High-bit internal monitor LUT question

[tyurek]

Are the high-bit (10-14bit) programmable internal LUTs of high end monitors still useful if you are not using software that controls them for calibration/profiling? In other words, if I use a calibration tool which calibrates/profiles the monitor by addressing the 8-bit LUT of the video card, does it matter if the internal monitor LUT is high-bit or 8-bits? Assume the OS/applications are working in 8-bit color.

[JeffKohn]

It won't hurt anything, but you also won't benefit from that feature of the monitor. My question would be why you want to use calibration software that calibrated through the video-card LUT instead of the monitor's? It makes a substantial difference in calibration quantity. Using the video-card LUT is throwing away levels and will increase the likelihood of banding and other artifacts.

[tyurek]

I know that NEC has the Spectraview for its WUXI* monitors. But what about the new Dell U2711 for instance?  Do you need proprietary software for a given monitor brand/model? I'm not familiar with third party software support regarding this matter as I currently still own CRT monitors and I use the Colormunki software that came with the device to calibrate/profile them. If third party software does offer support, do you need to wait for a new version to be released to cover a newly released monitor, the way raw file processing software needs to add a newly released camera to its list of supported camera bodies? Or is there an open standard for programming internal monitor LUTs where you wouldn't need constant software updates for new monitors?

[Czornyj]

You can still calibrate the high bit LUT display using manual controls, so you can change white and black point without compromising quality. You only can't linearize display's TRC, so the calibration won't be as precise as in fully programmable high bit LUT display.

Problem is that the ColorMunki profiler is simplified, and it doesn't have manual whitepoint calibration, so you need some other software to do it. But there's a free ArgyllCMS that supports ColorMunki, so it's not a big problem.

[ChasP505]

You can still calibrate the high bit LUT display using manual controls, so you can change white and black point without compromising quality. You only can't linearize display's TRC, so the calibration won't be as precise as in fully programmable high bit LUT display.

Am I to understand this as you cannot linearize at all, or as you cannot linearize via software (DDC) but must manually reset the monitor to default settings to linearize?

[Czornyj]

Am I to understand this as you cannot linearize at all, or as you cannot linearize via software (DDC) but must manually reset the monitor to default settings to linearize?

You can linearize TRC via graphics card 8-bit LUT, but you can't linearize TRC using the internal high bit LUT of the display.

[Pat Herold]

Is the Dell U2711 a high gamut monitor?  Typically the displays that have this internal graphics capability are also sporting wider than usual gamuts (closer to AdobeRGB rather than sRGB).  And this is important.   256 steps of color adjustment in the typical 8-bit card is barely enough to fully represent a normal sRGB gamut without banding and posterization.  A wide gamut monitor really needs that higher internal bit depth in order to be able to leave the computer's graphics card at its full potential.

[ChasP505]

Is the Dell U2711 a high gamut monitor?

Both the Dell U2711 and U2410 are wide gamut monitors.  What's kept me from considering either as an upgrade from my 8bit LCD is I don't know of any calibration software which can control their internal LUT.  I have CEDP and a Spyder 3 puck, but it's unable to communicate with these monitors via DDC.

[tyurek]

Yes, Dell U2711 claims to cover 96% of the Adobe RGB gamut according to http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...&redirect=1 .  I understand that you need more RGB levels to cover a wider gamut without visible banding/posterization.  But my research on this topic has lead me to believe that you need a complete color workflow that supports, say 10-bit color.  The weak link in the chain seems to be the common applications that lack 10-bit support including Adobe Photoshop.  Otherwise 10-bit support seems to be there in all other components (monitor, displayport connection, video card ( though the expensive, workstation models ),  OS).

[Czornyj]

Both the Dell U2711 and U2410 are wide gamut monitors.  What's kept me from considering either as an upgrade from my 8bit LCD is I don't know of any calibration software which can control their internal LUT.  I have CEDP and a Spyder 3 puck, but it's unable to communicate with these monitors via DDC.

AFAIK nothing can take full control of the internal LUT in Dell U-series. If you want to take full advantage of high bit LUT wide gamut display, a NEC x90, PA, Eizo CG, LaCie, Quato IntelliProof or HP 2480zx is recommended.

[jackbingham]

First I don't believe that there are any Dell monitors that even have an addressable internal lut. Second, even if they did I have not met anyone on the planet who can explain how to talk to these things, and I've spent a fair amount of time burrowing through Dell corporate looking.
There are plenty of good reasons to have an addressable higher bit internal monitor lut. The benefits are clear and well documented. Trying to adjust an 8 bit video card for critical color is not ideal. There are countless examples of upsampling (10 and 12 bit camera files to 16 bit output for instance) being beneficial and functional. A complete 10 -12 bit color stream would be ideal but we can get a substantial benefit from higher bit monitors alone.