How many colours can YOUR eyes perceive?

[admin_exported]

After seeing that Philips claim some of their TV's can display 225 trillion(!) colours, I thought 'I wonder if our eyes can even perceive this many'. this article: http://ask.yahoo.com/20041227.html would seem to suggest rather less than this figure, at around 10 million. Bit of a difference!

I've just placed an order for their 47PFL8404, after deliberating for months on a replacement for a 46" Samsung which replaced another Samsung(see my other posts for details if you're intersted). A bit left field as there doesn't seem to be many reviews on Philips TV's but they have a 28 day money back guarantee so i will send it straight back if it's not up to scratch. Many of their previous sets seem to have received favorable reviews though.

After waiting months for the Panasonic G15 i wasn't very impressed- the pictures I'd seen looked flickery or juddery. Sony's 46"WE5 was another on my shortlist but i can only seem to find it in white. And I'm put off Samsung by my previous problems and seeing that there are quite a few other people who have had faulty sets or other problems with them.

Anyway, will post my findings as soon as i've got the set and adjusted it's plethora of settings!

Wish me luck because all this research and decision -making has taken it out of me! 

 

[aliEnRIK]

Theres far more to 'picture quality' than colour range

 

[Andrew Everard]

Imagine the frustration of getting all the way to 224,999,999,999,999,999,973 and then losing count!

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, can someone name the colours for me as I'm having some trouble doing it myself..................

 

[JoelSim]

Andrew Everard:Imagine the frustration of getting all the way to 224,999,999,999,999,999,973 and then losing count!

That's surprisingly funny...

I didn't think you did funny Mr E

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

As video is 8 bit for all sources (TV, DVD, Blu-ray) and likely to be for at least the next decade, that is what limits the colour saturation and hue available. Of course it doesn't stop manufacturers adding in 48bit deep colour and millions of alleged colours, but you have to remember that what they are adding, is not in the content you are watching. So, what they are doing is adding lots of over saturation (and marketing jargon) and if you use these 'features' it is changing the content by adding in what shouldn't be there in the first place. It certainly doesn't make things any better and in the majority of cases adds in extra image artefacts. The only useful addition is improved colour gradation (steps between colours and greyscale) which when done correctly can help to achieve a more accurate image to the original 35mm print. Any process that widens the colour gamut (that will be every TV on the market in dynamic and standard modes) actually changes the intent of the content producers and adds artefacts.

Maybe Manufacturers should stop looking for the biggest number for marketing their TVs and actually try and produce them so you get to see what was intended to be seen, and not 'extra' content that was never supposed to be there.

There are many areas that make up a good image, colour accuracy and colourimetry are important, but just two parts of the mix. And again, video colour (even in HD) is limited by being 8 bit, there is no way to accurately add any more.

Oh and as the latest TVs claim contrast ratios of so many millions to one, its worth remembering that human vision can maybe manage 400:1 in good conditions. So as usual its the marketing departments who seem to be pushing TV development and not the actual engineers, who should know better...

 

[Anonymous]

Excicely Presactly, David.ÿ

Joking aside, I completely agree.ÿ

Can't wait to get a 46" screen back after having to resort back to my 26" ÿfor the last four months.(26" screen, boys & girls, screen. Minds in the gutter..)

Then i can start counting those colours...

Well, there's beige & mocha & pistachio & rose-hip &...

Sure Jacob didn't have all those hues on his so-called technicolour coat. ÿCharlatan!ÿ

 

[John Duncan]

Three.

 

[Andrew Everard]

225 trillion and one required now, given that the guys in the office have Sky Sports News on all the time there's no cricket, and I spotted Celtic's new hi-viz roadmender/night police away shirt being shown off in all its luminescent glory yesterday morning

 

[aliEnRIK]

David Fuller:
As video is 8 bit for all sources (TV, DVD, Blu-ray) and likely to be for at least the next decade, that is what limits the colour saturation and hue available. Of course it doesn't stop manufacturers adding in 48bit deep colour and millions of alleged colours, but you have to remember that what they are adding, is not in the content you are watching. So, what they are doing is adding lots of over saturation (and marketing jargon) and if you use these 'features' it is changing the content by adding in what shouldn't be there in the first place. It certainly doesn't make things any better and in the majority of cases adds in extra image artefacts. The only useful addition is improved colour gradation (steps between colours and greyscale) which when done correctly can help to achieve a more accurate image to the original 35mm print. Any process that widens the colour gamut (that will be every TV on the market in dynamic and standard modes) actually changes the intent of the content producers and adds artefacts.

Maybe Manufacturers should stop looking for the biggest number for marketing their TVs and actually try and produce them so you get to see what was intended to be seen, and not 'extra' content that was never supposed to be there.

There are many areas that make up a good image, colour accuracy and colourimetry are important, but just two parts of the mix. And again, video colour (even in HD) is limited by being 8 bit, there is no way to accurately add any more.

Oh and as the latest TVs claim contrast ratios of so many millions to one, its worth remembering that human vision can maybe manage 400:1 in good conditions. So as usual its the marketing departments who seem to be pushing TV development and not the actual engineers, who should know better...

Completely true that David. Many MANY people have bought a PS3 and stuck it on FULL RGB ('deep colour')believing they have deep colour viewing

All it does is REMAP to 0-255 scale but still in 8 bit which means its usually slightly WORSE due to the conversion process involved

There is one download im aware of that uses deel colour (life), but aside from that its next to useless

(ps ~ not so sure about your 400:1 ratio though)