A bitmap is a file format for images stored in computer format, made up of rows and columns of pixels. Each pixel is assigned at least one bit to indicate its color. Bitmaps can be compressed and edited easily, but do not scale well.
A bitmap is one of many types of file formats for images stored in computer format. It carries the .BMP extension. Computers use bits 1 and 0 to store data. A bitmap is literally a map of bits that form a particular image when viewed on a display such as a computer monitor.
To understand how a bitmap image is displayed, it is important to understand your computer screen. The display is made up of rows and columns of tiny blocks, or pixels. In a bitmap image, each pixel is assigned at least one bit to indicate whether the pixel should reflect the background color, the foreground color, or some other color.
In the case of a page of black and white text, we consider a single letter. The many pixels that make up that letter require only one bit of data each. The pixel will be black or white: 1 or 0.
When a bitmap displays a colorful image, such as a lake scene, there are different shades of gradation in the colors and lighting. In this case, each pixel in the bitmap might have 16, 24, or 48 bits of information associated with it. The higher the number of bits, the higher the resolution of the bitmap and the larger the file.
Because bitmaps store so much information at higher resolutions, they make for very beautiful images. However, a bitmap image does not scale well. When enlarged using a graphics program, the bitmap image becomes blocky and blurry. When reduced, it loses clarity.
Compression techniques are used to reduce the file size of the bitmap while retaining all the data needed to render a good image. One such format is the 8-bit .GIF format, which uses a palette of 256 colors. The advantage of the compressed .GIF is that it is a smaller file that can be resized with satisfactory results, since it uses lossless compression. The downside is that it cannot faithfully reproduce images containing more than 256 colors.
Photographs saved in bitmap format that need to be scaled down for use on the Internet can be converted to JPEG (JAY-peg) format. While this is a lossy compression format, it is capable of displaying more than 256 colors and does a better job of rendering photographs.
Because bitmap images are built pixel by pixel, they can be easily edited. Enlarging a bitmap image in any graphics program allows the user to add, delete, or change the color of individual pixels. For this reason, logos, favicons and icon images are often created in bitmap format.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
