1. Color on Computers

2. Bits and Bytes Bit: a single piece of yes/no or 0/1 data Two bits can code 4 items (00, 01, 10, 11) Three bits = 8 (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111) Zero is a perfectly good number N bits can code 2 n items 8 bits = 1 byte (code 256 items) 1024 (2 10 ) bytes = 1 kilobyte 1,048,576 (2 20 ) bytes = 1 megabyte, etc.

3. Information Coding 1 byte = 1 text character 16 colors = 4 bits (Red, Green, Blue, Intensity) 256 colors = 8 bits (1 byte) – 6 levels for Red, Green, Blue + 40 user-defined 16 million colors = 3 bytes (256 levels for Red, Green, Blue)

4. Subtractive Colors

6. Always darker than the original primaries Example: – Blue: 40% Reflectance – Yellow: 60% Reflectance – Together = Green 24% Reflectance (or less) Combine enough subtractive colors and you eliminate all wavelengths and get black

7. Additive Colors

8. 16 Color Palette

9. 256 Color Palette