On Jan 5, 2020, at 11:48 AM, Wire ~ via colorsync-users <colorsync-users@lists.apple.com> wrote:
16-bit color, the math allows us to define billion’s of color values, but that doesn’t change the fact we still can’t see 16.7 million colors in the 24 bit encoding of these pixels. As such, it’s best to talk about encoding having a potential to define millions or billions of numbers, device values, that could be associated to a color value thus color, if we could see them. But if we can’t differentiae them visibly, it is silly to suggest they are indeed colors. Don’t confuse a color number, a device value, for a color, a color you can
see!
When the display vendor advertises 1 billion colors, a knowledgeable reader takes that as "supports 10-bit per channel data" and connects this to the value of the 2 extra bits for emerging performance standards and evolving formats.
I worry about all the non knowledgeable readers. Those that see spec's for a 10-bit display vs. a 12 bit one and assume by that spec alone, the 12-bit unit is superior. More is better right? But then that's why marketing exists, for the slew of mostly non knowledgeable readers. I also somewhat worry about those that believe R0/G255/B0 in ProPhoto RGB is a color. It's a color number, that's for sure. Andrew Rodney http://www.digitaldog.net/ <http://www.digitaldog.net/>