32" Pro Display XDR does not support 10 Bit when M1 connected

[Zorast]

Hi there, iam wondering why no one talk about.
But it seem that Apple does not output 10 Bit when my M1 Max is connected to 32" Pro Display XDR.

Can someone confirm that please?

Look here:

Apple Silicon M1 supports "billion of colors" aka HDR 10-bit output

When most people hear Apple in a sentence, their next thought is likely the color. Does Apple Silicon M1 output “billion colors”?

singhkays.com

 

[imp3rator]

I am wondering too. I spent few days to search about 10-bit support on M1 machines.

M1 Pro and Max should have support to 10-bit output via usb-c (DP 1.4 alt mode).

But can macbook air m1 output 10 bit colors ?

I installed ProResX and I have "billions of colors" checked and I have 8bit qhd philips lcd... So that article doesn't proof anything.

HDR checked doesn't mean that you use a 10bit color output...

I created new thread : https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...de-usb-c.2334127/?post=30842205#post-30842205

 

[Zorast]

Iam wondering why no-one reclaims that. No Review about this Display does give us this information...
I reclaim that to Apple but not getting a answer about that if this is a bug or not possible etc. since 2 Month no one answer to this ticket generated with apple support. They got a service file etc. from my side.

Look here:

 

[imp3rator]

I would't care of ProResX as I said I have "billion of colors" in ProResX and I have 8bit monitor and M1 Air...

I am wondering too. No youtuber or reviewer checked it ?

Do you have checked HDR in System preferencies -> Display ? Or do you have option there ?
What cable do you use ?

Some info about HDR content : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210980
In this article https://imagescience.com.au/knowledge/10-bit-output-support
there is direct download to file 10 Bit Test Ramp Test file to confirm if you have a successfully working 10 bit video system.

Do you have smooth gradient ? (open in photoshop or preview)

 

[Adarna]

I'd sue Apple

 

[Zorast]

Yes HDR is enabled and there is no option for "Billion Colors".

I also make some test with:

10 bit Gradient Test Patterns

There have been a lot of people asking me how they can tell if their UHD TV has a 10bit panel or not, so I made some 10bit Gradient test patterns. These will show discreet steps on an 8bit panel. The test patterns are 2160p 10bit HEVC gradient grayscale patterns. There are two different clips...

www.avsforum.com

and did only see a little difference but not 100 smooth gradient like i thought with 10bit...

With ure File I can see a smooth gradient!

I use the original Thunderbolt cable coming with my Pro Display XDR

 

[imp3rator]

I will be HDR10 automatically...

But...

• Apple Pro Display XDR: Connect to the Thunderbolt port, if your Mac is compatible with this display.

And in that link https://support.apple.com/sk-sk/HT210437#mac

M1 Pro is not mentioned

There is support for XDR but not in 6 016 × 3 384 - 10 bpc

If you sue apple I think that they send you a link like me...

I think that M1 Pro and Max panel is 8bit+FRC (billion of colors) and video output in apple specs is in "billion colors" as well - so M1 (air, mini, pro) don't do output "billion of colors" and M1 Pro and Max do "billion" but in 8bit+FRC... and XDR is true 10bit....


EDIT : Some mention about 10-bit

 

[Zorast]

I use the M1 MAX MacBook Pro 16 2021 so this one its NOT compatible in 6k 10bit shown in apples list:

https://support.apple.com/sk-sk/HT210437#mac

so that's the reason why HiDPI in 4k does not work correctly in 10bit ??
But what id they mean with "6k with 10bit" did they mean the hole XDR or only with set this Resolution ??

Compare with the Quality of the Display of my M16 M1MAX the 32" XDR is not as far as good.
Its like Day and Night, the color are different it looks holy different for me, i can't work with both together when both are open.

But the Infos got from this YouTuber are not correct.
Apple does write that the MB16 has a P3 10 Bit Display they write Billion Colors:

 

[imp3rator]

Do you use 4k in HiDPI mode ? Then Macbook should "count" as 7680×4320 framebuffer (for 3840×2160 HiDPI) to a 6016×3384 display.

Can you use a "default" for display resolution ?

Pro Display XDR on my 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max

Gooood afternoon everyone, I made a similar post regarding this topic when the XDR first came out and I was driving it with my 16" MacBook Pro (Intel i9). You can see that post here. To summarize that post, I was upgrading to the XDR from my trusty 27" LG UltraFine 5K displays which to my...

forums.macrumors.com

You still output in 6K but maybe "rendering" in higher resolution and then "downscaling" and output in 6k can cause a problem...

