madVR 10-bit Display Support Test

[huhn]

Can I just put all the three entries (for DP, DVI and HDMI) in the registry and be assured that there would be no dithering done by AMD driver, when using madVR?

Is there a downside to using this hack in other programs/ games?

only use this "hack" for testing nothing else.

if AMD has to change the output bit deep for what ever reason you will loose a ton of picture quality.

[voyager6868]

@voyager6868, huhn

I have done another test and you may be correct about this assumption, nvidia does dither from higher bitdepths if the display is set to 8bit in nvidia control panel.
But the question that arises is whether nvidia dithers if the software calls for 10bit (madVR) and the display actually supports 10bit?
Does nvidia dithers then or actually switches to 10bit mode which the display can receive according to its EDID?

I think nvidia does NOT dither when the display actually supports 10bit and the software calls for 10bit.
A simple indicator is that my Dell U2410 monitor switches modes and shows a different input icon (top left) as though it changed inputs when switching between 8 and 10 bit.
When I try the same with HDMI, I don't see this input changing behavior from my screen, the screen blacks out and back on much quicker than when it actually switches to 10bit mode with DisplayPort input.

I think what we need here is more people with 10bit screens that have clear indicators that the screen is actually receiving 10bit input.
It very well may be that nvidia only dithers when there is a missmatch from higher to lower bit depth, and does not when there is a match.

I have proof now that nVidia (or something in Windows) dithers down to 8-bit, even if the display supports 10-bit or higher (unless you explicitly choose 10-bit or high in nVidia control panel).

I recently bought a new receiver TX-NR545 that fully supports HDMI 2.0. I was surprised to see that it actually will show the bit depth of the video signal that is being input!

If I set 8-bit in the nVidia control panel and do this test (set my screen to 10-bit in madVR, disable dithering in madVR, and am using the direct3d11 overlay), I see a nice smooth pattern, but the receiver indicates that it's receiving a 24-bit signal. I confirmed everything with Ctrl-J in MPCHC (the output is 10-bit).

Clearly, this shows that something is dithering the output before it gets sent to the TV and nVidia does not change the bitdepth of its output simply because a 10-bit overlay is used.

When I set the output to 12-bit in the nVidia control panel, the receiver properly shows that a 36-bit signal is being used.

Note that this is all at 4K @ 24Hz. I ran the test in both YCbCr and RGB modes with identical results.

[omarank]

only use this "hack" for testing nothing else.

if AMD has to change the output bit deep for what ever reason you will loose a ton of picture quality.
Ok. Actually I meant to ask, is it a bad idea to use this hack with all three registry keys enabled for a dedicated HTPC with an AMD card and a TV that is able to accept 10 bit video and processes in 10 bit or higher?

I am using 13.12 drivers and they don’t offer the selection of output bit depth in the control panel settings. When I connect my TV to my laptop with AMD graphics, the TV shows 10 bit signal even for Windows output (which must 8 bit padded to 10 bit). In this scenario I don’t think AMD driver would need to change the output bit depth in any case. By using the registry hack I can assume that the AMD driver won’t add any additional noise to madVR’s 10 bit output (D3D11 FSE), right?

[huhn]

if amd does touch the image it should enabled and if amd isn't touching it it shouldn't matter so it's just save to leave it enabled.

[omarank]

I have all got all processing disabled in AMD control panel except for ITC processing. Now if I think about it, AMD driver may touch the image for ITC processing. Is there any downside to disabling the ITC processing?

Has anyone tested the ITC processing with 10 bit output from madVR?

[Arm3nian]

My display supports 10bit (8+frc) but the only option I have in nvidia CP is 8bit. I do see the difference in the test though. Using W10 and 980ti.

[huhn]

because the driver is dithering.

for some reasons some displays are sold with 8 bit +FRC but without 10 bit input support.

do you have an AMD card to double check this issue?

[Arm3nian]

because the driver is dithering.

for some reasons some displays are sold with 8 bit +FRC but without 10 bit input support.

do you have an AMD card to double check this issue?

No but another user with the P2715q on the dell forums had an AMD card and he couldn't set it to 10bit output either, while his other Samsung display supported it on the same card.

Doesn't matter though, my unit has a defective panel, so it's going back for a refund.

Is there any point in using 10bit on programs like madvr if the driver is set to 8?

[huhn]

it's unlikely the dithering from 10 bit to 8 bit is better than the 16 bit to 8 bit from madVR. but they should be different.

in term of quality it is better to dither just one time.

