10 bit footage on an 8 bit monitor question

offbeatbryce

Well-known member
Hello,



I have a video camera that records in 10 bit but my monitors are only 8 bit. I have premiere in 2019. Will I see any difference editing on an 8 bit monitor? If so what am I missing? Also is YouTube, Facebook or Instagram 10 bit or 8 bit?



Thanks,



Bryce
 
Most field monitors are 8-bit. Even a lot(most) of the monitors advertised as 10-bit are what they call 8+2, it's a bit of trickery(dithering) that is supposed to give you the effect of a 10-bit panel.
 
I'm not aware of any online video platforms that offer 10 bit video playback. It would be a tremendous waste of their server space, especially since most people would be watching that content on 8 bit panels. I doubt that YouTube is even displaying actual FHD, but that's another story.

As for seeing a difference between 8 bit & 10 bit, I doubt most people could see a difference unless you're looking at subtle gradations which might show banding in 8 bit.
 
YouTube supports at least 10-bit HDR (by definition): https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7126552?hl=en

A 10-bit HDR image+display is massively different than 8-bit (or 10-bit) on an SDR monitor. Check out a demo at Best Buy etc.

You can use something like this if your desktop monitor isn't 10-bit (most are not): https://www.atomos.com/ninja-inferno
List of desktop HDR monitors (you want True HDR): https://www.displayninja.com/hdr-monitor-list/
Also need a video card which supports HDR.
 
If your audience/venue is not the highest end physical actual cinema or conference centre then your audience is gonna be watching 8bit.

So you are best to grade on an 8bit monitor to replicate the audience experience.

You need to be grading 10bit though.. because when you push the colour curves you wont get banding.
 
This ^

You want to shoot 10-bit not because you can see the difference between that and 8-bit, but because, when you grade it, you're spreading that information thinly. You want 10-bit because when graded it will look good on 8-bit.
 
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