Answers.Body: <p>Dynamic range is the difference between extreme light and extreme dark, whereas bit depth defines the number of steps in between.</p>
  
  <p>There is a practical relationship between the two, not a theoretical: </p>
  
  <p>When you do some color grading on these videos (and with high dynamic range videos you will probably do some extreme grades), then you will easily introduce banding with 8 bit video. Only 10 or more bits give you enough headroom to avoid banding.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-08-03T12:46:51.473Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-08-03T12:46:51.473Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Fred42vid
Answers.Body: <p>More bits mean more possible values for each channel. So each channel in an 8 bit image has 256 possible values, from 0 to 255, while a 10 bit channel has 4 times as many: 0 to 1024.</p>
  
  <p>Dynamic range however is the range between the brightest sample a sensor chip can encode and the darkest - it is a property of the sensor. So you could conceivably have an 8 bit sensor with a wider dynamic range than a 10 bit sensor if it could resolve very bright and dark images, it would just have fewer steps between these than a 10 bit sensor with the same dynamic range.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-07-31T06:01:15.030Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-07-31T06:01:15.030Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: stib
Body: <p>Is there a direct relationship between higher video bit depth (10-bit vs 8-bit, for example) and higher dynamic range, i.e. HDR?</p>
  
  <p>I'm somewhat confused regarding this particular aspect of bit depth. I know that more bits allows us to capture and recreate more colors and their shades, but where exactly does dynamic range come in?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-07-27T13:59:06.507Z
Comments.Text: Good question. Higher bit depth *allows* but does not *guarantee* greater dynamic range.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Jim Mack
Tags: <color><hdr>
Title: Relationship between bit depth and dynamic range?
UserDisplayName: Marko J.
ThreadText: # Relationship between bit depth and dynamic range?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-27)
  
  Is there a direct relationship between higher video bit depth (10-bit vs 8-bit, for example) and higher dynamic range, i.e. HDR?
  
  I'm somewhat confused regarding this particular aspect of bit depth. I know that more bits allows us to capture and recreate more colors and their shades, but where exactly does dynamic range come in?
  
  **Tags:** color, hdr
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Good question. Higher bit depth *allows* but does not *guarantee* greater dynamic range.  
  
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  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2015-08-03. Score: 2
  
  Dynamic range is the difference between extreme light and extreme dark, whereas bit depth defines the number of steps in between.
  
  There is a practical relationship between the two, not a theoretical:
  
  When you do some color grading on these videos (and with high dynamic range videos you will probably do some extreme grades), then you will easily introduce banding with 8 bit video. Only 10 or more bits give you enough headroom to avoid banding.
  
  
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  ### Answer by username_3 on 2015-07-31. Score: 2
  
  More bits mean more possible values for each channel. So each channel in an 8 bit image has 256 possible values, from 0 to 255, while a 10 bit channel has 4 times as many: 0 to 1024.
  
  Dynamic range however is the range between the brightest sample a sensor chip can encode and the darkest - it is a property of the sensor. So you could conceivably have an 8 bit sensor with a wider dynamic range than a 10 bit sensor if it could resolve very bright and dark images, it would just have fewer steps between these than a 10 bit sensor with the same dynamic range.
  
  
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