According to Silicon Optix (who should know better than anyone), all consumer-grade digital video formats currently available or in development (including Blu-Ray) are 8-bit. 10-bit digital video is limited to a few very pricey commercial platforms.
That's really great information, Gonk. You may wish to paste your full post on the "protocols" thread just in case someone is not following this discussion on this one.
The idea - if Silicon Optix is correct - that 8 bit is basically all we're going to get as consumers - even with Blu-Ray (and, I'm assuming HDDVD as well) means there is no reason to fret (as I have been doing) over only having DVI inputs/output on the 990. In my mind, waiting a year or so for a pre/pro with HDMI in/out would have been a logical decision until I found out what you reported from Outlaw.
I suppose it does, though, leave the issue of potential chip problems with some source HDMI outputs...