- [Voiceover] Every pixel has color values based on bits.
The more bits you use for each pixel,
the more steps between completely off and completely on.
If we were just talking about a black and white image,
we could represent each pixel with one number,
a monochromatic single channel,
which would indicate brightness.
Because we usually work with color,
we have bits assigned to each color value,
so there are three numbers in total.
A eight bit pixel can go from completely off
to completely on in 255 steps.
That's 256 possible steps, with the first one being zero.
Because each bit doubles the range of possible numbers,
if you work with ten bit images,
you get double and double again the number of steps.
So ten bit pixels go from zero to 1023.
1023, on a ten bit pixel,
is no more than 255 on an eight bit pixel.
It's the same maximum amount of brightness or color,
but the number of steps taken to get there is much,
much more, creating many more potential colors,
and giving you a more accurate representation
of the original subject.
Of course, there's a limit to how many colors
human vision can perceive, but the more bits you have,
the better the picture will look when you work with effects,
as these can often introduce errors,
and the more steps you have from off to on,
the smaller the impact of those errors.
So how about 12 bit pixels?
It's double and double again, again.
So now you have 4096 steps.
Once again, there needs to be a zero,
so the scale goes from zero to 4095.
In this case, 4095 is the same brightness
as 255 on an eight bit scale.
You get the idea.
Some camera systems will use extra bit depths,
as it's called, to give more headroom in the brighter parts
of the picture, or even more shadow room.
In this case, the camera is kind of cheating
in a clever and helpful way.
It's pretending to capture the brightest part of the picture
at the very top of its range, when actually, it isn't,
it has more dynamic range than it's pretending to have.
This can be useful in post-production,
as it sometimes allows you to pull in detail
that seemed to be missing in the highlights.
That smart technology aside,
the idea of bit depth is fairly simple
once you realize it's measuring the number of steps
between fully off and fully on,
rather than measuring the size of the scale.
Bigger numbers actually mean smaller steps,
which creates better, more precise images.
Professional applications can calculate adjustments
at higher bit depths, 16 bit or 32 bit for example,
with a floating decimal point
that increases the range even more.
At these levels, effects can be well,
effectively, lossless, excuse the pun.
It's amazing, but pretty hard work
for the CPU in the computer.