[Arm3nian]

it's unlikely the dithering from 10 bit to 8 bit is better than the 16 bit to 8 bit from madVR. but they should be different.

in term of quality it is better to dither just one time.

So if you set madVR to output 10bit then it dithers from 16 to 10, and your gpu would dither from 10 to 8. So better to just set madVR output to 8bit and be done.

[huhn]

So if you set madVR to output 10bit then it dithers from 16 to 10, and your gpu would dither from 10 to 8. So better to just set madVR output to 8bit and be done.

that should be the case if 10 bit can't be send.
if it is possible to send 10 bit it will not be dithered to 8 bit or at least it shouldn't do that.

[sswroom]

I have bought a new display card recently. Aero cannot be turn on when using 10-bit display mode. Does this mean that MadVR does not support 10-bit output in this display card? (AMD FirePro)
After doing some searching, nVidia has the same situration. ( http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3049/~/how-to-enable-30-bit-color-on-windows-platforms )

I have proved that it is outputting 10-bit signal using OpenGL (Photoshop) and DirectDraw (Other video player).

[XMonarchY]

I think it is absolutely true that some 10bit displays do not come with 10bit input support and end up dithering. That is the ONLY way to explain why these settings result in perfectly smooth image:
- 8bit settings in NVidia CP
- 10bit setting in madVR
- no dithering of any kind in madVR
- D3D11 in madVR
- Fullscreen Exclusive in madVR
- no 3DLUT in madVR

If I select 8bit in madVR, then I see very obvious and distinct 0-255 levels. If I select 10bit in madVR, then the image is 100x smoother and 0-255 levels are invisible and ArgyllCMS detects the image as 10bit!

[huhn]

a dithered 8 bit picture usually reports 11 bit in argyllCMS.

and the GPU can easily dither the 10 bit input and i already test if nvidia is dithering and it can do it.

try it with an AMD card you can even disable dithering for these cards.

it is impossible to dither 10 bit in a display that never get this signal it is that simple.

[XMonarchY]

a dithered 8 bit picture usually reports 11 bit in argyllCMS.

and the GPU can easily dither the 10 bit input and i already test if nvidia is dithering and it can do it.

try it with an AMD card you can even disable dithering for these cards.

it is impossible to dither 10 bit in a display that never get this signal it is that simple.

The explain what happens with my monitor because it goes against what you are saying.

[huhn]

if i set madVR to 10 bit on a display that doesn't support 10 bit as an input the result is still smooth...

if you really want to know test it with an AMD card. these card have full control of the output.

you can send even 6 bit with them when the display supports it.

just send 10 bit in the driver and disable AMD dithering in the registry.

[nussman]

"Nvidia CP 8bit output"
How you can test anything 10bit related with this setting?

[huhn]

you can test if the driver handles this properly or not that's it.

[nussman]

I agree. And maybe if dithering is used or not by the driver.
But how the display handels 10bit input? No way imho ...

[XMonarchY]

if i set madVR to 10 bit on a display that doesn't support 10 bit as an input the result is still smooth...

if you really want to know test it with an AMD card. these card have full control of the output.

you can send even 6 bit with them when the display supports it.

just send 10 bit in the driver and disable AMD dithering in the registry.

You did not explain anything. If I set madVR to 10bit on my monitor that supports only 8bit input, then the result is very smooth gradient (100x more than just 255 levels). However, if I set madVR to 10bit and set my TV (NOT monitor) to 8bit input in NVidia CP, then the result is good old visible 255 gradients.

That means the monitor DOES dither. If it was the driver that was dithering then it would dither on BOTH - monitor AND TV, but dithering and super-smooth gradient with 8bit input occurs ONLY in my monitor.

[Asmodian]

You did not explain anything. If I set madVR to 10bit on my monitor that supports only 8bit input, then the result is very smooth gradient (100x more than just 255 levels). However, if I set madVR to 10bit and set my TV (NOT monitor) to 8bit input in NVidia CP, then the result is good old visible 255 gradients.

That means the monitor DOES dither. If it was the driver that was dithering then it would dither on BOTH - monitor AND TV, but dithering and super-smooth gradient with 8bit input occurs ONLY in my monitor.

You do see how this is impossible don't you? If your monitor does not support 10-bit input it does not have the 10-bit data to dither from.

