10 bit color is fake?

[high heaven]

I see that Apple is advertising that iMac 27 5K supports 10 bit color but some people said it's not. How come? Any sources and information about this? what about LG 5K monitors and iMac Pro?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Have a read of this and decide:-


https://www.cinema5d.com/5k-imac-10-bit-color/

 

[EugW]

Yes it's fake, but it's expected, and it's good nonetheless. It's 8-bit + FRC, which is the standard. Same goes for the iMac Pro and the LG monitors Apple sells. If you wanted true 10-bit, it'd be prohibitively expensive.

If you really want 10-bit, you can buy an Apple Pro Display XDR. 😉

BTW, nowhere on the iMac page does it specifically say it supports 10-bit colour. In contrast, on the Pro Display XDR page, it specifically mentions 10-bit.

 

[deconstruct60]

Have a read of this and decide:-


https://www.cinema5d.com/5k-imac-10-bit-color/

That article is dated 2015. A Vega 28 and 580X are miles different from the GPUs dating in 2015. Also have a P3 gamut display now ( and didn't in 2015 ).

The article notes that a Mac Pro with D500 and 3rd party display did get to 10-bit color.

https://www.livescience.com/59512-apple-imac-can-display-1-billion-colors.html

(there is a test image referenced in this article. https://imagescience.com.au/knowledge/10-bit-output-support )

if the 2019's panel hasn't evolved the panel then it is still dithered. Where in a context where the difference isn't noticeable then it isn't 'fake'. Pragmatically, the color space is > 8 bits.


For the contexts where in the edges of color gamut and small gradients over large enough areas, technically, the iMac support 10-bit color; just to a different monitor. It is a combo of Application , OS X , GPU , connection , and monitor. The whole path 'top-to-bottom' has to be 10 bits.
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...If you wanted true 10-bit, it'd be prohibitively expensive.

If you really want 10-bit, you can buy an Apple Pro Display XDR. 😉

Don't need to get anywhere near the XDR price range to get to 10-bit color. Out of the easily affordable range, but it isn't super sky high. $1,100-2,500 range has options. (even lower if can find quality used. ) [ example: https://www.necdisplay.com/p/displays/pa271q-bk approximately the same price at the LG 5K Utlrafine that Apple sells. ]

 

[EugW]

Don't need to get anywhere near the XDR price range to get to 10-bit color. Out of the easily affordable range, but it isn't super sky high. $1,100-2,500 range has options. (even lower if can find quality used. ) [ example: https://www.necdisplay.com/p/displays/pa271q-bk approximately the same price at the LG 5K Utlrafine that Apple sells. ]

That’s what I mean by prohibitively expensive. They’re not going to put that in an iMac any time soon.

 

[deconstruct60]

That’s what I mean by prohibitively expensive. They’re not going to put that in an iMac any time soon.

The NEC PA271Q and the Ultrafine 5K both cost about the same so the panel costs can't be that far from each other.

It is not because it is "prohibitively" expensive. The NEC display isn't "Retina". There is a trade off being made here. 10-bit color and 'legacy' 1440p , 109 ppi , 27" versus 8-bit + FRC and "new" 2880p , 219 ppi , 27" . The Apple panel is compressing the color data because there are far more pixels. ( that was more of an issue 4 years ago. At this point ( DisplayPort 1.3-1.4 era ) it really shouldn't be. )


The iMac 27" , Utrafine 5K , and the iMac Pro (the latter costing much more ) all have had the same panel. And just about nobody else is buying 5K , 27" panels anymore. ( it is primarily just Apple or proxy Apple. ). If Apple won't buy 10-bit ones then just aren't going to exist. The TCON and the color look up table handling need to be updated. That's mostly it. The backlight to do the color gamut may need some adjustments, but the 8-bit+FRC had to get to billion range anyway. The panel pixel density is the same.

The "expense" here is Apple shoveling 3+ year old tech with zero updates.

 

[EugW]

The NEC PA271Q and the Ultrafine 5K both cost about the same so the panel costs can't be that far from each other.

It is not because it is "prohibitively" expensive. The NEC display isn't "Retina". There is a trade off being made here. 10-bit color and 'legacy' 1440p , 109 ppi , 27" versus 8-bit + FRC and "new" 2880p , 219 ppi , 27" . The Apple panel is compressing the color data because there are far more pixels. ( that was more of an issue 4 years ago. At this point ( DisplayPort 1.3-1.4 era ) it really shouldn't be. )


The iMac 27" , Utrafine 5K , and the iMac Pro (the latter costing much more ) all have had the same panel. And just about nobody else is buying 5K , 27" panels anymore. ( it is primarily just Apple or proxy Apple. ). If Apple won't buy 10-bit ones then just aren't going to exist. The TCON and the color look up table handling need to be updated. That's mostly it. The backlight to do the color gamut may need some adjustments, but the 8-bit+FRC had to get to billion range anyway. The panel pixel density is the same.

The "expense" here is Apple shoveling 3+ year old tech with zero updates.

If it’s not Retina, it’s a non-starter.

 

[cynics]

Native 10 bit is just a useless spec if you don't have the supporting specs for obtain an actual function. These are the specs for DisplayHDR400 to 1400.

However specs for luminance...

You can grade on the iMac but you'll want an external regardless. Potentially a reference monitor depending on the content.