A 4-bit system is capable of a maxima of ___ shades of gray.

A 4-bit system is capable of a maxima of ___ shades of gray.

• A. 8
• B. 16
• C. 32
• D. 64

Answer: (B)

In digital imaging, the number of distinct grayscale levels you can represent per pixel equals 2 raised to the power of the number of bits used per pixel. Each additional bit doubles the possible brightness values. With 4 bits, you have 2^4 = 16 possible brightness levels, typically labeled from 0 (black) to 15 (white). So the maximum shades of gray is 16.

In digital imaging, the number of distinct grayscale levels you can represent per pixel equals 2 raised to the power of the number of bits used per pixel. Each additional bit doubles the possible brightness values. With 4 bits, you have 2^4 = 16 possible brightness levels, typically labeled from 0 (black) to 15 (white). So the maximum shades of gray is 16.