Pixel data type

[alex]

Why can data type of pixels of an image be "unsigned char", "int", or
"float"? Why not "unsigned int" rather than "int"? How could "float" be
used for pixels' data type?

Thanks for your comments!

[Christian Bau]

In article
<WT*********************@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
"alex" <al**@xxx.net> wrote:

Why can data type of pixels of an image be "unsigned char", "int", or
"float"? Why not "unsigned int" rather than "int"? How could "float" be
used for pixels' data type?

Please read what you posted, then ask yourself how this could possibly
make sense to anyone reading it. I'm not a mindreader, you know.

[Richard Bos]

"alex" <al**@xxx.net> wrote:

Why can data type of pixels of an image be "unsigned char", "int", or
"float"? Why not "unsigned int" rather than "int"? How could "float" be
used for pixels' data type?

Why is the sky green?

Richard

[Flash Gordon]

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 08:10:40 +0000
Christian Bau <ch***********@cbau.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

In article
<WT*********************@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
"alex" <al**@xxx.net> wrote:

Why can data type of pixels of an image be "unsigned char", "int",
or"float"? Why not "unsigned int" rather than "int"? How could
"float" be used for pixels' data type?

Please read what you posted, then ask yourself how this could possibly
make sense to anyone reading it. I'm not a mindreader, you know.

I am. :-)

The answers, in order, are:
1) Why not?
2) It can be.
3) float pixel;

With the overall comment that this is nothing to do with the C language.
It is actually something that depends on algorithms and/or hardware
and/or non-standard libraries. I've dealt with all sorts of strange
units for pixels including 8 bit unsigned, 10 bit unsigned, 12 bit
unsigned and 16 bit unsigned and ended up with much stranger
intermediate representations, generally in assembler.
--
Flash Gordon
Paid to be a Geek & a Senior Software Developer
Although my email address says spam, it is real and I read it.