Why is it easier to obtain good images with a 12 or 16 bit camera than an 8 bit one?
Most 8 bit cameras are used at less than optimum performance. The camera will only produce 8 bits if the peak light level corresponds to camera saturation – i.e. filling the 256 grey levels available. This means that the light levels, gain and integration times must be carefully adjusted for this. With a 12 or more bit camera excellent images may be obtained over a very large range of light levels without changing gains or integration times. For instance, a 16 bit camera with 256 times as many grey levels as an 8 bit one can produce 8 bit quality images over a range of light levels spanning 256:1 range. It is very easy to guess the required exposure time within these limits! Clearly, to achieve images with better than 8 bit quality requires a little more care, but excellent images are easy to produce.
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- Why is it easier to obtain good images with a 12 or 16 bit camera than an 8 bit one?
