Do you need 10-bit video recording in your camera?
Will you even notice the difference between an 8-bit and 10-bit video footage? Let's
have a look at some tests we've done and see if video recording in 10-bit is really worth it.
Hi, I'm Jakub from MPB and I'm going to test if recording in 10-bits is worth the additional cost,
storage space and computing power. More and more cameras these days allow for recording in 10-bits
compared to 8-bit which is still a very popular way to capture video.
For this test, I'm using two Sony cameras the FX-3 which is filming me right now and
my trusty Sony A7III which can capture video only in 8-bit. But first, let's explain what is the
difference between an 8-bit and 10-bit video. As you may already know digital image is composed of
three separate colour channels; red, green and blue. Therefore the colour model is called
RGB combined together they create the final image. 8-bit means that each channel can capture
256 shades of a particular color meaning the final image can display 16.7 million colors in total. A
10-bit file can record 1024 shades per channel resulting in over 1-billion colors in total.
Please bear in mind that most of the video content we watch is still displayed only in
8-bit so what you're watching right now is in fact an 8-bit video. But don't worry I will demonstrate
everything you need to see to make up your mind on the issue of 10-bit video recording. Let's
move on to our first test. Let's have a look at this shot of a garage I pass on my way to work.
I recorded the same shot in 4k 8-bit on a Sony A7 III and in 4k 10-bit on a Sony FX-3.
I shot it with the picture profile turned off which means that footage doesn't really
require any grading before publishing as you can see the raw files look almost identical
even after applying quite a ridiculous colour grade. There is not much of a difference between
them. Let's try and change the colour of the car to make it green. Now, if we go into the
mask view we can see the differences are still rather minor. Our next test is quite a demanding
scenario for every video codec as there are fine details and smooth gradients in the shot.
This time I recorded a static shot of a tree. It was recorded in an S-log free picture profile
which gives me the most flexibility in editing but requires to be graded before publishing.
Now we are starting to see the advantages of 10-bit recording.
Look at those ugly edges which appeared on the 8-bit footage.
It shows there is just not enough colour data to maintain the smooth transition between the sky
and the leaves. Again, let's see what happens when I apply an extreme colour grade
to break the codec. See how the banding in the sky gets more visible on the 8-bit footage.
As a side note, look at how this grade revealed a really weird pattern on a shot recorded in their
all-intra codec on a Sony FX-3. But, we don't film static shots of cars and trees very often. Right,
let's film some people and see how the files perform in a more real-life scenario.
For this one, I filmed Jamil, our Social and Community Manager in front of a blue wall.
To make the test even harder for the cameras I used a Black Pro-Mist Filter to soften up
the image and make the highlights bloom. First thing I noticed is that the footage from the Sony
A7 III appears to be much brighter even though it was shot with the same settings on both cameras.
After matching the shots we can see the differences between the codex.
First of all, there are severe artifacts around the neon sign on the 8-bit footage which are not
present on the 10-bit one. Also, the noise and banding on the wall is much worse on the
8-bit shot and the footage lacks the color data required to render smooth tonal transitions on
Jamil's skin. If we go into x-ray mode and have a look at separate color channels it reveals
how much more color data there is on the 10-bit footage, especially in the red and blue channels.
And now the most demanding test for every video codec a green screen footage.
This time I filmed myself in front of a green screen holding this beautiful Fujifilm X100T.
It's not the best lit green screen which was intentional to make the test more demanding.
Again the footage from the A7 III appears to be brighter and I had to correct it in post.
The quality of the key is not that bad on the 8-bit shot but we can definitely
still see the same issues for example on my skin which we saw in the previous test there
are visible blotches and artefacts where a smooth tonal transition was supposed to be
one of the downsides of recording in 10-bit is that the files require significantly more
computing power so make sure your machine is able to cope with editing 10-bit footage.
If you are a content creator you'll probably not need 10-bit video recording in most cases
but if you film in a flat or log profile on your camera and do a lot of heavy colour grading or
visual effects work like chroma-keying 10-bit is definitely for you. If you create videos
for example for YouTube don't shoot in a log profile require fast turnarounds and you want
to save up on some storage space then 8-bit capture is definitely still a good option
for you. Don't forget to like and subscribe to MPB's channel and see you in the next video!