My D-Cinelike metadata shows that the footage is 4:2:0 10 bit. Can anyone explain the practical difference between this and 4:2:2 10 bit? Is this a cut-down version of 'proper' 10 bit?

Short answer. If you have to ask this question. then probably wouldn't make a difference for you. long answer, read this:

https://www.diyphotography.net/i ... ifference-over-420/

Hi JerryLaurence, 4:2:0 10 bit is just fine imho, it's not a cut down version, it had been a standard for 10 bit HDR video on portable drones, until Mavic 3 Cine arrival that is able to do 4:2:2 ProRes. I think even Mavic 2 Pro, which used to be a go to portable large size drone for many pro videographers has 10 bit 4:2:0 sub sampling and this drone is still great today even though it is showing some age with Mavic 3 arrival. Also btw some HDR monitors do sub sampling at high refresh rates. Some 4k HDR monitors do 4:2:0 color sub samping at frequency over 98hz for example and display 8bit + FRC at that refresh rate.

That’s very helpful. Would it be fair to say that 10bit 4:2:0 is far superior to 8bit 4:2:0 due to the vast increase in colour values, but that it would be hard to see the difference between 10bit 4:2:0 and 10bit 4:2:2 in everyday footage?

JerryLaurence Posted at 5-31 09:29
That’s very helpful. Would it be fair to say that 10bit 4:2:0 is far superior to 8bit 4:2:0 due to the vast increase in colour values, but that it would be hard to see the difference between 10bit 4:2:0 and 10bit 4:2:2 in everyday footage?

Hi Jerry,

   Yes 10 bit 4:2:0 is far superior than 8 bit 4:2:0 , the difference is millions of colors in 8 bit vs almost a billion of colors in 10 bit. You would especially see the difference in the sky smooth color gradients with 10 bit vs potential banding in 8 bit. Also normally 10 bit (HDR) normally comes with difference in contrast handling,  8 bit pretty much contrast ranging from 0 to 250 nits on average, with 10 bit (HDR) contrast ranges from 0 to 700 nits (i.e. for DJI standard 10 bit Mavic 3 default in camera luminance capture). The luminance of 10 bit HDR color could also be easily exported I believe in up to 10,000 nits of brightness when using Dolby Vision workflows, but the current standard is for consumer devices from 400 nits on OLED displays to maybe 1000 nits on back lit LCD (QLED - quantum dot filter )  with HDR TVs / HDR monitors (on average).

Thanks, Mike.