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So how does one tell whether a monitor is 6-bit or 8-bit?

I went a-Googling for that before I saw your message, and here's the best thing I found. (A surprising number of 404s and forbiddens on most test pattern images.) This article [1] has a test image: http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00G/00GkGu-302804... which has a grey gradient across the bottom. Zoom in (Firefox zoom is fine), and then look very closely at the pixels. If you see a dither pattern in most of the cells, you've got 6-bit. If it's smooth and unpatterned, you've got 8-bit.

I have 6-bit, but it's also higher res. Dithering is less of a problem in that scenario. But having seen it clearly, now I understand why you shouldn't do video-intensive work on this sort of display.

1: http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00GkGu

If you can't tell by sight, then you don't need it.

If I have two monitors side-by-side, one 8-bit and one 6-bit, I'm pretty sure I could see the difference (just like, as an audio engineer, I can clearly hear the difference between high end monitors and consumer speakers). The question is...how do I know, if I don't know? You know?

I have multiple monitors, but the only one that I knew was 8-bit (a high end Viewsonic intended for designers, and from a time when specs were easy to find and very clear and generally accurate, at least on high end devices) has long since left the stable as it was only 19". I'm certain the differences are subtle, as they are in good consumer speakers vs. good studio monitors. But, it'd be nice to know if what I'm working with is altering my perception of things. Particularly as I've just done several thousand dollars worth of design work for print on my new laptop which may or may not have an accurate display. It's just nice to know what I'm dealing with is all.

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