bit depth

Definition: Measure of amount of information that can be registered by a computer peripheral, hence used as measure of resolution of a variable such as colour or density. * One bit can register two states or 21: either 0 or 1, hence e.g. either white or black; 8-bit can register 256 states or 2 to power of 8 e.g. visually quite an unbroken transition from black to white. * Greater bit depth is generally to be preferred as it allows programmers more room to work with but carries overhead of needing exponentially more computer processing.

Related Terms: 24-bit

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