Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!vsi1!tim
From: tim@vicom.COM (Tim Richardson )
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Bitmap
Keywords: Bitmap
Message-ID: <1363@vsi1.COM>
Date: 13 Jan 89 04:41:14 GMT
Organization: VICOM Systems Inc. San Jose, CA
Lines: 28

It's always fun and educational and even sometimes worthwhile to listen
to technicial types argue the sematics of something...nearly always this
'something' will have TRUE value which transends the temporary and lasts
often as long as several miliseconds!

Seriously though, I can't help now but contribute to this worthy argument.

BITMAP.

	 This word doesn't refer to the number of bits per pixel--a single bit
	 per pixel image is called "binary", while more than 1 bit per pixel
	 is generally refered to as "grey scale."

	 Bitmap is from a defination of a particular type of hardware implemen-
	 tation of a (usually) frame buffer or image memory.  It refers to the
	 ability of a software program to access, or manipulate, individual
	 bits within a pixel, without having to perform read-modify-write opera-
	 tions.  This is similar to the term "bit slice processors", which have
	 the capability of "slicing" an otherwise normal word or byte access
	 into individual bits of the word or byte.


(the real answer remains, as always: 42)
-- 

Tim Richardson
                      |  ames!vsi1!tim   tim@vicom.com
Vicom Systems Inc.