> > From: "Peter Loveday" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 2006/09/06 Wed AM 10:48:42 GMT > To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Advantage of increased colour depth? > > > In theory I think you could gain 4 stops. One stop is x2 > > more light, so x2^4 should translate to 4 stops. > > Yep, 1 stop == 1 bit, conveniently. > > > However, that requires a linear intensity response from > > the sensor and the same size of the steps. If you just put > > 16bit within the same dynamic range that is covered by > > the 12 bit you may get better nuances but not dynamic range.... > > Well, technically you *do* get more dynamic range. Dynamic range is > basically the ratio between the smallest change measurable, and the largest > value measurable. So for 12 bit you basically have 4095:1 dynamic range; > for 16 bit 65535:1 dynamic range.
But this is not the same as "dynamic range" as has been historically used in photography, where it is taken to mean the range of ability to resolve from light to dark. > > What you choose to be maximum determines if you have over-exposure lattitude > or not, which is a different thing altogether. So in 16 bit, you could > shoot 4 stops underexposed, and get the same nuances as 12 bit, but with 4 > stops of over-exposure latitude. > > Nice in theory anyway.... Of course, in the real world the linearity comes > in to play as you say, but, as discussed previously, theres a point where > sensor noise makes more bits basically meaningless. > > Love, Light and Peace, > - Peter Loveday > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > ----------------------------------------- Email sent from www.ntlworld.com Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software Visit www.ntlworld.com/security for more information -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
