Shel, I haven't followed the thread, but here is what I know about scanners and bits.
You know colors are approximated on your computer by combining 3 different colors, red - green - blue. Your scanner will separate your pictures into these three color channels. A 4 bit green color scanner would give you 16 (2*2*2*2) different shades of green in your scan. A 5 bit green scan would give you 32 different shades. A 6 bit green scan would give you 64 different shades. With another 6 bits for the red color channel, you could have 64 different shades of red. With another 6 bits for the blue channel, you would have 64 different shades of blue. Combining the three channels would give you an 18 bit scanner...still pretty poor as you wouldn't like the reproduction from your scanner. So basically, more bits in your scanner means more different gradations of colors in your scanned picture. A 24 bit scanner uses 8 for each channel so you have 256 shades of any primary color (2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2=256). A 30 bit scanner uses 10 bits for each channel so you have 256*2*2=1024 different shades of any primary color. Shel, I think you can figure out the rest. The more gradations of color you can put into your scan, the better the final product As an interesting side note, one of the functions on Microsoft Windows lets you set your screen colors. If you look at some of the lower settings (the ones you aren't using), you'll get an idea of how more bits for colors helps the quality of the reproductions you see. Now, I just hope everything I said is correct. <g> I'm sure you guys will correct me if not. <G> Regards, Bob S. [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << Thanks for everyone trying to explain this to me. I do not understand any of the responses. Could someone please explain this to me like I was a child, and perhaps avoid jargon, acronyms, and the like. I'm really ignorant about this and I'd like to buy a scanner this year. >> - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
