What are 252K, 16.7M, and 1.07B?
Are you familiar with the terms 252K, 16.7M, 1.07B? If not, we will inform you; it's simply another way to refer to 6-bit, 8-bit, 10-bit. Still confused?
If so, don't worry about it. Today, we're going to talk about 6-bit, 8-bit, 10-bit. These are color depths, and color depth defines the range of colors a display can show. In other words, these are the colors a monitor or other device can display. You'll get a clearer idea in the next section.
As digital photography becomes more complicated, new devices enter the market every day. Nowadays, we have 4K capturing devices with over 60 frames per second. So feel free to pick any widget. Before that, you'll need to have solid knowledge about different color depths. For a photographer, knowing these specifications is vital.
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Color Depth
As mentioned above, color depth is the number of colors a monitor or other device can display. For example, an 8-bit portable computer monitor can display 256 tones, and a 16-bit monitor can display up to 65,536 tones. You'll get a better idea after the math part of this article. So let's learn about these 6-bit, 8-bit, and 10-bit displays.
Tone
Before moving on to the next section, we need to talk about tone.
So what is the tone in each color depth?
It's the blend of pure colors of a specific color depth. You need to understand that not all colors are pure. For instance, a 2-bit color depth has four tones.
2^2 = 4 tones
However, this is not the number of colors. It's not that difficult to find multiple colors, which you'll learn in the next section.
What is 6-bit?
A 6-bit color displays 64 tones. It looks like this:
2^6 = 64 tones
When considering 6-bit, we need to consider red, blue, and green colors. So, 6-bit means 6-bit red, 6-bit blue, and 6-bit green. Therefore, the number of colors in a 6-bit is:
Total colors = 64 tones (R) x 64 tones (G) x 64 tones (B) = 262,144 colors
We hope you get a clear idea of the math part. So, if you have a 6-bit display, it can store up to 262,144 color information.
What is 8-bit?
Here, we follow the same process as in the section above. 8-bit color displays 256 tones.
2^8 = 256 tones
When considering 8-bit, we need to consider red, blue, and green colors. So, 8-bit means 8-bit red, 8-bit blue, and 8-bit green, respectively. Therefore, the number of colors in an 8-bit is:
Total colors = 256 tones (R) x 256 tones (G) x 256 tones (B) = 16,777,216 colors
So, if you have an 8-bit display, it can store up to 16,777,216 color information. This means an 8-bit portable computer monitor can store up to 16.77 million colors.
What is 10-bit?
What about 10-bit displays? 10-bit color displays 1024 tones.
2^10 = 1024 tones
When considering 10-bit, we need to consider red, blue, and green colors. So, 10-bit means 8-bit red, 10-bit blue, and 10-bit green. Therefore, the number of colors in a 10-bit is:
Total colors = 1024 tones (R) x 1024 tones (G) x 1024 tones (B) = 1,073,741,824 colors
So, if you have a 10-bit LCD, it can store up to 1,073,741,824 color information; this means a 10-bit portable computer monitor can store up to 1.07 billion colors.
What's the difference between 10-bit, 8-bit, and 6-bit?
You might have a good idea of the differences between these three distinct color depths. If we summarize the points we've learned so far:
- A 6-bit monitor displays 262,144 colors.
- An 8-bit monitor displays 16,777,216 colors. It has 64 times more color information than the 6-bit version.
- A 10-bit monitor displays 1,073,741,824 colors. It has 64 times more color information than 8-bit.
So, you can clearly understand that the 10-bit color depth is richer and more informative with colors. Besides, 10-bit colors have advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of 10-bit
- High-quality color accuracy in images.
- Smoother color gradients, finer shadow details, and less color banding
- Wide range of color gradations
- Enhance HDR video capabilities
Disadvantages of 10-bit
Although 10-bit can represent more than a billion colors, the human eye cannot discern so much color information. Here are some disadvantages of a 10-bit color display.
- To display these high colors, you need a very high data bandwidth. Usually, these graphics cards and monitors use DisplayPort connectors.
- Even if your graphics card renders up to a billion colors, your display's color gamut will be significantly less than expected. For example, a display device with an extremely wide color space and 10-bit capabilities cannot reproduce all colors.
- If you are looking for a 10-bit display device like a 10-bit portable computer monitor, you'll need to invest a lot of money. These devices are expensive, and as mentioned earlier, you also need higher data bandwidth. So, setting up a 10-bit display will cost you some money; this is one of the reasons why we don't recommend it to home users.
How do I find out the bit depth?
Most professional displays support 10-bit colors. But most home users cannot detect the bit depth of their display devices. Because manufacturers don't specify the bit depth; instead, they specify the number of colors.
So, if your monitor has 16.7 million colors, it should be an 8-bit monitor. If it specifies 16.2 or 16 million, it should be a 6-bit monitor; this is the easiest way to find out the bit depth.
Wrapping Up
We hope you can correctly understand 252K, 16.7M, 1.07B. So, the next time you buy a 10-bit portable computer monitor, you'll know what to do.
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