Digital BW, The Print

A skeptic recently said to me, "Ansel Adams cannot be compressed into
256 shades of gray." I have seen plenty of literature that says we
cannot distinguish anything close to 256 different shades of gray
(I've seen the number 64 mentioned a couple times), making this
statement look a bit uninformed. But it nevertheless got me thinking:

How many discrete levels of gray (measured with a 12-bit scanner or
densitometer) do we get out of a quadtone inkjet? Can careful curve
mapping actually pull out a distinct 256 values? The answer "enough"
is good enough for the subjective viewer, but being curious...

Just wondering if anyone has done this, or if it should be my exercise
for this weekend. 

-Pieris