Digital BW, The Print

But in the end one is interested in useable/'manipulable' measurement units
- in this case a number truncated to n bits.  If the unit of measurement or
smallest useable amount is large there is slop in the bucket that can't be
used.  That is, even with two identical and identically filled buckets, if
you can access one with a smaller cup than the other then you have more
units to play with and less useful water that can't be used.  (Your bucket
is only as good as the number of complete measurement units it holds - there
are no fractional units beyond that.)

The debate comes down to, I think, whether you are interested in the dynamic
range of the sensor or the useable dynamic range in levels provided to the
user - how many levels are available per f-stop and at what point are there
not enough (or indeed less than one in which case none).  I think this is
the point that Normen Koren is trying to make when he discusses dynamic
range and bit depth. The question is whether 12 bits is more than enough (a
small enough unit of measure) to make full use of the dynamic range of the
pixel well and whether additional bits would simply store noise or add
value.  I think most would agree that 8 bits aren't enough to provide the
user with the full capability of a 35mm digicam's sensor and that 12 is
better.  My question is whether 16 (as used by some manufacturers) is better
still (and hence increases available dynamic range) or, in the case of a
35mm digicam sensor, a waste of time.


> From: dfaprinting <dfaprinting@...>

> No matter what method you use, you can not fill the bucket past full!
> Your dynamic range (excluding noise) is the bucket size from empty to
> full. You can not get a bucket that is less than empty. You can not
> get a bucket that is more than full. How you want to count it is up
> to you, including whether you consider a part full cup as nothing
> (zero) or full (one), when the bucket is full, it will have (n) cups
> worth. If you have a bucket that is nearly full, it is up to you to
> decide if that last cup has enough water in it to count as full, or
> count as empty.
> 
> 
> 
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