Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Colour Management => Topic started by: kristin on November 25, 2012, 10:32:46 am

Title: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: kristin on November 25, 2012, 10:32:46 am
Hi...

Looking to build a new system and I'm having a hard time finding definitive info on a graphics card for 10bit-compatibile workflow with either the NEC or EIZO monitor.

Sure would appreciate any info or direction to this discussion.

Thank you,
kristin
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: digitaldog on November 25, 2012, 10:39:51 am
IF you're on a Mac system, just forget it. Apple hasn't provided us a full 10-bit path. Doable on Windows...
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: kristin on November 25, 2012, 11:31:08 am
Sorry...I should have included that info.

It will be a 64 bit Windows 7 system. CS6.
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: JeffKohn on November 25, 2012, 11:49:09 am
Even on Windows it's not worth it IMHO. Photoshop's 10-bit support is pretty weak, too often the screen doesn't refresh correctly and gets redrawn in 8-bit mode. I don't know if it's Adobe's fault or Microsoft's, but it just doesn't work well, at least not in Windows 7. It also forces the Windows desktop into  Aero Basic mode.

If you really want to try it, the AMD FireGL cards are supported.
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: aaronchan on November 25, 2012, 11:52:20 am
as I remember, only ATI graphic cards can support 10-bit output.
FireGL is good but not necessary, some readon has the ability to do 10-bit output as well.
check eizo site.

BUT you have to use Display port only, DVI does not support 10bit

aaron
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: kristin on November 25, 2012, 12:24:13 pm
If I decide to skip the 10bit quest...what should I look for in a graphics card???  Haven't decided NEC or EIZO.  Currently running an older Apple Cinema on a PC.

I had been considering the GeForce GTX 670.

*For anyone else looking for 10 bit info I did find quite a bit of info on the EIZO site (as Aaron suggested) under the compatibility section.

Thanks!
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 25, 2012, 04:19:37 pm
as I remember, only ATI graphic cards can support 10-bit output.

Hi Aaron,

Apparently not only ATI:
10-bit per color support on nvidia geforce gpus (http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3011/~/10-bit-per-color-support-on-nvidia-geforce-gpus)

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: kristin on November 26, 2012, 09:11:10 am
Thanks for the great links to the Nvidia Quadro line.  Nvidia states that this is the line (in conjunction with a DP) that will utilize 10 bit in Photoshop.

I am not informed enough to know the benefits of this line over their GEForce line (other than 10 bit functionality).  Things like how the amount of memory will affect performance, etc.

There seem to be mixed reviews and the pricing can be almost the price of a great monitor...
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: Sheldon N on November 26, 2012, 11:44:49 am
I've got it working with a Dell U2711 screen and a FirePro v4900 video card via Displayport on Windows 7. I haven't had the 8 bit redraw problem mentioned above, it's been trouble free in use. Cost was pretty reasonable for the Firepro video card and it wasn't too hard to set up.

It's not really an earth shattering visual difference, you won't notice anything on the vast majority of your images. If you did a lot of black & white/grayscale work then it might be move valuable since the banding can be more visible there than in color images.

If you're going to be buying a new monitor and a new video card regardless, then there's no harm in giving it a try. I personally wouldn't go out of my way to spend a lot of money to make it happen since it doesn't make that big of a practical difference. I only did it because I already had a compatible monitor and needed to buy a new video card anyway.
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: Martin Ranger on November 26, 2012, 10:27:41 pm
I have had a lot of trouble with the ATI, FirePro V4800 drivers. Periodic crashes of the worst kind. I finally replaced it with an NVIDIA Quadro, and everything works fine. All on Windows 7 64bit. There is a small visible difference on some photos, but whether the extra money is worth it or not is a different matter. These graphics cards can be had relatively cheaply on ebay, though.
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: lhodaniel on November 28, 2012, 03:14:48 pm
I'm running 10-bit on a FirePro 4800 with a NEC PA241 and Win7 Pro x64. For me, the drivers have been rock solid. I am iffy about whether the 10-bit is really worth it. Someone else pointed out that it kills Aero, which I don't care about. It will only work with FirePro, not Radeon. The Radeon cards are 10-bit internal, but the drivers don't support it unless that has changed on the new cards. You also must use DisplayPort. DVI will not support 10-bit.

Lloyd
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: lhodaniel on November 28, 2012, 03:17:29 pm
Just to be clear, if I understand it, the Radeons process in 10-bit internally but output 8-bit. I assume that allows the card to pick the best 8-bit output from a 10-bit space. Someone please correvt me if I'm wrong on this.
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: lhodaniel on November 28, 2012, 03:21:38 pm
Sorry for the multiple posts, but I just thought of something else. Lightroom does not support 10-bit. Since I use Lightroom as my workflow hub, that makes 10-bit less valuable because I don't go into Photoshop for a lot of images.
Title: Re: 10bit-compatibile workflow
Post by: kristin on November 28, 2012, 07:20:03 pm
Thank you all for your experience and input.

Hoping to purchase a new monitor and learn to calibrate, I don't think I'll complicate things right now with possibly sketch 10 bit results. Possibly down the road this advantage will become more mainstream.

Thanks again,
kristin