Maybe your monitor is lower contrast so you do not notice 8-bit steps while your TV is higher contrast so you do notice them? Maybe Nvidia doesn't dither when sending to your TV but does when sending to your monitor (HDMI behaves differently?). Or your monitor could be doing something like GradFun3 or flash3kyuu_deband, increasing noise to mask banding.

Your monitor is not dithering 10-bit to 8-bit if you send it 8-bit data.

[XMonarchY]

You do see how this is impossible don't you? If your monitor does not support 10-bit input it does not have the 10-bit data to dither from.

Maybe your monitor is lower contrast so you do not notice 8-bit steps while your TV is higher contrast so you do notice them? Maybe Nvidia doesn't dither when sending to your TV but does when sending to your monitor (HDMI behaves differently?). Or your monitor could be doing something like GradFun3 or flash3kyuu_deband, increasing noise to mask banding.

Your monitor is not dithering 10-bit to 8-bit if you send it 8-bit data.

This monitor has about 4700:1 static contrast ratio after calibration. The only difference between TV and monitor is that TV uses High-Speed HDMI 1.3 cable and monitor uses DisplayPort. There is no noise on monitor either...

I am seriously tempted to just send this monitor to one of you guys to show you how it works, but regardless of the reason, this monitor DOES PASS 10bit support test via whichever means. I have Samsung Galaxy S5 and wonder whether the video quality is good enough for me to demonstrate all the settings I use and the results (0 banding).

[huhn]

even a 6 vit TN panel can produce a smooth ramp you simply deny to understand how thinks work.

and of cause there is noise you simply don't see it is a dithering display.

for example there is no 12 bit display they don't exist.

[XMonarchY]

even a 6 vit TN panel can produce a smooth ramp you simply deny to understand how thinks work.

and of cause there is noise you simply don't see it is a dithering display.

for example there is no 12 bit display they don't exist.

My TV allows for 12bit input, whatever that means or however else it does it.

[huhn]

like every TV.

[XMonarchY]

like every TV.

But you said it isn't true 12bit, correct?

TV:
- 8bit in NVidia CP + 8bit in madVR = visible 255 levels (does not pass 10bit test)
- 8bit in NVidia CP + 10bit in madVR = visible 255 levels (does not pass 10bit test)
- 12bit in NVidia CP + 10bit in madVR = very smooth gradient, 255 levels are not visible (passes 10bit test)

Monitor:
- 8bit in NVidia CP + 8bit in madVR = visible 255 levels (does not pass 10bit test)
- 8bit in NVidia CP + 10bit in madVR = very smooth gradient, 255 levels are not visible (passes 10bit test)

In bold are identical settings on different displays, but one passes 10bit test (monitor), while the other does not (TV).

[huhn]

the thing you show there is that nvidia isn't dithering in this case nothing else for what ever reason.

i can now go and send 10 bit a 6 bit TN panel with the driver set to 6 bit and i will get a smooth gradient. what does this tell us?

the 6 bit TN is 10 bit?

[XMonarchY]

Why is it not dithering on TV then???

Why should one use 8bit setting in madVR if 10bit setting provides much smoother gradient, regardless of NVidia CP setting?

This test was designed to see whether the display supports 10bit or not. If selecting 6bit or 8bit in NVidia CP and then selecting 10bit on madVR results in very smooth gradient (much smoother than if 8bit was selected in madVR), then this test FAILS.

[nussman]

Oh man ...
MadVR Output 10bit => convert. to 8bit by nvidia with/without dithering => output 8bit by nvidia => input 8bit (TV/Display)
vs
madVR output 8bit => output 8bit by nvidia => input 8bit (TV/Display)

Why do you think you can test a display for 10bit support this way?
You can test the processing chain for your system and thats it.

[XMonarchY]

Oh man ...
MadVR Output 10bit => convert. to 8bit by nvidia with/without dithering => output 8bit by nvidia => input 8bit (TV/Display)
vs
madVR output 8bit => output 8bit by nvidia => input 8bit (TV/Display)

Why do you think you can test a display for 10bit support this way?
You can test the processing chain for your system and thats it.

so 10bit input is not necessary to get get an image equivalent of true 10bit, because such is the case with this monitor.

[huhn]

true 10 bit on an 8 bit FRC. think about it. even with 10 bit input this isn|t true 10 bit.

[XMonarchY]

10bit setting in madVR and 8bit setting in NVidia CP on monitor looks IDENTICAL to 10bit setting in madVR and 12bit setting in NVidia CP on TV.

