*Meaning of "Highest (32 bit)" in Display Properties?

When XP SP2 Display Properties Settings shows Color quality
as "Highest (32 bit)", what does that mean in terms of
number of bits per RGB channel?

My Dimension 8400 has a Radeon X300 Series display adapter
and a Dell E173FP 1280x1024 display. I want to get a display
& adapter that have a lot more pixels but I don't want to
reduce the number of displayable colors.

My digital camera records 12-bits per RGB channel and
Photoshop edits 16 bits per RGB channel. Can someone tell me
how to translate "...(32-bit)" to bits per RGB channel?

--David

"J David Ellis" <> wrote in message
news:BNqdnXFE35ojQBjYnZ2dnUVZ_v-...
> When XP SP2 Display Properties Settings shows Color quality as "Highest
> (32 bit)", what does that mean in terms of number of bits per RGB channel?

This means each channel gets 8 bits. The extra 8 bits are either wasted or
used for an alpha channel (transparency).

Here's how Wikipedia describes it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#32-bit_color

On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 16:16:07 -0800, J David Ellis <>
wrote:

>When XP SP2 Display Properties Settings shows Color quality
>as "Highest (32 bit)", what does that mean in terms of
>number of bits per RGB channel?
>
>My Dimension 8400 has a Radeon X300 Series display adapter
>and a Dell E173FP 1280x1024 display. I want to get a display
>& adapter that have a lot more pixels but I don't want to
>reduce the number of displayable colors.
>
>My digital camera records 12-bits per RGB channel and
>Photoshop edits 16 bits per RGB channel. Can someone tell me
>how to translate "...(32-bit)" to bits per RGB channel?
>
>--David


Perhaps try to ask in these newsgroups:

rec.photo.digital
rec.photo.digital.slr-systems

Mr. Aftandilian, thank you for pointing out my math is not
so bad as I had thought. :=) Mystery resolved.
--David

Eddie Aftandilian wrote:
> "J David Ellis" <> wrote in message
> news:BNqdnXFE35ojQBjYnZ2dnUVZ_v-...
>> When XP SP2 Display Properties Settings shows Color quality as "Highest
>> (32 bit)", what does that mean in terms of number of bits per RGB channel?
>
> This means each channel gets 8 bits. The extra 8 bits are either wasted or
> used for an alpha channel (transparency).
>
> Here's how Wikipedia describes it:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#32-bit_color
>
>

"J David Ellis" <> wrote in message
news:BNqdnXFE35ojQBjYnZ2dnUVZ_v-...
> When XP SP2 Display Properties Settings shows Color quality as "Highest
> (32 bit)", what does that mean in terms of number of bits per RGB channel?
>
> My Dimension 8400 has a Radeon X300 Series display adapter and a Dell
> E173FP 1280x1024 display. I want to get a display & adapter that have a
> lot more pixels but I don't want to reduce the number of displayable
> colors.
>
> My digital camera records 12-bits per RGB channel and Photoshop edits 16
> bits per RGB channel. Can someone tell me how to translate "...(32-bit)"
> to bits per RGB channel?
>
> --David

You definately don't need a new card. Photoshop requires almost no video
card power and 32 bits far exceeds your camera.

Well, you can thank him, but I'm not sure it's the right answer.


J David Ellis wrote:
> Mr. Aftandilian, thank you for pointing out my math is not so bad as I
> had thought. :=) Mystery resolved.
> --David
>
> Eddie Aftandilian wrote:
>> "J David Ellis" <> wrote in message
>> news:BNqdnXFE35ojQBjYnZ2dnUVZ_v-...
>>> When XP SP2 Display Properties Settings shows Color quality as
>>> "Highest (32 bit)", what does that mean in terms of number of bits
>>> per RGB channel?
>>
>> This means each channel gets 8 bits. The extra 8 bits are either
>> wasted or used for an alpha channel (transparency).
>>
>> Here's how Wikipedia describes it:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#32-bit_color
>>