YCbCr color coding

[qp6019352]

Originally Posted by saintfrenz

Ah I see. So "HDMI Black Level" actually refers to the RGB range?

Yes, I already told you this in my very first reply, see:

Originally Posted by qp6019352

On Samsung TVs, the option is usually called "HDMI Black Level", which can be set to "Low" or "Normal".

Originally Posted by qp6019352

If so, how is the mapping? HDMI Black Level "Low" is RGB 16-135 Limited Range I presume?

Yes, I think so. But as you said, you can easily see this anyway:

0-255 source on 0-255 display = all fine
0-255 source on 16-235 display = clipped black detail (i.e. details are missing) and crushed colors
16-235 source on 16-235 display = all fine
16-235 source on 0-255 display = black looks gray and everything looks washed out and bleached

Originally Posted by qp6019352

BTW, the TV does allow switching HDMI Black Levels even when in PC mode

Okay, but anyway, you should note that:

PCs always render at 0-255 RGB internally natively. Windows always renders in 0-255. Even when you switch your graphics driver to 16-235, it will simply compress 0-255 into 16-235 instead of really rendering at 16-235. So, it's always best to output at Full Range RGB (0-255) with a PC, since that is what it is natively rendering in. So, the display should also be configured to 0-255. Also, please note that PCs always render natively in 4:4:4. RGB is always 4:4:4 (full chroma and luma resolution).

16-235 is used for video content, i.e. for Blu-ray Disc, HDTV and so on. Video content usually is YCbCr, not RGB. And YCbCr is always 16-235. Besides, most video content is 4:2:0, not 4:4:4, i.e. you only get 960x540 color (chroma) resolution on a 1080p video/movie for example.