYeah, I figured that out, it's just weird - as though an ad for a new car were bragging about its 45 MPH top speed, or an ad for a new cell phone wanted you to be impressed by its 3-hour battery life.