8-Bit vs 10-Bit Monitor Input: What’s the Difference? | Colour Depth Explained BenQ & Image Science

Key technological concept: 8-bit vs 10-bit colour depth (colour integrity)

• 10-bit colour is described as improving signal quality and colour integrity between the computer and monitor.
• With typical 8-bit signals, RGB channels each use values 0–255.
• 10-bit provides many more levels/gradations, which in theory can lead to:
  • Smoother transitions
  • Better tone mapping as rendered by the monitor

Practical reality / review-style conclusion

• Getting 10-bit working can be “hassle” and may involve extra cost.
• The speaker’s main guidance: for most people, 10-bit is not essential and it’s not worth losing sleep over.
• Even when enabled, many real workloads look the same; the only meaningful visible advantage is in very smooth gradients.

Setup guide: how to enable 10-bit

1) Mac (easiest path)

• On modern Macs (mid-2016 onward), 10-bit support comes “out of the box.”
• All video cards in current Macs/laptops and Mac mini support 10-bit.
• With modern digital cables, it enables automatically.

2) Windows PC (more complex)

• Windows generally needs a workstation-class GPU for professional 10-bit workflows.
• The video distinguishes two different kinds of 10-bit that are often confused:
  1. Consumer “deep color” / generic 10-bit (common in forums)
  2. Professional 10-bit using OpenCL acceleration (needed for apps like Photoshop)

For professional apps, you generally need a workstation GPU, specifically:

• NVIDIA Quadro
• AMD/ATI FirePro

Reason given: workstation cards have more reliable, less buggy drivers than gaming GPUs (gaming cards are optimized for games and can misbehave in pro software).

Example workstation models mentioned:

• NVIDIA Quadro P620 (older example)
• Quadro P4000 in office machines

Performance note:

• These can support up to four 4K monitors.

Enabling 10-bit step-by-step on Windows

Operating system level (NVIDIA Control Panel)

In NVIDIA Control Panel, set:

• Bit depth of the colour to send
• Output colour depth

When enabled, this turns on 10-bit at the desktop level.

• A monitor popup may appear prompting calibration (framed as a helpful BenQ monitor feature, not specifically a 10-bit requirement).

Application level (Photoshop)

Next, enable 10-bit inside the application.

Important limitation emphasized:

• Photoshop is not fully implemented in 10-bit.
• In complex operations (e.g., adjustment layers or certain filters), Photoshop may drop back to 8-bit display automatically (sometimes transparently).

Photoshop setting path mentioned:

• Preferences → Performance → Graphics Processor

Required checks:

• “Use graphics processor” must be enabled

• Advanced settings → “30 bit display”

  • Explained as equivalent to 10-bit per channel since 3 channels × 10 bits = 30 bits

• Restarting Photoshop may be required for changes to take effect.

What differences you’ll actually see (quality analysis)

• Even with 10-bit enabled:
  • ~99% of images look identical on 8-bit vs 10-bit.
• The practical visible improvement is mainly:
  • Extraordinarily smooth gradients

Speaker’s experience claim:

• After 15+ years of professional retouching, they’ve rarely/never seen a practical quality difference attributable to 10-bit.

Rare exceptions suggested:

• Specialized workflows such as fine art black-and-white
• Scenes with very smooth gradients (e.g., certain “cap-like” gradient scenarios)

Mentioned product/relevant feature (BenQ)

• The BenQ monitor provides an on-screen message reminding users when calibration is needed, reducing reliance on unreliable software prompts or memory.

Main speakers/sources

• Primary source/speaker: the author/host speaking throughout (no specific person named in the subtitles).
• Named brands/products used as context:
  • BenQ monitor
  • NVIDIA Control Panel
  • Photoshop (Adobe)
  • Workstation GPU lines: NVIDIA Quadro / AMD FirePro