Macintosh and NEC 10 bit display?

[Richard Ripley]

I've started viewing "Camera to Print & Screen" and in episode C2PS 16 Jeff and Michael demonstrate the wide gamut NEC PA241W, a 10 bit display. I have read numerous posts in the LULA and Adobe forums about the Macintosh OS X not supporting 10 bits in the OS X display drivers. I'm confused!

I currently own a 6 year old Mac Pro (2 x 3 Ghz Dual Core Intel Xeon, ATI Radeon X1900 XT, dual link DVI with 512 MB of graphics memory, 5GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.6.8) running a 6 year old 30" Apple Cinema Display. I am considering replacing or adding to the ACD with a NEC monitor.

1) If the Mac cannot display 10 bits, why should I purchase a wide gamut display such as the NEC? Does the inability of the Mac to display 10 bits negate the usefulness of a wide gamut display?

2) Is my graphics card sufficient for the NEC displays, either the NEC PA241W (24") or the NEC PA271W (27")?

3) Since my graphics card (ATI Radeon X1900 XT) is a DVI dual link will I be able to use my ACD and the NEC together? Is the DVI dual link a problem regarding 10 bit or just getting a signal to the NEC?

Jeff or Michael do you or anyone else have some insight into my questions?

I've also noticed that a NEC representative has been active on this forum so if he has any input that would be very helpful.

TIA!

[Schewe]

Jeff or Michael do you or anyone else have some insight into my questions?

The OS and the application must support a 10-bit display pipeline. Windows and Photoshop CS5 already do. CS5 for the Mac does, but the OS X currently (even as of 10.7.2) does not. Nothing anybody can do till Apple gets there butt in gear.

BTW, the wide gamut and the display pipeline are not directly related...and the NEC PA already take advantage of 10-bit DACs internally.

Bottom line, don't worry about it until it's worth worrying about.

[Richard Ripley]

Thanks for quick reply Jeff! I won't worry about the display pipeline.

[Richard Ripley]

So either the NEC PA241W (24") or the NEC PA271W (27") should be fine with my current setup (Mac Pro with ATI Radeon X1900 XT) either with the 30" ACD or without?

[Pat Herold]

Should be fine with your setup.  Keeping in mind that you end up running both the 27" and the 30", you will need to use the dual DVI cabling for both to carry the native resolution.   NEC's are still going to have the gamut of a wide gamut monitor regardless of how you connect them. 

This whole question of 10-bit depth in the pipeline refers to how much granularity you can get in defining those colors.  No matter how great the internal graphics are in the NEC's, they are still being fed by a video signal on your Mac that only has 256 steps of resolution per color channel.  So the danger is that there can be some chunkiness in defining these rich colors from black to full saturation.  This might show up in subtle banding when looking at gradients.  The reason we're looking toward the day when we can have a full 10-bit workflow is so that we can have smoother transitions between colors on screen.

Since a wide gamut monitor has more color range to define, this is more likely to be noticed on a wide gamut.  But just having the high resolution internal graphics in the monitor and using the NEC calibration software does help lessen the likelihood of seeing a problem.

[Richard Ripley]

Thank you for the reply. Clears up a lot. I've decided that I should get the 24" NEC and use my wife’s 24" ACD for palettes. She'll be getting the older 30" ACD. So what connectors will I need with my ATI Radeon X1900 XT? I don't believe that I'll need dual DVI cabling for both if I'm using the smaller 24" displays. Is that correct? Any information about what I'll need for my setup would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Pat Herold]

Right.  You would only need the single link to drive the 24 inch display.  27" and over and you need the dual DVI or a displayport.
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/NEC_PA271W_Review#VIDEO_CONNECTIONS

[Richard Ripley]

 

Thanks very much! I'll be ordering a NEC 24" very soon.