Any point to enabling higher than 8 bpc Output color depth

[OverTheEDJ 266]

20 hours ago, 4L0M said:

If you have a HDR display, a HDR capable GFX card plugged into it and select HDR "on" in MSFS settings it will automatically switch to 10-bit colour anyway regardless of what colour depth you select in that box.

 

2 hours ago, Waldo Pepper said:

MSFS uses the HDR10 standard,   so 10 bits.    For best results calibrate your monitor with the windows HDR calibration tool from the windows store.

Also pay attention to the dynamic range setting in your gpu control panel,  it should match the setting and capabilities of your display.  It will affect black details and white peaks.  There is "full or limited",    the full setting ranges from 0-255,  and the limited ranges from 16-255.    Nvidia uses the "full or limited" verbage,  but my LG OLED calls the same setting High or Low.   It can make your screen look washed out.

I have the Vava 4k HDR UST laser projector (against an 80 inch screen). A reviewer claimed (as a con) that although Vava can display HDR, it is still limited to 8 bits, so Vava is not offering "true" HDR.

I have been going back and forth with both dynamic range (now 61-255) and bit levels. I can't tell a difference between 8 / 10, and I assumed that this was due to the 8 limitation of the projector.

I run "ready or not" and the 16-255 dynamic range setting eliminated some black level banding I would see that game. In MSFS, I was able to get rid of the cloud banding (even after MSFS fix), but I still see black level banding when MSFS first loads with the "Asobo" logo splash on the screen.

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by OverTheEDJ

[Bobsk8 12,753]

Higher than 8 8pc is a great way to slow your PC down, with all the additional load  you are demanding of it. 

[Cpt_Piett 4,703]

48 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Higher than 8 8pc is a great way to slow your PC down, with all the additional load  you are demanding of it. 

I've been assuming that color depth would not put a load on the GPU. I haven't looked into it though. Am I wrong?

[Waldo Pepper 1,953]

6 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I've been assuming that color depth would not put a load on the GPU. I haven't looked into it though. Am I wrong?

You are correct, in my experience.

[4L0M 33]

5 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

Higher than 8 8pc is a great way to slow your PC down, with all the additional load  you are demanding of it. 

There is zero additional PC load between 8 bit or 10 bit display output.  Another thing is that unless you have a native 10 bit panel in your monitor/tv or at the very least a panel that supports 8 bit+frc, then deciding between 8 bit or 10 bit is a bit of a moot point in the first place.

[bobcat999 8,484]

7 hours ago, 4L0M said:

There is zero additional PC load between 8 bit or 10 bit display output.  Another thing is that unless you have a native 10 bit panel in your monitor/tv or at the very least a panel that supports 8 bit+frc, then deciding between 8 bit or 10 bit is a bit of a moot point in the first place.

I accept what you say as I have never seen any performance impact between 8 bit and 10 bit.
But then it just begs the question - these days, why have 8 bit as a setting in the first place?

[4L0M 33]

3 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

I accept what you say as I have never seen any performance impact between 8 bit and 10 bit.
But then it just begs the question - these days, why have 8 bit as a setting in the first place?

Because not everybody has or can afford a monitor/tv that's has a native 10-bit  supported panel. It's not like 10-bit panels are the norm, even now as we are about to enter 2023, TV's and monitors with 10-bit panels still cost a higher premium. I would personally be amazed if more than 20% of current flight sim users here are actually outputting to a proper native 10-bit panel like an LG C1/C2 etc.

If you don't have a native 10-bit panel, or as I stated above an 8-bit+frc panel, then you shouldn't be selecting 10-bit full stop, not unless you want potential colour banding, crushed blacks, grey looking blacks etc.

Also, if you have a monitor/tv that states that it supports HDR, unless your panel at a minimum can output at least 600 nits, then I personally would turn HDR off.

[Noel 4,507]

2 hours ago, 4L0M said:

Also, if you have a monitor/tv that states that it supports HDR, unless your panel at a minimum can output at least 600 nits, then I personally would turn HDR off.

I have a new HDR600 display and the halos around everything pretty much make HDR not a good thing for MSFS.  I've not been able to calibrate w/ the MS Windows HDR calibration app as I am using Win 10 which is not compatible with it.  If I had to make the purchase again I would skip Gsync Ultimate (supports HDR600) and just go straight Gsync.  I selected 10 bpc and there is no discernable performance impact.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Noel

[4L0M 33]

Yes, W11 is a lot better for HDR gaming, especially like you said, it now has a built in hdr calibration tool in the settings as default. The "halo" effect is normally due to the small amount of dimming zones on cheaper LED tv's and monitors. Oled displays don't suffer from this, and micro-led displays have enough dimming zones to pretty much negate this too. Unfortunately there currently isn't a "perfect" display solution in my opinion. I love my LG C1, but my Samsung Q95T can get twice as bright as my C1 using HDR and HDR looks sublime on it, but blacks aren't quite as good (although excellent), and it suffers with really bad elevated blacks with gysnc or freesync enabled, so there are no "perfect" displays in the market yet, they all suffer from one weakness in one way or another.