Roger Fingas
Apple's latest Retina iMacs support 10-bit screen color, something that may be especially useful for professional photo and video editors in the future, reports said on Friday.
The technology is supported through new driver software in OS X El Capitan, wrote Cinema5D, citing German publication Mac & I. It's not clear whether the code might support an external 10-bit monitor.
Not to be confused with the bit-depth of files, 10-bit screen color helps eliminate banding artifacts while restoring gradient detail. Most external and built-in device displays are still limited to 8-bit color at most, and accordingly, OS X didn't offer compatibility until now. Windows has had 10-bit support since 2009's Windows 7.
Even on a 4K or 5K iMac, 10-bit color is reportedly only useful in Apple's own Preview and Photos apps. This excludes popular professional software, namely Adobe titles like Photoshop and Illustrator, or Apple's Final Cut Pro. The companies might be able to release compatibility updates, but neither has commented on the matter.
Apple updated the iMac lineup on Oct. 13. As well as improving display options, it upgraded the computers to Intel's Skylake platform.
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
74 Comments
Are we sure it's only the iMacs? I have a 2015 Macbook Pro 15" running El Capitan plugged in to an HP z27s 4k monitor and it says it is receiving a 10-bit signal. When I boot up my Ubuntu box the same monitor display panel says it is receiving an 8-bit signal, so it's not the case that it just says that all the time regardless. [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/64806/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
just got this bad boy. It's dang good.
Wonder why no matte screen option given the 4K resolution is perfectly suited for professional photographers who prefer glare free displays.
Mac and I links to this test site: http://www.imagescience.com.au/kb/questions/152/10 Bit Output Support
Wonder why no matte screen option given the 4K resolution is perfectly suited for professional photographers who prefer glare free displays.
My time machine, it worked! Its 2009!