There have been a few threads on this here lately. Since I couldn't find the exact thread and post with comments by others and my one on this, I'm including an abbreviated recreation below.
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32-bit Floating Point Video Processing

"Surpass traditional 10-bit standards with 32-bit floating point video processing. Take advantage of greater color range for more vivid colors, reduced gradient banding and posterization for smoother color transitions, linear light capability for optically correct compositing, and many other precision enhancements."
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From what I understand as a layperson, the keyword is "processing" -- and not output. Meaning that your project settings will determine the end result as rendered files, but while in the kitchen, you'll get spicier work done :)

For more in-depth understanding of higher bit process, see the article on Creative Cow about Premier's 32-bit float color processing and why it matters in overall editing.

A bit techie but supports what I see as a boon since Vegas has now incorporated a similar engine.



Last, but not least, I can't remember who did so, but one of the moderators or someone with credentials and access to pre-release V-8 made a few short clips posted here showing the difference between 8 and 32-bit.

The difference is subtle in color depth, but definitely there.

Whenever editing digital mediums (photos, audio or video) there are always artifacts introduced when things are altered. The more you edit and alter things, the more artifacts show up. Eventually the artifacts become noticeable and unpleasant.

The amount of artifact introduced depends on not only what alterations you are making but the resolution of the material being altered. The higher the resolution of the original material the lower the percentage of artifacts get introduced into the result.

One way around this problem is to up-sample and increase the resolution of the material being edited prior to the first edit. The editing then takes place on the higher resolution version minimizing artifacts and then the resolution is returned to the original resolution after the last edit in the chain. Floating point not only reduces the graininess with a higher resolution but minimizes artifacts in material that spreads itself across a lower threshold of dynamics. It allows maximum resolution regardless of the level of detail involved.

Exactly how SONY incorporates this idea I cannot say.

So this means our videos will look better,----clearer, with more vivid colour.
Cool
And thank you, Sony Claus!
My stocking's up!
As for PP and FCP,----you better watch OUT!!!

"As for PP and FCP,----you better watch OUT!!!"

Blind loyalty does nothing. Seriously, I dont think either of those companies are too concerned with Sony's new offering. Dont get me wrong, I love Vegas as much as the next person but remember, Vegas is just a tool for your toolbox and if anything, Vegas is just catching up. Watching out would mean Vegas is surpassing them and that wont happen until 64bit is released at the earliest but I expect Adobe to release a 64bit update/upgrade at NAB 2008 which is when I expect Vegas 64 to be released as well.

p@mast3rs,

I don't sense that Sherman is tilting into prejudicial loyality, blind ot otherwise. He just sounds jazzed about V-8's imminent release. He ain't alone, that's for sure.

Not everyone has a "my app is better than yours" ax to grind :p

Image processing involves computation, because all the data is in the form of numbers. Numbers are written in "words" (a series of bits), so the accuracy of the stored decimal number (floating point) is greater when there are many bits to represent it. Each arithmetic process accumulates errors according to the precision of the numbers involved and the complexity of the process. There is a lot of arithmetic involved in image processing, every step accumulating errors. Image processing computers (such as SGI machines) employ 128 and 256 bit processing, so the 32 and 64 bit floating point capabilities of our machines is relatively crude.
In our video the camera records pixel data as 8 or 10 bit numbers, with the potential error in whether or not that last bit should be a 1 or a 0. Do the processing at 8 bit resolution and very quickly errors would accumulate to distort colour, resolution and graduation of tones. So the first thing is to store the data as 32 bit words (or two 16bit) to restrain errors generated in arithmetic transformations, so when a result is written back the accumulated errors are confined to the bits to the "right" of the first 8 or 10 bits of each word.
So 32 or 64 bit processing doesn't mean that our videos will have finer resolution, but (as others have said), the results will be better.

Thanks, Serena, for lifting the curtain on how math makes videos look better.
Any way we can find to restrain errors is a step forward, IMHO.
Let's hear it for floating bits and more of them.
Hear, hear!

As for product loyality, I also have a Sony Alarm clock,---'cause it was on sale at Sears, and a Panasonic camera 'cause I like the pictures it produces.
I know little about Sony or Panasonic,----but I love my camera and my alarm clock got me up in time to download VP8.

I usually stayed away from the gradients in Vegas, specifically because of how they looked. Sometimes it's nice to darken the sky for better contrast, but you could always "see" the gradient, as it wouldn't blend well with the video.

In VP8, it's a different story. Here's a clip of a church. I added a gradient on top and on the bottom, added some mild glow and then topped it off in B&W (4 filters total). The gradient settings are identical on both 32 and 8.

You'll see the original first, then the 32, followed by the 8. There is also a text sample at the end that I did for another forum.

Audio only on that clip D.
Unless my mediaplayer's on the fritz.