Computer graphics are described by the number of bits used to represent pixels, which is short for picture elements, or the smallest identifiable parts of an image. In true color images, each pixel is made up of at least 24 bits. The particular sequence of bits in a byte encodes a unit of information such as a keyboard character. One byte typically represents a single character such as a number, letter, or symbol. Software designers use computers and software to combine bytes in complex ways, and create meaningful data in the form of text files, or binary files, or files that contain data to be processed and interpreted by a computer. Bits and bytes are the basis for representing all meaningful information and programs on computers.
The binary number system works similarly to the decimal number system. However, the decimal system is based on ten, and the binary system is based on two. Still binary numbers can be converted to decimal numbers.
Bit is an abbreviation for binary digit. It is the smallest unit of information in a digital environment. A bit is represented by the numbers 1 and 0, which stands for the states on and off, true and false, or yes and no. Bits are the building blocks for all information processing that goes on in digital electronics and computers (US Byte.com, 1999). John Tukey, an American statistician and early computer scientist, introduced the term bit. He first used the term in 1946, as a shortened form of the term binary digit. Bits are usually combined into larger units called bytes. For the bit to have any true meaning, you must be consistent.
The byte is the most important data structure used by the 80X86 microprocessor. Since the ACSII code is a 7-bit non-wieghted binary code that is used on the byte boundary in the most computers. A byte consists of eight bits and is the smallest addressable datum (data item) in the microprocessor. Binary numbers can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided.
