Which bit depth yields 32 shades of gray?

Which bit depth yields 32 shades of gray?

• A. 4-bit
• B. 5-bit
• C. 6-bit
• D. 8-bit

Answer: (B)

Shades of gray in a digital image come from how many levels you can represent per pixel. The number of distinct gray levels equals 2 raised to the power of the bit depth. To get 32 different gray levels, you need 2^n = 32, which gives n = 5. So five-bit depth yields 32 shades of gray. By comparison, four bits give 16 levels, six bits 64 levels, and eight bits 256 levels.

Shades of gray in a digital image come from how many levels you can represent per pixel. The number of distinct gray levels equals 2 raised to the power of the bit depth. To get 32 different gray levels, you need 2^n = 32, which gives n = 5. So five-bit depth yields 32 shades of gray. By comparison, four bits give 16 levels, six bits 64 levels, and eight bits 256 levels.