Dithering is used by imaging software to make a 256-color image look 
like it has more color depth than it actually has.  In some images, the 
256-color image can look exactly the same as a 24-bit original.

It accomplishes this by determining an optimal palette of 256 colors, 
then using a "fuzz" algorithm to make 24-bit color values pick a nearby 
palette entry.

The effect can be seen with an up-close inspection, but is invisible to 
the casual viewer.

So, my question is this: has anyone done or seen any research on 
dithering a 48-bit image to 24-bit?

My own efforts haven't been successful, but I seriously want to pursue 
this because I think it could substantially improve the perceived 
quality of 24-bit images, particularly those with a lot of gray shadowy 
areas.

The ultimate effect is that a 24-bit image could look nearly as good as 
a 48-bit one, and most importantly, the improvement would be visible on 
commodity hardware.

-Ryan

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