bitmap
A binary representation in which a bit or set of bits corresponds to some part of an object such as an image or font. For example, in monochrome systems, one bit represents one pixel on screen. For gray scale or color, several bits in the bitmap represent one pixel. The term may refer to the image itself or to the memory area that holds the bits that represent the image. See pixel.Graphics and Tables
A bitmap is usually associated with graphics, in which the bits are a direct representation of the pixels in the image. However, bitmaps can be used as tables to represent and keep track of anything, where each set of bits is assigned a value or condition. See bitmapped graphics. For graphics fundamentals, see graphics.
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| A Monochrome Bitmap |
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| The left half of this diagram shows the bits in the bitmap, and the right half depicts what would show on screen. In monochrome systems, one bit is used to represent one pixel. Images that are scanned into the computer are turned into bitmaps, and bitmaps can be created in a paint program. |
bitmap Computing
a picture created on a visual display unit where each pixel corresponds to one or more bits in memory, the number of bits per pixel determining the number of available colours
| (graphics, file format) | bitmap - A data file or structure which
corresponds bit for bit with an image displayed on a
screen, probably in the same format as it would be stored in
the display's video memory or maybe as a device independent bitmap. A bitmap is characterised by the width and height of
the image in pixels and the number of bits per pixel which
determines the number of shades of grey or colours it can
represent. A bitmap representing a coloured image (a
"pixmap") will usually have pixels with between one and
eight bits for each of the red, green, and blue components,
though other colour encodings are also used. The green
component sometimes has more bits that the other two to cater
for the human eye's greater discrimination in this component. See also vector graphics, image formats. |
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