 

[Zorast]

There is no difference, with max original resolution setting in Apple Settings:

 

[Zorast]

I am wondering too. I spent few days to search about 10-bit support on M1 machines.

M1 Pro and Max should have support to 10-bit output via usb-c (DP 1.4 alt mode).

But can macbook air m1 output 10 bit colors ?

I installed ProResX and I have "billions of colors" checked and I have 8bit qhd philips lcd... So that article doesn't proof anything.

HDR checked doesn't mean that you use a 10bit color output...

I created new thread : https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...de-usb-c.2334127/?post=30842205#post-30842205

Yes u can set 10 bit but it will be downscaled to 8bit. But when showing 8 bit output there is no way do upscale. For me i can see there is a problem in picture quality here that is not fixed till Monterey 12.2. I see a big difference to the internal Display of my MB16M1MAX. The colors and the Grey are different

 

[imp3rator]

Weird because M1 Mini, Air and Pro are mentioned in support list for 10-bit...

Do you think that you have a 8bit+frc (billion of colors support) in your M1Max display and probably only 8bits output to XDR? (not 10bit, not 8bit+frc)

It would be worse than connect M1 Air or Mini and have a 10bit support...

Difference between M1 Air or Pro and M1Pro/Max is display...

Perhaps problem is with "better" internal display (billion colors, higher resolution) and some "synchronizing of signal" or internal bandwith size....

 

[Zorast]

I write to SwitchResX support and let u know the answer i get about 10bit support for M1 Macs and XDR problems.

 

[imp3rator]

Apple didn't answer about 10bit support ? It looks that they don't want to disclose this information (something like iMacPro can't handle a 6K resolution in XDR...)

 

[Zorast]

After now 2 Month no from Apple contact me again, they got all system files etc to check this and give me a solution

 

[Zorast]

After getting contact with SwitchResX Team i get these Answer:

" SwitchResX gets the information reported by macOS, and if macOS sends back all resolutions with only 8bit color depth, then SRX will show millions... Maybe the connection uses too much bandwidth for the Mac to be able to use 10 bits ? "

 

[bubeli]

Good evening, I don't know if this information can help. But I want to share my experience.
I have a MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max and a new BenQ PD3220U monitor.
Under the System setting menu, connecting it to the Macbook with the Thunderbolt cable, the monitor does not provide any information about Pixel encoding, Color Depth or RGB Mode. A macOS Monterey limitation?
It doesn't matter. So I wondered if I was really, as my MacBook is supposed to allow me to do, taking advantage of 10-bit colors.
SwitchResX, however, indicated "Million of colors" and not "Billions...".

But then I realized something, if in the system settings I select monitor rotation and then cancel it... magic: SwitchResX from that moment on indicates not only for the MacBook Pro's retina screen, but also for the BenQ "Billions of Colors".
I tried both with the monitor's native 4K resolution and 2560X1440 HiDPi 60 Hz. And the same thing happens with both the MacBook open and in clamshell.

Doing a test with two 8-bit and 10-bit gradient images, indeed, the difference is there. Difference that in retrospect I can however say I notice even when SwitchResX indicates "Millions of Colors".

All this was happening with Monterey 12.2 and now also with macOS 12.3, which I just installed.

I hope this information helps. The only problem is that at each reboot, and even after the monitor goes to sleep, i have to repeat the procedure.

Best Regards

 

[Zorast]

Good evening, I don't know if this information can help. But I want to share my experience.
I have a MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max and a new BenQ PD3220U monitor.
Under the System setting menu, connecting it to the Macbook with the Thunderbolt cable, the monitor does not provide any information about Pixel encoding, Color Depth or RGB Mode. A macOS Monterey limitation?
It doesn't matter. So I wondered if I was really, as my MacBook is supposed to allow me to do, taking advantage of 10-bit colors.
SwitchResX, however, indicated "Million of colors" and not "Billions...".

But then I realized something, if in the system settings I select monitor rotation and then cancel it... magic: SwitchResX from that moment on indicates not only for the MacBook Pro's retina screen, but also for the BenQ "Billions of Colors".
I tried both with the monitor's native 4K resolution and 2560X1440 HiDPi 60 Hz. And the same thing happens with both the MacBook open and in clamshell.

