Which statement is true about a 4-bit system's grayscale depth?

Which statement is true about a 4-bit system's grayscale depth?

• A. It can display 4 shades of gray
• B. It can display 16 shades of gray
• C. It can display 256 shades
• D. It cannot display grayscale

Answer: (B)

Grayscale depth is the number of distinct brightness levels a pixel can represent. Each bit doubles the possibilities, so with four bits you can encode 2^4 = 16 different brightness values. Those levels typically range from 0 (black) to 15 (white), giving 16 shades of gray in between. That’s why the statement that it can display 16 shades is true. The idea of only four shades would require fewer bits, and 256 shades would need eight bits, while grayscale means there are multiple brightness steps, which a 4-bit pixel provides.

Grayscale depth is the number of distinct brightness levels a pixel can represent. Each bit doubles the possibilities, so with four bits you can encode 2^4 = 16 different brightness values. Those levels typically range from 0 (black) to 15 (white), giving 16 shades of gray in between. That’s why the statement that it can display 16 shades is true. The idea of only four shades would require fewer bits, and 256 shades would need eight bits, while grayscale means there are multiple brightness steps, which a 4-bit pixel provides.