Which parameter controls the number of gray shades per pixel?

Which parameter controls the number of gray shades per pixel?

• A. Pixel Pitch
• B. Bit Depth
• C. Exposure Latitude
• D. Image Latitude

Answer: (B)

Bit depth determines how many discrete gray levels a pixel can encode. Each pixel’s intensity is stored as a binary value, and the total number of gray shades is 2 raised to the power of the bit depth. For example, 8 bits yields 256 gray levels, while 16 bits yields 65,536 levels, allowing smoother tonal transitions and less banding. Pixel pitch, the spacing between pixel centers, affects spatial resolution rather than how many gray shades per pixel. Exposure latitude refers to how much exposure variation you can tolerate while still retaining acceptable detail, which relates to dynamic range, not per‑pixel grayscale quantization. Image latitude similarly concerns the overall tonal range of the image, not the count of gray shades per pixel.

Bit depth determines how many discrete gray levels a pixel can encode. Each pixel’s intensity is stored as a binary value, and the total number of gray shades is 2 raised to the power of the bit depth. For example, 8 bits yields 256 gray levels, while 16 bits yields 65,536 levels, allowing smoother tonal transitions and less banding. Pixel pitch, the spacing between pixel centers, affects spatial resolution rather than how many gray shades per pixel. Exposure latitude refers to how much exposure variation you can tolerate while still retaining acceptable detail, which relates to dynamic range, not per‑pixel grayscale quantization. Image latitude similarly concerns the overall tonal range of the image, not the count of gray shades per pixel.