{"id":359559,"date":"2021-03-16T15:46:22","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T15:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/?post_type=learning-centre&p=359559"},"modified":"2026-07-14T03:50:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:50:39","slug":"8-bit-or-10-bit-video-colour-explained","status":"publish","type":"learning-centre","link":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-gb\/learning-centre\/8-bit-or-10-bit-video-colour-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"8-Bit or 10-Bit? Video Colour Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether it\u2019s stills or video you\u2019re creating, it\u2019s good to know how to get the best image quality. After all, it\u2019s always annoying when you\u2019ve framed a great moment on film only to find it doesn\u2019t look quite as clear or striking as you thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as stills have various levels of quality to choose from, in video there are different levels of image quality, too. In the case of your FUJIFILM X Series camera, this partly comes down to a choice of recording in either 8-bit or 10-bit mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what do these settings really mean? How much difference do they make to the quality of your footage? And how do you set them up when required? We take a look at it all right here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does 8-Bit and 10-Bit Quality Mean for You?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the factors that determine quality of an image \u2013 stills or video \u2013 is colour depth or bit depth. They\u2019re the same thing. This is simply a measure of how many shades and colours it\u2019s possible for the camera to record and, all other things being equal, the more colours there are, the more nuanced and higher quality the footage can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You\u2019ll also see 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 written alongside 8-bit and 10-bit settings. This describes the method of processing colour in the recording, and the 4:2:2 setting is more accurate as it samples more colours from the scene. However, the latter takes greater processing power, so is more limited in its availability and how it can be recorded, and also creates larger file sizes. The 4:2:0 option is fine for most situations where you won\u2019t need to do a lot of manipulation in post-production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does 10-Bit Colour Improve Quality?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All images recorded by a digital camera are made up of red, green, and blue colour information, and it\u2019s how these colour \u2018channels\u2019 mix that creates a full colour picture. So, when the camera is set to record in 8-bit video mode, it can capture footage with 256 levels of each colour. This means a potential of more than 16.7 million colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you switch the quality setting to 10-bit video, you\u2019ll then be recording 1024 levels of colour in each channel and this means the potential for just over a billion different colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s worth mentioning that there\u2019s nothing wrong with 8-bit colour. In fact, it\u2019s the mode used across almost all of the video you see displayed on your TV or online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Should You Pick 10-Bit Over 8-Bit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The thing is, most viewing devices \u2013 be that your TV, computer monitor, smartphone, or anything else \u2013 will only display an 8-bit signal anyway, and even if you play 10-bit video on them, it\u2019ll look just the same. So, what\u2019s the point of 10-bit video?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really, it\u2019s all about getting extra control and quality when editing. The greater the number of colours available, the more aggressively you\u2019ll be able to edit the brightness, contrast, and colour in the footage without it losing quality. So, whereas an adjustment to the sky in an 8-bit video might end up showing banding \u2013 strips of solid colour that should look smooth \u2013 10-bit footage has the extra information required to fill these \u2018gaps\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a stills photographer, you\u2019ll notice a similar difference when editing JPEGs and RAWs. JPEG files will break apart more quickly than RAW files when their data is pushed and stretched as you alter the colour and contrast, because they contain less colour information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo \u00a9 Justin Black<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Are the Restrictions of 10-Bit Video?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On some X Series cameras, you can record 10-bit video directly to the cards in the camera, but only in the 4:2:0 format. If you want to record better quality, which is 10-bit 4:2:2, you\u2019ll need to connect the camera to an external recorder via the HDMI port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The higher quality of 10-bit video also means the files it creates are comparatively larger than 8-bit videos, so they take up more space in storage and more processing power when editing. The extra quality can be worth it, but only if it\u2019s required in your workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Find the Settings You Need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the MOVIE SETTING menu, find the H.265(HEVC)\/H.264 option and scroll right. Here, you can pick between H.264 that lets you record 8-bit 4:2:0 video to the internal cards, and 10-bit 4:2:2 to an external recorder. These terms refer to something called the codec, which is the method of image compression. Pick H.265(HEVC) and you can record 10-bit 4:2:0 video to the internal cards and 10-bit 4:2:2 video to an external recorder.<\/p>\n\n\n

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