[huhn]

like it should.

the only thing that's strange is that you get banding which one of your displays. the rest is working as it should.

in all my test the nvidia option is ignored output settings and sanding a 12 bit signal anyway when 10 bit is outputted. nvidia is bad for testing this anyway...

just repeating over and over again the last pages...

[6233638]

10bit setting in madVR and 8bit setting in NVidia CP on monitor looks IDENTICAL to 10bit setting in madVR and 12bit setting in NVidia CP on TV.If the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to 8-bit, that's what you get.
madVR sending a 10-bit output to the driver causes it to output a dithered 8-bit signal.
The output has to be set to 10-bit (DisplayPort) or 12-bit (HDMI) to get a true 10-bit output from madVR.

If you are only able to send an 8-bit signal to your display, I would recommend setting madVR to 8-bit so that madVR has control over the dither that is applied.

[XMonarchY]

If the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to 8-bit, that's what you get.
madVR sending a 10-bit output to the driver causes it to output a dithered 8-bit signal.
The output has to be set to 10-bit (DisplayPort) or 12-bit (HDMI) to get a true 10-bit output from madVR.

If you are only able to send an 8-bit signal to your display, I would recommend setting madVR to 8-bit so that madVR has control over the dither that is applied.

That makes no sense again. If selecting 8bit in NVidia CP and 10bit in madVr results in madVR dithering 8bit and smooth gradient, then why set madVR to 8bit. Its the one dithering 8bit, so it has control one way or another.

[huhn]

if you set madVR to 10 bit the result is 10 bit and that is what the driver gets. if the driver can't send 10 bit to the display is has to change the 10 bit to 8 bit.

just as a reminder the nvidia setting is ignoring the setting anyway with 10 bit input. and that a reason nvidia is bad for testing this. this option is more to see if the display can handle high bit deep inputs the rest is not really important.

[6233638]

That makes no sense again. If selecting 8bit in NVidia CP and 10bit in madVr results in madVR dithering 8bit and smooth gradient, then why set madVR to 8bit. Its the one dithering 8bit, so it has control one way or another.No, madVR's output is still 10-bit if it is configured to be 10-bit.
What the GPU actually sends to the display is set in the NVIDIA Control Panel.

So if the Control Panel is set to 8-bit, the driver dithers the 10-bit input from madVR to an 8-bit output for the display.

This means that you have madVR processing in 16-bit, dithering to 10-bit, and then the driver dithering that to 8-bit.
Instead, what you should do is have madVR process in 16-bit, dither to 8-bit, and have the driver pass that to the display.
That way the driver does a straight pass-through of madVR's output: no additional dither is applied.


Unfortunately, NVIDIA seems to process the GPU LUT with as much precision as the output is set to and it is also undithered, so if you're using LUTs for calibration you need to be using madVR for that purpose to avoid banding.
I wouldn't use touch the GPU LUTs at all with an NVIDIA GPU if you're only sending an 8-bit signal to your display.

Apparently AMD process the GPU lut with more than 8-bits of precision and then (optionally?) dither to 8-bit. This means that you shouldn't get any banding if you use the GPU LUT for calibration.

if you set madVR to 10 bit the result is 10 bit and that is what the driver gets. if the driver can't send 10 bit to the display is has to change the 10 bit to 8 bit.

just as a reminder the nvidia setting is ignoring the setting anyway with 10 bit input. and that a reason nvidia is bad for testing this. this option is more to see if the display can handle high bit deep inputs the rest is not really important.It's not entirely clear to me what you are saying with "the nvidia setting is ignoring the setting anyway" but if the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to a 12-bit output (and I assume 10-bit as well - I don't have any DisplayPort displays here) then it does output a 12-bit signal to the display.
So with madVR, or any other software that can output a 10-bit signal, you do get true 10-bit gradation sent to the display.

What the NVIDIA driver seems to be doing is simply multiplying the input values to reach the desired output bit-depth. That output appears to be undithered on my display.
So a program outputting an 8-bit image should look identical whether the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to 8-bit or 12-bit - it won't harm image quality at all. (i.e. undithered 8-bit is still undithered when the output is set to 12-bit)
Setting the Control Panel to 12-bit just enables software to display more than 8-bits of gradation if supported.

[huhn]

with HDMI even when it is set to 8 bit it will stills send 12 bit when the driver input is 10 bit.

with other words you can't force it to send 8 bit with an 10 bit input when 12 bit is possible.
at least my sony clearly said 36 bit with and without output set to 12 bit and only as long as 10 bit was send to the driver. this option is still pretty new and even without this option it worked fine.

and all my displays without 10 bit or higher input get an dithered result when 10 bit is send to the driver.

