.... use all the 256 grey scale values. ?

1) I noticed that on scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), there is often "Auto
Contrast / Brightness" settings.  When you use it, I find that it often gives
you a histogram that "wastes" at least a third to half of the 256 grey scale
values, with at least the top and bottom 1/6 unused.

2) I looked at some NASA images from the Mercury mission. ( http://is.gd/cgqJdp
) I noticed that for most of the images, they too left unused half of the 256
values.

3) Then there is the never-ending controversy over calibrated monitors.
Shouldn't people save time, and just tweak the lighting in the scene so that  a
proper distribution of grey (or RGB) values are used?

Am I missing something or is everyone else in the world missing something?

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