A monochrome bitmap is a type of digital image that displays a single color, usually black. This is a specific type of file format known as Bitmap (BMP) and is often used when creating simple graphics. In a bitmap, each pixel or “pixel” of an image is represented by a certain number of bits, which are units of information. A monochrome bitmap has pixels that are only one bit, allowing each pixel to display only one color or no color at all, usually seen in black and white.
Woman doing handstand with a computer
There are several reasons why someone might create a monochrome bitmap, even though all of these images are created with the same data type. Most users of digital art programs don’t necessarily interact with individual bits of data in their creations, but rather adjust settings in the software that affect how those bits are used. A bitmap, which is a commonly used file format for digital images, is simply a type of image based on pixels. Pixels are individual components of an image, often seen as tiny dots of pigment or light, similar to the dots of color used to create a painting through pointillism.
A bitmap image, like a monochrome bitmap, is created in a way that assigns several different bits of data to each pixel in the image; this is known as “bits per pixel” (BPP). The number of colors that can be displayed in a bitmap image is equal to two raised to the power of the BPP number for that specific file. An image that can be displayed in “256 colors,” meaning up to 256 different colors can be used, is an 8-bit image; eight bits are used to determine the color of each pixel, which means that 2 8 or 256 colors are available.
Only one bit of data is used for each pixel of a monochrome bitmap, which means these images are only 1 BPP. This means that these images can have 2 1 colors or only 2 colors available. While it’s technically possible for someone to define these colors differently, a monochrome bitmap is typically created with one color black and the other transparent. Because this transparent area often appears on a computer screen and blank paper, these images are considered black and white.
Each bit used to create a monochrome bitmap is a binary piece of information, meaning it is represented by one or zero. A pixel with a value of zero is typically displayed as transparent or white, while pixels with a value of one are black. These images have no possibility of other colors or values, so a monochrome bitmap shows sharp, straight horizontal and vertical lines, but curved and diagonal lines can appear more jagged.