[6233638]

with HDMI even when it is set to 8 bit it will stills send 12 bit when the driver input is 10 bit.

with other words you can't force it to send 8 bit with an 10 bit input when 12 bit is possible.
at least my sony clearly said 36 bit with and without output set to 12 bit and only as long as 10 bit was send to the driver. this option is still pretty new and even without this option it worked fine.

and all my displays without 10 bit or higher input get an dithered result when 10 bit is send to the driver.Interesting. My display (also a Sony TV) doesn't actually report the input bit-depth but I have been able to visually confirm that when the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to 8-bit, the 10-bit output from madVR is being dithered by the driver to 8-bit.
Perhaps the output from the GPU to the display is still a 12-bit signal, but the actual image being sent is definitely 8-bit, since I can see the dither being added.
And when the Control Panel is set to 12-bit, I'm getting true 10-bit gradation with no dither or banding.

It's difficult to show, but you should be able to make it out:

madVR set to a 10-bit undithered output in both cases.
12-bit HDMI: True 10-bit image. Any grain/noise visible here is the camera.
 8-bit HDMI: Driver has dithered the 10-bit input to an 8-bit output. You can see that the input from madVR was still undithered though, as every fourth bar is a solid area of color. (equal to an 8-bit value)

http://abload.de/img/10-bitt8j11.gif

madVR set to an 8-bit output, with HDMI set to 8-bit. (though the results are the same with 12-bit)
No dither: Much wider banding. 4 bands in 10-bit = 1 band in 8-bit, as expected.
Random Dither: No banding at all, but noisy.

http://abload.de/img/8-bitgojo8.gif

I should have also taken a photo of 10-bit with Random Dither enabled, to show that it is equally free of banding, but has a lower noise level than 8-bit.
Note that only random dither will completely eliminate all banding, however this is at the cost of higher noise.
I have madVR set up with a profile so that windowed mode (8-bit) uses error diffusion dither (low noise) and fullscreen exclusive mode (10-bit) uses random dither, since that guarantees there will be no banding in FSE, and 10-bit random dither is lower noise than 8-bit error diffusion.

If the NVIDIA Control Panel does not have the option to output a 10-bit or 12-bit signal to your display, madVR should be set to an 8-bit output so that it has complete control over the dither being applied.
The exception to this might be if you're also using the GPU LUT for calibration rather than madVR's 3DLUT capabilities.
Since the driver seems to process the LUT with as much precision as the output, forcing it to process in 10-bit may result in a smoother output.

[huhn]

interesting nvidias behavior is very in consisted.

the 55w805b i own for about 2 hours. it has changed the hdmi to hdmi 36 bit when 10 bit was inputted in the driver.

i used a kelper 760 gtx for testing.

which 10 bit sony did you used?

[6233638]

It's an older Sony HX900 that I am testing with. It has a 10-bit panel (as you can clearly see) but it doesn't report the input bit-depth in the OSD for some reason.

So the GPU may still be sending it a "12-bit" signal when madVR's output is set to 10-bit and the Control Panel is set to 8-bit - I have no way to confirm that.
However it doesn't matter what bit-depth is reported on the display.
If the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to an 8-bit output, the image being displayed is an 8-bit dithered one.

[huhn]

older high end screen had some times a 10 bit panel before they found out what dithering is.

even through sony is know for 8 bit but with the best processing. in the end they buy them from over producer anyway.

[XMonarchY]

Interesting. My display (also a Sony TV) doesn't actually report the input bit-depth but I have been able to visually confirm that when the NVIDIA Control Panel is set to 8-bit, the 10-bit output from madVR is being dithered by the driver to 8-bit.
Perhaps the output from the GPU to the display is still a 12-bit signal, but the actual image being sent is definitely 8-bit, since I can see the dither being added.
And when the Control Panel is set to 12-bit, I'm getting true 10-bit gradation with no dither or banding.

