Could someone explain the technical difference between ycbcr444 and RGB to me?

[ExaltedNik]

I can change between ycbcr444 and RGB in the Nvidia control panel color settings. In game, when playing in 4K, ycbcr444 looks exceptionally better than RGB. The colors pop and it looks much sharper. I am going to be using it over RGB obviously, I am just curious as to how they work and what makes one appear so much better than the other. Everything I have read on the internet isn't very clear on this and everyone makes it sound like the difference is negligible at best. Thanks!

 

[k1114]

Was rgb set to limited or full?

 

[ExaltedNik]

Was rgb set to limited or full?

I used limited because I am using a 4K TV with my PC and as far as I know full is for monitors. I know I am supposed to be using ycbcr anyway because of the TV. Just curious as to why it works this way

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

If I recall correctly, limited RGB displays 16-235 colors out of the full 0-255. Some TV's do actually support full RGB, usually the ones advertising PC compatibility. Otherwise, they wind up compressing the color range. YCbCr is a form of chroma subsampling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_subsampling

That basically focuses more on the brightness values rather than the color values, the same strategy as JPEG compression. Full RGB and YCbCr 4 4 4 both display essentially the same ranges.

 

[k1114]

There's your reason for it looking better. Full rgb and ycbcr 444 would look identical for the most part. You handicapped rgb by using limited. You are not "supposed" to use ycbcr on tvs. Not all of them convert to it. Full is for any display capable of full range. Every modern display can unless it's a low end cheapo. Tv vs monitor hasn't meant much in difference for a long time.