POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.general : Smoothing 8 bit greyscale images : Re: Smoothing 8 bit greyscale images Server Time
9 Aug 2024 19:37:27 EDT (-0400)
  Re: Smoothing 8 bit greyscale images  
From: Tor Olav Kristensen
Date: 8 Jul 2000 15:12:17
Message: <39677C87.231BD1F9@online.no>
Thorsten Froehlich wrote:
> 
> ...
> A computer screen can only display 8 bits per colour component, which also
> limits it to 256 (8 bit) levels of grey.  You will not be able to see the
> difference on screen if you use 65536 (16 bit) levels of grey.
> 
> 16 bit per colour component or 16 bit greyscale for output are only useful
> if you plan to post process the image in a program like PhotoShop, i.e. in
> order to print it.


Hmmm... Hmmmm... Hmmmmm....

Are you really sure about this ?

I thought that most of today's monitors can show as 
many different levels of grey (monochrome) as the 
graphics adapter (video card) can produce. 
This is because they are analogue.

(There are of coarse limitations. Because the 
bandwidth of the monitor's electronic, phosphor and 
optical parts is limited. Another limiting factor
is presence of noise; both electrical and "optical".)

And yes; if the D/A-converter(s) on the video card
are only 8 bit (RGB: 3*8bit = 24bit), then max 256
different monochrome levels can be produced by it.

But if one for instance has a video card with 3 
D/A-converters, each with 12-bits, then it could 
produce 4096 levels of grey.


Tor Olav
--
mailto:tor### [at] hotmailcom
http://www.crosswinds.net/~tok/tokrays.html


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