Re: 16 bit editing...

["Bob Frost" <bobfrost@btopenworld.com>]

Michael,

Is it simply that our current printers can't take advantage of 16-bit files?
If so, then using 16-bit now is more for future-proofing our images, than
getting an obvious immediate gain. File size is not so much a problem these
days, surely? I've two old computers, one with a single 1.2 GB hard disk,
one with a 30GB hard disks, and a new one I've put together with 240GB of
disk space. Together with DVD-RAM disks that store nearly 10GB, storage is
not the problem that it was a few years ago. So if keeping my files in
16-bit means that in a year or two I can reprint them on a 16-bit printer,
then that is probably a good enough reason.

Bob Frost.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Greer" <mgreer316@yahoo.com>

> I know and understanding all of the theory behind why using 16 bit images
is
> preferable to using 8 bits images. Like I wrote initially, mentality, it
makes
> perfect sense to me. But read what I wrote, nobody has yet produced a side
by
> side comparison that I've seen of an image that actually reveals the
issues
> with using 8 bit images. I just haven't seen it. That's not to say I don't
> believe it isn't possible. But why after all these years has a simple 16
bit
> vs. 8 bit side by side comparison of the same image undergoing the same
editing
> functions been produced so that the diferences can be seen? Why all of the
> theory explanantion when a simple side by side display on the web would do
the
> trick? I read a lot of people rehashing the same theory, but still no
> comparisons. And believe me, I've tried! I've taken real 16 bit images and
> preserved them at 16 bits in an editing session. I've taken that same
image,
> bumped it down to 8 bits, then edited it with the same editing steps. The
> result? No difference. I've done this with several different images at
> different points in time over the years.
>
> I remain ready to be convinced. Maybe it only reveals its superiority with
> certain types of images. I don't know. But it's a heck of a penalty to pay
when
> the advantages are apparantly so hard to come by.


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