Most cameras will let you save files in 8-bits (JPG) or 12 to 16-bits (RAW). So why doesn’t Photoshop open a 12 or 14-bit RAW file as 12 or 14 bits? For one, it would be a lot of work to develop both Photoshop and file formats to support other bit depths. And opening a 12-bit file as 16-bits is really no different than opening an 8-bit JPG and then converting to 16-bits. There is no immediate visual difference. But most importantly, there are huge benefits to using a file format with a few extra bits (as we’ll discuss later).

I’d almost say there is no banding at 9-bits

For displays, the terminology changes. In other words, “24-bits” (aka “True Color”) for a monitor isn’t super impressive, it actually means the same thing as 8-bits for Photoshop. (más…)