Image by Reuben Klein
10bit Colour Depth
This is the measure with which colour bit depth is defined by. Streamed and broadcasted video as well as 1080p and UHD discs played using Blu ray player all use 8bit colour. Each pixel is made of eight bits for each of the three primary colours. There are 256 possible 8-bit binary numbers, each Red, Green and Blue pixel presented via 256 shades.
10bit Deep Colour offers a major improvement as it is able to contain a vastly greater numbers of colours pixels and shades (pigments).
10-bit colours made of 1,024 shades compared with the 256 that an 8bit is made of. Each primary colour (Red, Green, Blue) creating in the process an image that theoretically is made of over a billion possible colours pixels.
The large 10bit cluster of over billion colours is referred to as WGC or Wide Colour Gamut.
​
Image courtesy of www.sonicfrontiers.com
8bits
10bits
The gamut most often used in almost every video transmission to define what is a “Wide Colour Gamut” and what is a narrow colour are the industry wide standards Rec.709, DCI-P3 and Rec.2020. The Rec.709 colour space has been widely used for decades and still being used as the maximum colour presented in a typical 1080p discs, HDTVs DR broadcast and other digital media content.
​
Image courtesy of unknown
Rec.709 has been commonly used ever since the days of CRT displays. It is a small part of the bigger DCI-P3 colour space.
The DCI P3 WCG is itself a smaller part of the newest digital enhanced colour broadcast space known as Rec.2020.
The latest 10bit OLED displays available from LG, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung are capable of generating the full spectrum of REC.2020’s 1 billion colour pigments used in this superior WCG.
The result is a stunning picture that surpass anything seen on a 1080p or the lesser capable 8bit 4K displays which are not able to combine the cinematic effect of a 60Hz refresh rate with the REC2020 rich pallet of shades and colours.
In its current form a display generating 10bit colour depth at 60Hz will illuminate a colour palette that is 6,250 times richer than that of 8bit displays.
Please see more related information in the "Sub Sampling" section
HDbaseT technology is limited to use of low frame rate and short distances using 10bit broadcast. HDbaseT is not able to display REC.2020 images and is limited due to its maximum 10.2Gbps bandwidth.
​Nue Tec’s models can transmit the most accurate UHD broadcast made of 10bit transmission, HDR and a REC.2020, 4:2:0 at 50 and 60Hz.
​
Please review the information below. Colour depth and colour sub sampling are noted per each refresh rate (fps/Hz)
Chart Courtesy of HDMI LLC
