Deep Colour TV's

[Canada]

I was wondering if anybody knows when deep colour TV's will become more availible. I am starting to see them breakthrough into the market but they have yet to become as prevelent as I would have thought. I would think a lot of the 2009 model televisions would have deep colour capabilities, does this sound like a pipe dream.

I would like to pick up a new TV but I will not pick up one that doesn't have deep colour.

[kpkelley]

I don't see the point in a deep color TV, since none of the media(Tv, blu-ray, etc.) utilizes the techonology. HDMI 1.3a is deep color capable, but that doesn't matter because no one is releasing anything that uses.

I personally am waiting for the new TV technologies to come out, OLED and Laser, before I make a decision on a new set.

[DrasticPlastic]

Seeing as how there isn't really much of anything that supports deep color besides a few HD camcorders, I really see no point it worrying about it. My mitsubish DLP tv has HDMI 1.3 and supports it, but that wasn't a factor in my purchasing decision.

[HeavyHitter]

The upcoming Pioneer BD player will upsample BDs to Deep Color if you have a capable display. No idea how this will turn out though.

[callas01]

i think that most tv's with HDMIv1.3 support deep color.

here is an article about it

"So, What's This xvYCC and Deep Color?
xvYCC (also known as IEC 61966-2-4) expands the color-gamut triangle but does so as a standard across the board. This gives access to deeper colors—a redder red, if you will—for content providers and all the way down to you at home. Interestingly, xvYCC doesn't do this by changing the Rec.709 primaries. Instead, it uses those primaries as reference points for a whole lot of other math. Simply, it allows for more room around the current RGB triangle.

Deep Color increases the number of bits available for transmission for each channel. This means that there are more shades available for a TV to mix together. So, for example, a TV that accepts the new standard in 12-bit form can mix together any one of 4,096 shades (levels of brightness) of each primary color for 68.7 billion possible colors (4,096 red x 4,096 green x 4,096 blue = 68,719,476,736 colors). HDMI 1.2 could only transfer 8 bits per channel. So, there were only 256 shades of each color to choose from and fewer colors overall (256 x 256 x 256 = 16.7 million). These different shades help decrease artifacts (like color banding) and increase color fidelity. The visible picture-quality increase from 8 bits per channel to 10 or even 16 (in its highest 1.3 form) has been and is still being debated, but having the ability to transmit xvYCC and Deep Color sure can't hurt. Together, they mean that there will be more and better colors for future displays.

But There's a Catch
In order to make for a wider color gamut and a higher bit depth for even more realistic-looking displays (capable of creating a wider range of colors), every step in the chain needs to do that exact thing, as well. If the camera can only do Rec.709, it won't matter that your TV can do more than that, because that extra color isn't in the source (which is, uh, the situation we have now). If the camera can do xvYCC but the medium (say, HDTV broadcasts) can't, again, it won't matter that your TV can do it. In other words, for you to see the new colors, material will have to be shot, transferred, encoded, and mastered in xvYCC and Deep Color. Sure, you could fake the wider color gamut at the mastering stage, but this won't be true extra color.

Most importantly, the source itself (say, some future HD DVD or Blu-ray player) will have to be able to output the extra color (via HDMI 1.3 or greater) to get to your TV, which also has to be xvYCC and Deep Color capable. If any step doesn't have these, then you won't get the benefit.

With the fact that some TVs don't have enough bits to do the current standard correctly, while some have widely inaccurate color points, even this end of the chain isn't a given. It's a much bigger issue than just having the capability on the cable, isn't it?

A Step (All Is Not Lost)
The PlayStation 3 and PC create their own universe, so to speak, so they can do Deep Color now (if so enabled). Apparently, some camcorders will be coming to the market soon that can do xvYCC. So steps are being made to get content. As you can imagine, film itself isn't bound by these standards. Only the mastering is. So, creating the content isn't a huge obstacle. The issue is getting that content to the consumer.

Should I Throw Out My TV?
Just because it's in the HDMI spec doesn't mean you'll be seeing it fully implemented any time soon. Sony showed a prototype LCD panel at CEATEC in October that was xvYCC compliant. As you've read, such a TV is only one part of the equation and, in reality, is the easiest part (when and if it ever ships). We'll need source material—and a source to output it—that can also do xvYCC and Deep Color (other than just a PC, PS3, or camcorder). Apparently, now that there is a way to transfer it, studios and manufacturers are both getting more interested in xvYCC and Deep Color. So, in other words, these are great ideas with lots of promise that we may see, but not any time soon."