Digital BW, The Print

> Your image on a 10 bit scanner has a range from A to B, but the scanner
> can capture from A to C (ABD).  On a 14bit scanner, it would still be A
> to b, but the scanners range would be increased to ABCD. All of this
> would be on a section of the 16bit range which would be ABCDE.
> 
> This is why a 14bit scanner does not capture more information than a
> 10bit scanner as long as the negative is within it's drange
> capabilities.
> 
> Again, I am not sure if this is true, this is just what Austin was
> saying "because of how scanners are designed"
> 
> -mikeH

Thanks Mike, that states the case very clearly.

The big thing I'm waiting for from Austin is his answer to below. I think it
will unify a lot of this for me:

>>> Do you believe it is high bit justified, or just left low bit
>> justified?  In
>>> other words, does the scanner A/D give you a 12 bit value of
>> 0101 1010 1010.
>>> Does that end up in the 16 bit space as 0101 1010 1010 0000 OR 0000 0101
>>> 1010 1010?
>> 
>> What difference does it make? I was answering his question of why the
>> raw scan doesn't fill the whole 16bit space. Luckily, we don't have to
>> worry about what our images look like written out in binary.
> 
> It matters in how much space the values will occupy in the 16 bit space when
> you get them from the scanner.  If the values are low bit justified, they
> will occupy a smaller span than if the values were high bit justified.  Do
> you know the answer?

I know I for one await *your* answer (Austin) with baited breath. If you can
explain this clearly, and why the difference yields differing spans, we will
have come a long way.

T