Doing a test with two 8-bit and 10-bit gradient images, indeed, the difference is there. Difference that in retrospect I can however say I notice even when SwitchResX indicates "Millions of Colors".

All this was happening with Monterey 12.2 and now also with macOS 12.3, which I just installed.

I hope this information helps. The only problem is that at each reboot, and even after the monitor goes to sleep, i have to repeat the procedure.

Best Regards

Thanks! Iam Happy that also another one does talk about this huge Bug. Plz report these to Apple!

 

[screamace]

Logged on just to say thank you! I bought the Porsche Design PD32M and noticed some color banding in videos. Using SwitchResX I was able to confirm it was outputting "millions of colors" only. Searched the entire internet until your post, now it's correctly showing "billions of colors" and I no longer see color bandings.

 

[Zorast]

 

[ponzicoinbro]

Hi there, iam wondering why no one talk about.
But it seem that Apple does not output 10 Bit when my M1 Max is connected to 32" Pro Display XDR.

Can someone confirm that please?

Look here:

Apple Silicon M1 supports "billion of colors" aka HDR 10-bit output

When most people hear Apple in a sentence, their next thought is likely the color. Does Apple Silicon M1 output “billion colors”?

singhkays.com

There‘s a little misinformation about what 10 bit color means and nearly everyone in a discussion fails to note this basic points.

10 bit color means the available color range, not how many colors you can see on the screen at once.

You cannot see a billion colors on a screen for three reasons.

Reason 1 is simple, there are no displays with 1 billion pixels so you cannot display 1 billion individual colors.

Reason 2, there is not enough bandwidth in any display connector for 1 billion pixels display. That kind of bandwidth is so large it will probably arrive in 2040-2050.

Reason 3, the healthy human eye is trichromatic and cannot see more than around 10 million colors at the same time.

Once you understand and memorize these three points, then you work from there to understand color theory and display specs and all that technical stuff.

 

[bubeli]

Good morning,
I am reposting this old post only to report that the solution of rotating the screen 90 degrees and then returning to the standard view seems not to work with macOS 13 Ventura.

SwitchResX, since I installed the new system, always shows "millions of colors" and no longer "billions of colors."

At least this is what happens with my BenQ PD3220U monitor and my two computers (Mac Studio, connected with Thunderbolt cable, and MacBook Pro, connected with USB-C cable).

However, I must add that, trying to open an appropriate image in Photoshop and also with Preview, I do not notice any real difference.

Regards

 

[mrsavage1]

Good evening, I don't know if this information can help. But I want to share my experience.
I have a MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max and a new BenQ PD3220U monitor.
Under the System setting menu, connecting it to the Macbook with the Thunderbolt cable, the monitor does not provide any information about Pixel encoding, Color Depth or RGB Mode. A macOS Monterey limitation?
It doesn't matter. So I wondered if I was really, as my MacBook is supposed to allow me to do, taking advantage of 10-bit colors.
SwitchResX, however, indicated "Million of colors" and not "Billions...".

But then I realized something, if in the system settings I select monitor rotation and then cancel it... magic: SwitchResX from that moment on indicates not only for the MacBook Pro's retina screen, but also for the BenQ "Billions of Colors".
I tried both with the monitor's native 4K resolution and 2560X1440 HiDPi 60 Hz. And the same thing happens with both the MacBook open and in clamshell.

Doing a test with two 8-bit and 10-bit gradient images, indeed, the difference is there. Difference that in retrospect I can however say I notice even when SwitchResX indicates "Millions of Colors".

All this was happening with Monterey 12.2 and now also with macOS 12.3, which I just installed.

I hope this information helps. The only problem is that at each reboot, and even after the monitor goes to sleep, i have to repeat the procedure.

Best Regards

You sir, are a genius . I was thinking that my non xdr monitor (10 bit) or usb c to displayport cable was having problems on montery as when i couldn't get 8 bit working properly it was showing in displayplacer (third party program ) as 7 bit. I did this rotation hack and it worked. I don't how you figured it out but you like saved me 30 bucks to get a new wire

 

[mrsavage1]

Would like to note if you just unplug the monitor again the billions of colors won't show in switch res x. I am guessing this must be a bug in monetery

 

[Luka Lu]

OMG this post saved me from going crazy, I have been writing to Benq like mad and crying for "throwing away" money for my PD3220U, and now I read that it's apple's fault. Good thing to know that the hack does not work in Ventura, so I won't update. I will follow this post for more updates, and if I find the solution I will post. Thanks!