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From: awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: 24-bit color
Message-ID: <40736@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: 5 Dec 90 19:32:30 GMT
References: <6110@crash.cts.com> <1990Dec5.163911.8000@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@ut-emx.uucp
Reply-To: awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels)
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin
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In article <1990Dec5.163911.8000@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> dcw@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (David C. Worenklein) writes:

>If the human eye can only discern ~10 million shades of color, when is 32-bit
>color ever needed?

That depends on how that 10 million was figured.  It may be that someone 
figured out that the least noticeable difference in color the human eye can
detect is 1/~10millionth of the visible spectrum.  That doesn't necessarily
mean that the eye can't detect differences between 2 24 bit pictures whose
pixel's colors varied within that range.

Also, it is a bad idea to use a general figure to model the extremes of
sensetivity.  While _everyone_ might not need or even appreciate the richness
of 24-bit color, there may be quite a few people who can sense the difference.

>		-David

- Allen