16 bit RAW files

[Mare_333]

Hello, Marianne here.  Today I have a dilemma and I thought with your knowledge you will be able to help me out. I don't really have any other professional that I could ask. We all know that JPEGs are 8 bit while RAW files are 16 bit. I am in the process of buying an external monitor for my laptop. I need a monitor that depicts color accurately so I can use it for printing. The issue I am having is that THE MONITORS THEMSELVES are ONLY 8bit +FRC color depth and 1.07 billion colors. So since the MONITOR IS ONLY 8bit +FRC does it mean when I work with RAW 16 bit images in Photoshop I won't actually see the colors displayed on the monitor correctly? There are monitors that are 10 bits depth, but that's still NOT 16, there is NO SUCH THING as 16 bit monitor. The one monitor I am really considering buying says in the description it's a benchmark for accurate color. It supports 99.3% Adobe RGB and 146.4% sRGB BUT just as other monitors it's ONLY 8 bit +FRC color depth. I hope you can help me out with this.  Thank you very much in advance,

Marianne

[JJMack]

Raw Files are not color images and camera sensor  normally record  a 10, 12 or or 14 bit value for the light value of pixels.  Pixels are filters by a red, green or blur filter so its a mosaic image.  RAW converters can convert the mosaic image into an  RGB image in any color space  in 8 or 16bit  color depth using your camera raw sensors data.   Displays with the best color are very expensive and and IMO are really not required.  Display images an Printed images will never look exactly the same one emits light the other reflects light and images change color with lighting conditions in different environment.    You need the get your images to look nearly the same on you print and display.  If you do color management  right you should be able to do that a  any good display and good printer.  I put more money into my printer then my displays.   My eyes are also 77 year old and slightly colorblind the the best display would be wasted on me.  I also have multiple displays and edit my image on the best one I have.  It was not expensive  a Dell 24" 4K IPS display 3840x2160px 185DPI $380 on Amazon when I purchased it. My printer was $2000. Printers are 8bit color as far as I know.  Do not fret  over specification  work on getting your workflow right and producing image the are what you want

[Mare_333]

Thank you very much for your reply. You said "if you do color management right" What exactly do you mean by that? Thanks again,

Marianne

[NB, colourmanagement]

Hi Marianne,

"doing colourmanagement right" involves having [device independent] ICC profiles, one for each device you use in the workflow.

e.g,

your monitor display system (its regularly calibrated and profiled using a measurement device and software)

your inkjet printer with the specific inks paper you use

the printing process used by a publisher - i.e. where they print your work

etc.

if you're interested you can read up some stuff I wrote  about ICC profiles here:

is colourmanagement for me?: https://www.colourmanagement.net/

and here: about icc colour profiles, icc profiles explained | colourmanagement.net

I hope this helps

if so, please do mark my reply as "helpful" and if you're OK now, please mark it as "correct" below, so others who have similar issues can see the solution

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement

[Chuck Uebele]

To add what JJ said, 16 bit images allow you to edit or stretch the final range more with out showing obvious degradation in the final values, most noticeable as banding. You would be hard pressed to see any different between an actual 8 and 16 bit image.

[Mare_333]

Thank you