Colour depth and grayscale

Each LED pixel is red, green, and blue. Bit depth is how many intensity steps each of those colours can take. An 8-bit channel has 256 steps. Three channels at 8 bits is the familiar RGB888, about 16.7 million colours. People also call the grey steps grayscale or greyscale.

Higher bit depths (10-bit, 12-bit, 16-bit per channel on some systems) spread those steps finer. Gradients look smoother. Dark scenes hold more detail. The catch is bandwidth: more bits per pixel means more data on the cables and more work for the drivers and receive cards.

For a school gym scoreboard showing logos and scores, solid 8-bit or 10-bit processing is usually enough. Broadcast walls, close-view corporate rooms, and HDR-minded installs push harder. Ask what the full chain supports (processor, receive card, and drivers), not only what the sales slide claims.