10-bit color depth for NUC 10 with ASUS PA329C

[ThS]

Hello

I have recently got a new NUC 10 (NUC10i5FNK) and a new ASUS PA329 screen.

According to product documentation, both units support 10-bit color depth (10b). However, I am not able to get 10b in any other way than activating HDR in Windows, which limits the color settings of the screen to the HDR color setting (HDR_PQ Rec2020). It is not possible to get 10b with sRGB, Adobe or any other color setting.

Also, I am only able to get 10b for HDR via USB-C. I have tried several HDMI cables, including high-end 2.1 cables, with no success.

The OS of the NUC is Windows 10, 64b, Pro, 2004/H1, the BIOS version is 0046 9/28/2020 and the graphics version is 27.20.100.8853.

The screen driver is the latest (and only) version available from ASUS v. 1.0, 2018-12-17.

When I try to change the color depth via the graphics card settings, there are a large number of resolutions listed, but all are 8b/32b (Settings > Display > Advanced display settings > List All Modes, on Adapter tab).

I have contacted ASUS support, who gave the following response: “We can’t do anything, as it’s the graphic processor in his machine that decides what color deeps it’s able to output.”

Is there any way to get the 10b color depth that I hoped for?

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello ThS, 

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.   

I would like to clarify that the Intel® graphics drivers do not enable 10/12-bit by default, and there is no option in our user interface (i.e. Intel® Graphics Command Center) or Windows to manually change it. Back then, during driver development, the Operating Sytstem (OS) itself was limited to 8-bit, so the driver implemented said approach and only switches to 10/12-bit when the content displayed is 10/12-bit and based on DirectX. Intel® is working on improving the user interface to allow users to manually select the preferred Color Depth, however; until said update is available the only way to enable 10/12-bit is going to be through the OS own settings (Windows > Display Settings > Windows HD Color Settings), and enable (High Dynamic Range ) or WCC (Wide Color Gamut). 

So we can have more information about this problem, please include the following reports (include one using your HDMI connection, and another one using USB-C):  

1. Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) and attach the report generated:  

• Open the application, check the "Everything" box, and click on "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View".   
• Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".   
• To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save".   
• Use the option under the reply window to attach the report to the thread (Drag and drop here or browse files to attach).  

2. Provide the Report for Intel® Graphics Drivers, follow this link. 

Regards, 

Sebastian M  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[ThS]

Hello Sebastian,

Thank you for outlining the background on the situation.

Any chance that there is some information on when the general improvement on the situation can be expected?

Please find the output from the Intel SSU attached for the two different connections.

Thank you

Thommy  

[ThS]

And here is the Diagnostic report from the Intel Graphics Command Center. 

/Thommy 

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello ThS,  

Thank you for the information. 

In regards to our user interface having the option to manually select the color depth, there is not estimated time yet.  

Please let me review this information internally, once we have an update we will post it on this thread.  

Regards,  

Sebastian M   

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi ThS and Sebastian,

If I am reading the issue description correctly, this article may explain the expected behavior: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057279/graphics/graphics-for-8th-generation-intel-processors.html in short: the color depth will be set as per the OS configuration which correlates with the issue description: not able to get 10-bit color depth in any other way than activating HDR in Windows.

Regards,

Ronny G

[ThS]

Thank you for the update

It is not clear to me how the article referred to explains the fact that I can get limited 10b support via USB-C but not via HDMI.

Anyway, given that the NUC gives 10b only for the HDR color setting of the ASUS PA329 screen and there is no time plan for improvement, NUCs do not seem to be a viable platform for 10b content.

I did not expect the NUC to be a gaming or video platform, but I had hoped to be able to use it for photos.  

In retrospect, I would have appreciated if the Intel product documentation on the NUC had been clearer on this matter in order to prevent customer disappointment: It would have spared me the time and money to purchase, install, evaluate, analyze and try to sell the unit.

Thank you

Thommy 

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi ThS,

I am really sorry to hear that our product is not meeting your expectations and that this could be a product documentation related issue.

Can you please point me to the specific section within our documentation that needs to be improved?

I reviewed the Product Technical Specification https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/intel-nuc/NUC10i357FN_TechProdSpec.pdf and the HDR White Paper  https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/graphics/HDR_Intel_Graphics_TechWhitePaper.pdf but I cannot find any misleading information. I would definitely agree that the last one needs to be updated.

Also, make reference to article: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057279/graphics/graphics-for-8th-generation-intel-processors.html 

Please let me know your comments.

Regards,

Ronny G

[ThS]

Thank you for looking into this

In the documents referred to, I see no clear explicit information making clear the behavior of my setup.

From my point of view, the problem is not that the documentation is explicitly misleading: the problem is that the functionality has to be inferred from implicit information, if understandable at all.

Sec. 1.5.1.1 of NUC10i357FN TechProdSpec states: “HDMI 2.0b supports High Dynamic Range and 10-bit sampling. HDR requires use of appropriate software and display hardware.” This is the one mentioning of 10-bit I can find in the document.

Neither do I find clear explicit information among the many documents linked from the page: Support information for Intel® UHD Graphics 620.   

You could argue that the ASUS PA329C is not listed in the compatibility database for NUC10i5FNK, but the specifications of the screen should meet the requirement.  After all, this is a recently introduced high-end screen from the professional ProArt line of screens from ASUS. Also, the options for the customers of NUCs would be quite limited, in case they should confine themselves to the products listed and not trust product specifications.

Considering the growing interest and importance of 4/8K, HDR and wide gamut, I think it would be to the advantage of Intel if the documentation was clearer on this matter; especially, as the NUC is fully controlled by Intel, except, the screen, its cable, and the keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, from my side you can consider this case closed.

Thank you

Thommy

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi ThS,

Thanks again for your feedback, we take this very seriously and will submit your suggestion via the internal process that we have created to implement recommendations provided by customers.

Thanks again,

Ronny G 

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello ThS,   

Thanks for the clarification. 

We understand your position and also apologize for the inconvinience. 

Please remember that we are investigating this internally. Once we have more information to share we will post it on this thread. 

Regards,   

Sebastian M    

Intel Customer Support Technician   

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello ThS,   

We want to thank you very much for the feedback provided. I would like to let you know that this feedback will be shared internally with the team in charge. 

We will proceed to close this inquiry as per your request. If you have any additional questions, please submit a new post and we will gladly assist you.  

Regards,   

Sebastian M    

Intel Customer Support Technician