Each pixel has a “color”

Note that a digital image has a regular grid of picture elements (pixels) arrayed in
columns and rows within a rectangular boundary. Each pixel has an associated
color. The RGB model is commonly used to represent the intensity of each of the
hues (or colors) red, green, and blue. In the RGB model, black and white are
represented as the absence of intensity of R, G, and B, while white is represented by
the greatest intensity of R, G, and B.

The BMP file format is somewhat of a “gold standard” of representing an image in

the most basic manner, as no “gimmicks” are used in the coding which represents
the colors of each pixel. It is a format which can serve as a starting point for
deriving images of other file formats which may involve “compression,” a means
for shrinking the required file size needed to present a good picture.

Often, 256 equal steps between no intensity and maximum intensity provide a
fineness of intensity levels of each hue that is satisfactory for most work. In
decimal (base 10) numbers, this represents 0 through 255. There are hexadecimal
numbers (base 16) that correspond to each of the decimal values 0 through 255, and
they are often used instead of decimal numbers to represent these intensities.

Hexadecimal representations are a natural outgrowth of working with binary (base

2) numbers, as they convey all necessary data elements that represent binary
numerals 0 to 15, and do so in the most efficient way.

Here’s an example:

Take the decimal number 15.

In base 10, the numeral 1 and 5, when arranged as they are shown represent 1x101 +
5x100
In base 2, it is represented as 1x23 + 1x22 + 1x21 +1x2 0 OR 1111. Note that if the
ordered sequence of these four representations of ON corresponds to four
specific locations within the computer where the rightmost (least significant
numeral) is defined as either 0 or 1, the numeral to its left as a 0 or a 2, next as a
0 or a 4, and the next as a 0 or an 8, we see that it takes exactly 4 bits of code to
identify any decimal number between 0 and 16.
In base 16, the letter (alphameric symbol) f is defined as decimal 15, and
hexadecimal values for 10 through 15 are assigned the letters a through f,
respectively.

Because a computer handles binary information terms (bits) as the means of

defining the state OFF=0, or ON=1 of any semiconductor or memory node, one can
see that the binary (base 2) system is elemental and very efficient.
When representing any decimal value between 0 and 255, we can see that it takes
only two hexadecimal symbols, while it would take exactly 8 bits, or a string of
eight zeros or ones if represented as a binary (base 2) number.

Thus we find that it is convenient, conceptually as well as in digital coding, to

represent any of the intensity levels by just two symbols, recognizing that these
symbols are defined on the base 16 counting system.

It has become a standard practice to define a group of 8 bits as a Byte. It has

become a common practice to use 256 gradations of intensity to give a good
representation of the detail necessary for obtaining a good picture. Note that it takes
8 bits, or one byte, to represent each of the 256 intensity levels. In an RGB color
system having 256 intensity levels, every color representation involves an 8-bit
binary number (or a one byte number). Since each pixel requires an 8-bit number
for each of the three R, G, and B colors, it is said to be a 24-bit color system.
Although the coding of intensity of each of the three colors of each pixel can be
measured in quantitative terms by the number of bits OR the number of Bytes
which are involved, bits are most often used in reference to the definition of color
of individual pixels, while Bytes are most often used as a measure of the data
required for the whole image.

For example, a color photo which can be copied into the C:\Windows folder to
serve as a “background” OR “wallpaper” must be introduced into that folder in
BMP format if using a Windows 9x operating system. If such an image file is
already of the size which will fill an 800 x 600 pixel screen without stretching, we
can calculate how big that file must be if it has 24-bit color coding.

There are 480,000 pixels and 1,440,000 Bytes. This number is close to the
maximum file size which may be copied onto a floppy disk. Let’s see if it will fit.

Remember that one KiloByte is 1,024 (2 10) Bytes, not 1,000 (10 3 ) Bytes. This
comparison recognizes that there is a different representation of the actual number
of Bytes which are involved, and that there is a factor of 2.4% to account for when
comparing the numeric values assigned to that file size if stated in Bytes or in
KiloBytes. A bigger discrepancy is involved when numeric values are used to
represent a file size in MegaBytes vs. Bytes.

For the case shown above, divide 1.44 x 106 Bytes by 1.024 twice to get
approximately 1.37 MB, which will fit on a floppy disk.