What is the maximum number of shades of gray in an 8-bit digital scan converter?

What is the maximum number of shades of gray in an 8-bit digital scan converter?

• A. 16
• B. 32
• C. 64
• D. 256

Answer: (D)

Shades of gray in a digital image come from the bit depth, and each extra bit doubles the number of brightness levels. With eight bits, you can represent 2^8 = 256 distinct gray values, typically ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white). So the maximum number of shades of gray in an 8-bit digital scan converter is 256. The other options correspond to using fewer bits: 4 bits give 16 levels, 5 bits give 32 levels, and 6 bits give 64 levels.

Shades of gray in a digital image come from the bit depth, and each extra bit doubles the number of brightness levels. With eight bits, you can represent 2^8 = 256 distinct gray values, typically ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white). So the maximum number of shades of gray in an 8-bit digital scan converter is 256. The other options correspond to using fewer bits: 4 bits give 16 levels, 5 bits give 32 levels, and 6 bits give 64 levels.