10-bit Graphics on Mac's

This article has been adapted from information provided to us by Quato - many thanks to Quato's technical team for their help and assistance. The article refers to Quato's displays, however, the advice is also relevant other 10-bit capable displays such as the Eizo CG223W, CG243W, CG245W and the NEC SpectraView 241W and 271W.

Some of you have already realised that the Quato IP242ex and the Quato IP240ex LED support full native 10bit via DisplayPort because the panels are also true 10bit savvy. However, the proof of concept is one thing, real world usage is another.

Actually, the Mac OS X 10.6 Operating System is only able to display 10bit via OpenGL and not via standard CoreGraphics applications. That means, to display 10bit via DisplayPort (DVI has not enough bandwidth for 10bit) you need both, a graphic card and an application that supports 10bit via OpenGL. Only the Radeon HD4870, HD5870 or Nvidia Quadro 4000 (fermi based) support 10bit on the Mac. Unfortunately, this also means you need at least a Mac Pro. Apart from some 3D Rendering software, only Photoshop CS4/CS5 support 10bit via OpenGL – means the OpenGL feature must be switched on in Photoshop CS4/5.

Thus, the only working 10bit combination is actually a Mac Pro under Mac OS X 10.6 with Photoshop CS4/5 and either the Radeon HD4870/5870 or Nvidia Quadro 4000 (fermi). The graphic card will at least cost 500 € but stunning smooth gradiants and finest details in the darks may justify this extra cost

All other Macs with integrated DisplayPort or Mac Pros with a DisplayPort equipped graphic card other than the 3 above only use 8-bit. Although the interface can theoretically do more, the used ATI/Nvidia/Intel HD graphic chips and drivers do not support 10bit. Thus, there is no solution to get 10bit out of these units. 

If you have any questions regarding this article, please don't hesitate to get in contact.

Further information is available as follows:

Quato
Eizo
NEC