I admit when guitarman told me the HD1000U and HD70 were 10bit over analog and 8bit over digital I was a bit skeptical but I just thought of something: Don't HDMI cables max out at 8-bit? If I recall the big deal with HDMI 1.3 is that it can carry 10bit, 12bit, and I think 16bit to provide better color whereas HDMI 1.1 and 1.2 maxed out at 8bit. Not sure how well component performs in this regard but am I missing something or is 8bit currently the max for HDMI? If that's the case then even if the HD70 really did max out at 8bit, which thanks to guitarman I'm inclined to believe it does not, then the HD1000U's 10bit advantage would mean pretty much jack if you're using HDMI.

PLEASE, not this again!!! I don't know the answer and I don't care. My HD1000 looks great with HDMI and component. That's all I need to know.

My god man just buy a projector, 8 bit 10 bit it's not the end of the world.

My god man just buy a projector, 8 bit 10 bit it's not the end of the world.

Jeez I was just making an observation and was curious if I was right or not, take a chill pill. I've already decided on the HD70 anyway for the extra year waranty, cheaper price, and cheaper bulb anyway.

The HD70 is now cheaper?

Yeah, right now VisualApex at least has the '70 cheaper than you can find the '1000U anywhere except ProjectorPeople (with the coupon).

What coupon are you talking about from PP?

No, the 10-bit refers to the internal processing, not the video that is being transmitted. The video is sent as 8-bit, but when it reaches the projector it can be processed with more bits.

The HDMI cable doesn't care. The number of bits (8, 10, 12, or more) is a fundtion of the transmitting chip (in the source) and the receiving chip (in the display). The lowest level, at either end, will control the number of bits that will be transferred between the two. Most PJs do a good job with 8 bit data. More bits means that you can display more color shades. Whether this makes a difference or not depends as much on your eyes as it does on your electronics.

Regardless, both the HD1000U and HD70 provide an excellent picture.

The HD70 is now cheaper?

$800 at dell.com

"whereas HDMI 1.1 and 1.2 maxed out at 8bit. "

Nope, 12bit if 4:2:2 component.

Shawn

Quote from THIS (http://www.audioholics.com/education/display-formats-technology/understanding-hdmi-ver-1.3) HDMI explanation link.

Current HDTV broadcasts (and the current HDMI standard) uses 8-bit color depth. The new HDMI 1.3a standard with Deep Color capability expands the number of colors viewable on an HDTV from millions to billions, while eliminating color banding and subtle gradations between colors through the use of 10-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit color depths. It is vitally important to understand that every movie ever transferred to DVD or any other digital format has been done using 8-bit color depth.