6 bit vs 8 bit

[vanillaface]

6 bit, 8 bit, whats the major difference to the end user? Is there a huge difference in color quality? I've never had an lcd before but I've been thinking about getting one for years. Mostly playing games on my pc but I do like nice color. I really want that extra space from the flat panels but if lcds can't compare to crt then I'll just forget it. I might buy a samsung 931c since I read something about it having great color but I cant find an in depth review on the thing.

 

[TeraMedia]

How does one get 16.2 M discrete values out of 18 bits of data? Is there a 4th video "dimension" beyond R/G/B?

6 bits without dithering will show some contouring, because there simply aren't enough discrete steps between intensities to have smooth coloring.

6 bits with dithering will look noisy. It will be faint, but if you have good eyesight then it will bug the heck out of you as it does me, if you use the display to watch movies and whatnot.

Response time, though, is as RobsX2 noted extremely important for games as well as for movies and TV.