Resolution and bit depth: how much is enough?

R. Victor Klassen; Kalpana Janamanchi

doi:10.1117/12.387165

2 June 2000 Resolution and bit depth: how much is enough?

R. Victor Klassen, Kalpana Janamanchi

Proceedings Volume 3959, Human Vision and Electronic Imaging V; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.387165
Event: Electronic Imaging, 2000, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We describe results of experiments studying the tradeoff between resolution and bit depth. Images in the experiments were printed on a high resolution imagesetter, eliminating most, if not all, device effects. They were first converted from PostScript to antialiased rasters at one of a set of resolutions, then converted from 8 bit to n bits for some value of n less than 8. Before printing, they were converted back to 8 bits and scaled up to printer resolution, then halftoned for printing. We were measuring human response to a system that had a bandwidth bottleneck somewhere upstream of the printer, and sophisticated resampling and halftoning at the printer itself. The images, typical of those used for critical evaluation of hard copy, contained text, analytical test targets, synthetic graphics and pictorial images. We found bit depths and resolutions beyond which no further improvement was observed, typically somewhat higher limits than previously believed. We also compared methods of font hinting for antialiased text, and found that font hinting improves text only at one bit per pixel, degrading it at higher bit depths.

Citation Download Citation

R. Victor Klassen and Kalpana Janamanchi "Resolution and bit depth: how much is enough?", Proc. SPIE 3959, Human Vision and Electronic Imaging V, (2 June 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.387165

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available