Representing Images

Computer Science: OCR GCSE, topic 1.2.26

Bitmap

Most digital images are stored as bitmaps.

Bitmap

Bitmap

  • A bitmap image is split up into tiny squares called pixels.
  • The colour of each pixel is stored as a binary number.
Colour-depth

Colour-depth

  • The amount of bits used to store the colour of each pixel is known as the colour depth.
  • The greater the number of bits used to represent each pixel, the more unique colours can be stored.
  • Common colour depths are 1-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, and 24-bit.
Resolution

Resolution

  • Resolution represents the number of pixels in an image.
  • The number of pixels is found by multiplying the width by the height of the image.
  • An example resolution is 1080p which is 1920x1080.
Metadata

Metadata

  • Metadata is extra information that is added to an image file such as:
  • The resolution.
  • The colour-depth.
  • The encoding format.
  • The time and date of taking the photo.
File size

File size

  • The size (in bits) of an image file is calculated as follows:
  • File size (in bits) = image width x image height x colour depth (in bits)
  • The size of the image file in bytes is equal to:
  • File size (in bytes) = file size (in bits) ÷ 8

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