24bits vs. 18bits displays: Is it really noticeabl

[hovius1]

Hi,

I was almost into buying the EIZO L550 16ms display when I found out it was a so-called "18bits" display displaying "only" 16.2 Mill. colors (and using dithering to achieve this number of colors). Real 24bits displays are capable of displaying 16.7M colors on the other hand.
I in the meantime found out there is some sort of trade-off between screen refresh time and this color depth?
Am I right in this observation?
Is this dithering noticeable? Will a true 24bits display outperform a 18bits one in (2D) picture quality or is this difference neglectable?

 

[Guy]

I am afraid that depends on the dithering algorithm used by the manufacturer. For example AUO 18 bit TFT Panels have an unpleasant "flashing" effect due to a poor dithering algorithm. Samsungs 172x is an 18 bit panel yet uses an excellent dithering algorithm making it better then some full 24 bit panels. After all some 24 bit panels reproduce color so poorly that an 18 bit panel with good dithering will produce far better color. It all depends on the individual TFT panels and how well they reproduce color or use dithering.

 

[hovius1]

Thanks for this explanation.
I guess I have to wait for a decent review of this L550 then.