It's difficult to show, but you should be able to make it out:

madVR set to a 10-bit undithered output in both cases.
12-bit HDMI: True 10-bit image. Any grain/noise visible here is the camera.
 8-bit HDMI: Driver has dithered the 10-bit input to an 8-bit output. You can see that the input from madVR was still undithered though, as every fourth bar is a solid area of color. (equal to an 8-bit value)

http://abload.de/img/10-bitt8j11.gif

madVR set to an 8-bit output, with HDMI set to 8-bit. (though the results are the same with 12-bit)
No dither: Much wider banding. 4 bands in 10-bit = 1 band in 8-bit, as expected.
Random Dither: No banding at all, but noisy.

http://abload.de/img/8-bitgojo8.gif

I should have also taken a photo of 10-bit with Random Dither enabled, to show that it is equally free of banding, but has a lower noise level than 8-bit.
Note that only random dither will completely eliminate all banding, however this is at the cost of higher noise.
I have madVR set up with a profile so that windowed mode (8-bit) uses error diffusion dither (low noise) and fullscreen exclusive mode (10-bit) uses random dither, since that guarantees there will be no banding in FSE, and 10-bit random dither is lower noise than 8-bit error diffusion.

If the NVIDIA Control Panel does not have the option to output a 10-bit or 12-bit signal to your display, madVR should be set to an 8-bit output so that it has complete control over the dither being applied.
The exception to this might be if you're also using the GPU LUT for calibration rather than madVR's 3DLUT capabilities.
Since the driver seems to process the LUT with as much precision as the output, forcing it to process in 10-bit may result in a smoother output.

Again, I don't understand why that is needed. If 8bit is selected in NVidia CP and 10bit is selected in madVR, the image is much smoother than if 8bit is selected in madVR. All that assuming no madVR dithering and proper settings.

[huhn]

All that assuming no madVR dithering and proper settings.

yeah 8 bit rounded looks terrible. so of cause...

[Arm3nian]

What bit depth output do modern "consumer" nvidia gpus support? Lots of threads say you need a quadro to get 10bit but that sounds wrong.

[aufkrawall]

Are there any news regarding DWM bitdepth on Windows 10?

[huhn]

What bit depth output do modern "consumer" nvidia gpus support? Lots of threads say you need a quadro to get 10bit but that sounds wrong.

all GPU can output 10/12 bit and you can give the driver 10 bit with a fullscreen directx 10 surface for years.

Are there any news regarding DWM bitdepth on Windows 10?

no just rumors in the first place.

[Asmodian]

What bit depth output do modern "consumer" nvidia gpus support? Lots of threads say you need a quadro to get 10bit but that sounds wrong.

To expand on what huhn said. They are partially correct; you need a Quadro/FirePro to use 10-bit with OpenGL. There probably is one but I don't know of any video player that uses OpenGL. madVR using DX11 FSE to display 10-bit is the only way I know of to watch video in 10-bit on a PC and it works on any DX11 capable GPU.

Windows is always rendered in 8-bit, even with a Quadro.

edit: The above is not a comment about the Windows 10 DWM rumors, only that a Quadro does not change Windows' behavior.

[Arm3nian]

all GPU can output 10/12 bit and you can give the driver 10 bit with a fullscreen directx 10 surface for years.


To expand on what huhn said. They are partially correct; you need a Quadro/FirePro to use 10-bit with OpenGL. There probably is one but I don't know of any video player that uses OpenGL. madVR using DX11 FSE to display 10-bit is the only way I know of to watch video in 10-bit on a PC and it works on any DX11 capable GPU.

That's what I thought. So your gpu should not be a problem to get 10bit in madVR, unless it's ancient.

The problem then is actually selecting 10bit out. My P2715q did not have an option to select 10bit with my 980ti. I returned it since it had a defective panel, but it seems there is some type of hack to make it accept 10bit input. The user on the Dell forum had a quadro and he edited the EDID through NCP to select 10bit. But you can use a 3rd party program if you have don't have a workstation card.

I don't understand why some 10bit displays cannot accept a 10bit input signal by default. It must be due to driver problems. Isn't a 10bit panel basically useless if it cannot accept a 10bit input?

I will be getting the EA275UHD-BK from NEC soon and will report my results. The gpu supports 10bit, the panel supports 10bit, and the renderer supports 10bit, so you should be able to get 10bit easily on a proper display and not be held back by a random anomaly.

[huhn]

a 10 bit or 8 bit + FRC display with 8 bit input only can use this to lower the error on internal processing.

and yes well known problem: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19615254

i don't know a 10 bit display that doesn't allow 10 bit input. 8 bit + FRC is more like a marketing thing to me anyway. i mean just look at a 6 bit + FRC it's smooth yes but it's nothing like a real 8 bit panel.