How do I tell if I'm getting a 10 bit signal out of my Mac with El Capitan?

[Rob Reiter]

I'm running a Mac Pro 5,1 with the latest El Cap operating system and viewing with a 10 bit capable monitor (NEC 309WQXi) and I'm curious to know if there is a definitive way to tell its finally getting a 10 bit image from Photoshop.

Anyone know how to do that?

[digitaldog]

I'm running a Mac Pro 5,1 with the latest El Cap operating system and viewing with a 10 bit capable monitor (NEC 309WQXi) and I'm curious to know if there is a definitive way to tell its finally getting a 10 bit image from Photoshop.

Anyone know how to do that?

Go to this site, download the test file after glancing or throughly reading about this topic:
http://www.imagescience.com.au/kb/questions/152/10+Bit+Output+Support


I just read something on a 'private' list that I'm not certain is correct or not but if so, we're SOL:

There is NO support for 10 bit color for any version of Windows OS except for Windows 7

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I just read something on a 'private' list that I'm not certain is correct or not but if so, we're SOL:

There is NO support for 10 bit color for any version of Windows OS except for Windows 7

Hi Andrew,

Yet on other places we can read "both Windows 7 and 8 have built-in support for 30 bit output, but if you use Windows 7, you will have to turn off the Aero theme". If that's the case, then it's most likely that Windows 10 will also support 30bit output, but we'd need either a reliable user experience report that can confirm it, or something credible from the horse's mouth (Microsoft or nVidia). OpenGL support for 30-bit output seems to be an important prerequisite, as is a Display Port interface.

Lot's of info on the internet, some of it is actually correct...

Cheers,
Bart

[Rob Reiter]

The downloaded file views with bands, indicating 8 bits. Since the monitor supports 10 bit signals and El Cap supposedly allows for 10 bit output, the question now is, is it the stock ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card that is choking it?

Go to this site, download the test file after glancing or throughly reading about this topic:
http://www.imagescience.com.au/kb/questions/152/10+Bit+Output+Support


I just read something on a 'private' list that I'm not certain is correct or not but if so, we're SOL:

[digitaldog]

Since the monitor supports 10 bit signals and El Cap supposedly allows for 10 bit output, the question now is, is it the stock ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card that is choking it?

Maybe, or maybe there's no high bit support within the OS, that fact isn't clear.

[D Fosse]

is it the stock ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card that is choking it?

One thing that has always been certain, at least on the Windows side, is that ATI Radeons and NVidia GeForces never have had 10 bit support, and are not likely to ever get it.

You need the ATI FirePro or NVidia Quadro series. And even there I don't think they all have 10-bit support.

Maybe it's different on the Mac side since Apple writes the drivers.

[Pictus]

One thing that has always been certain, at least on the Windows side, is that ATI Radeons and NVidia GeForces never have had 10 bit support, and are not likely to ever get it.

You need the ATI FirePro or NVidia Quadro series. And even there I don't think they all have 10-bit support.

True and to make things worst there is some nomenclature confusion...
See http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=398434

[jrp]

I'm running a Mac Pro 5,1 with the latest El Cap operating system and viewing with a 10 bit capable monitor (NEC 309WQXi) and I'm curious to know if there is a definitive way to tell its finally getting a 10 bit image from Photoshop.

Anyone know how to do that?

Do you not get a window from the monitor that fades away when you first start up showing the resolution and bit depth of the signal?  You may need to use DisplayPort rather than DVI, eg.

[Ellis Vener]

I'm running a Mac Pro 5,1 with the latest El Cap operating system and viewing with a 10 bit capable monitor (NEC 309WQXi) and I'm curious to know if there is a definitive way to tell its finally getting a 10 bit image from Photoshop.

Anyone know how to do that?

The first thing to determine is whether your GPU IS 10 bit per channel capable. One quick way to check is to check the specs.

[digitaldog]

View this image, in the latest version of Photoshop CC at 100%: 10 bit test ramp.zip

[kers]

View this image, in the latest version of Photoshop CC at 100%: 10 bit test ramp.zip

Maybe a good thing to combine it with the information from the source;

http://www.imagescience.com.au/kb/questions/152/10%20Bit%20Output%20Support