Varying color depth

These images show the effect varying color depth, the number of bits in the color code for each pixel. Reducing the number of bits lowers the image quality, but it also compresses the file, making it smaller. Compression (of images or any other type of data) trades off quality against file size.

1 bit, 2 colors, 4k 2 bits, 4 colors, 8k 3 bits, 8 color palette, 12k

4 bits, 16 colors, 16k 5 bits, 32 colors, 20k 6 bits, 64 colors, 28k

7 bits, 128 colors, 33k 8 bits, 256 colors, 42k 24 bits, 16,777,216 colors, 147k

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1 bit, 2 colors, 4k	2 bits, 4 colors, 8k	3 bits, 8 color palette, 12k

4 bits, 16 colors, 16k	5 bits, 32 colors, 20k	6 bits, 64 colors, 28k

7 bits, 128 colors, 33k	8 bits, 256 colors, 42k	24 bits, 16,777,216 colors, 147k