10 Bit display up and running

[BobDavid]

After spending at least forty hours upgrading to a wide gamut monitor, the task is complete. The forty hours include research on the web, discussions with manufacturers and vendors, and setting it all up.

Here is my setup:

1. Eizo CX241 monitor
2. Nvidia K620 gpu
3. Windows 7 OS and Adobe PS CS6
4. Disable Windows Aero Glass
5. Full size display port cable, not the supplied display port to mini display port cable that comes with the monitor

Total cost: $1,280

(I already had an i1 Pro spectrophotometer)

[DaveRichardson]

Nice one.

Just out of interest - why disable aero-glass, is it just a personal preference or some other reason?

Dave

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Just out of interest - why disable aero-glass, is it just a personal preference or some other reason?

Hi Dave,

Apparently, the Aero-glass theme prevented 30-bit output in Win 7. I have not seen negative reports on more recent Windows versions, because the newer 'Metro design language' for Win 8 and Win 10 replaced the 'Aero Glass theme' by a flatter, solid colored theme.

Cheers,
Bart

[BobDavid]

Hi Dave,

Apparently, the Aero-glass theme prevented 30-bit output in Win 7. I have not seen negative reports on more recent Windows versions, because the newer 'Metro design language' for Win 8 and Win 10 replaced the 'Aero Glass theme' by a flatter, solid colored theme.

Cheers,
Bart

Thanks for explaining that. I read that Aero Glass had to be disabled and when I did, presto! I didn't realize this was unique to Win 7. I am reluctant to upgrade the OS to Win 10. Any thoughts on why or why not?  I use Win 10 on my Surface 3. It works fine, except I do sometimes find it intrusive.

[DaveRichardson]

Thanks Bart and Bob
I learn something every day :-)

Dave

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Thanks for explaining that. I read that Aero Glass had to be disabled and when I did, pesto! I didn't realize this was unique to Win 7. I am reluctant to upgrade the OS to Win 10. Any thoughts on why or why not?  I use Win 10 on my Surface 3. It works fine, except I do sometimes find it intrusive.

Hi Bob,

I'm not sure myself about Win 10 and 30-bit display output. However, I assume that the Win 7 Aero-Glass theme switched to 24-bit output, and couldn't use OpenGL which seems to be the enabler of 30-bit output if I read some of the earlier nVidia documentation (e.g. here, and here, referring to earlier generation card models) on the Quadro card family. If the Win 10 style allows the use of OpenGL for output, and applications are capable of 30-bit output, then I do not see any immediate hurdles.

I have not upgraded to Win 10 myself yet, due to a few other applications that I use and that are just getting stable enough to consider the conversion, so I have no in depth personal experience.

Cheers,
Bart

[TonyW]

Good to hear that you are up and running Bob 

As far as Windows Aero theme I believe that the driver should automatically disable Aero.
http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3049/~/how-to-enable-30-bit-color-on-windows-platforms

Have upgraded all my PC's to Windows 10 without issue and believe it to be an overall improvement albeit with a couple of reservations
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/windows-10-vs-windows-7

My reservations centre around 2 aspects.
1.  Windows updates.  There is no simple way to stop updates and let you choose what to install or ignore.  There are workarounds but it would be good to have the choice to select or not within the application

2.  It seems that Windows 10 does an awful lot of tracking of personal data according to MS to help Win 10 learn how you use your PC to enable to display information personalized to your needs.  Without being overly paranoid I do wonder how else the data could be used or misused.  Two applications to selectively turn off these 'features' are ShutUp10 and DisableWinTracking