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From: ly@neon.Stanford.EDU (Eric Ly)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT General Educational Disqucount?
Message-ID: <1991May12.052853.27513@neon.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 12 May 91 05:28:53 GMT
References: <CNH5730.91May10133848@maraba.tamu.edu> <1991May11.075053.10746@ccu.umanitoba.ca> <1991May12.044514.329@cbnewse.att.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Ca , USA
Lines: 19

In article <1991May12.044514.329@cbnewse.att.com> cafe@cbnewse.att.com (richard.dib) writes:

>> I think 4, 16, or 32 bit is more accurate.
>> or even 2+2, 12+4, or 24+8 bit.
>
>Why 4 bits???  There are only four diferent "shades" on the B&W monitor: 
>White, black, dark gray and light gray, and that is represented by only two
>bits.  Am I missing something?
>
>Richard Dib
>AT&T BL

The 4 bits, or 2+2 bits, refer to two bits of data and two bits of
alpha, which is the transparency used when two images are merged
together to create blending effects.  On color machines, more bits are
used to specify the alpha, either 4 or 8 depending on the hardware
capabilities.

						Eric Ly