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Glossary: B

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Baseline tags
See TIFF header
Bayer color filter array
A specific two-dimensional mosaic pattern of repeating 2x2 RGB filtered sensors from which three fully populated red, green, and blue pixel arrays are mathematically reconstructed. Named after its inventor, Bryce Bayer, a research scientist at Eastman Kodak Company. A subset of color filter array.…
See Also Array; Color filter array
Binary image
See Bitonal digital image
Bit depth (audio)
Bit depth (aka "word length") fixes the encoded dynamic range of an audio event or item. 24-bit audio provides a dynamic range that approaches the limits of the dynamic ranges of sound encountered in nature; in contrast, 16-bit audio, the CD standard, may be inadequate for many types of material especially where high level transients…
See Dynamic range
Bit depth (image)
The number of bits used to represent each pixel in an image. The term can be confusing since it is sometimes used to represent bits per pixel and at other times, the total number of bits used multiplied by the number of total channels. For example, a typical color image using 8 bits…
Bit rate
See Data rate
Bitmapped image
See Also Raster data; Raster image
Bitonal digital image
A single-bit image comprised of a pixel value of 0 or 1 (or, in some circumstances, as 0 and 255), corresponding to either black or white. This type of image is often used for typography (as in a FAX) and for line art graphs and pictorial works.…
See Line art
Bits per pixel
See Bit depth (image)
Bitstream
Contiguous or non-contiguous data within a file that has meaningful common properties for preservation purposes. Generally speaking, a bitstream cannot be transformed into a standalone file without the addition of file structure (headers, etc.) and/or reformatting the bitstream to comply with some particular file format. This definition is derived from the data model outlined in…
See Also File format; Encoding
Black point
A radiometric reference point used to calibrate or define the minimum luminance value of interest in a scene or object.…
Blooming
An overflow behavior of an individual sensor element in a sensor array caused by excessive light, that manifests itself in a finished image file as a relatively large blush (or bloom) of light from the effected pixel into neighboring ones.…
Born digital
Digital content that originated as a digital product. Born digital content is distinct from digital content, which is created through the digitization of analog content. Examples of born digital content include word processing documents, spreadsheets, and original images produced with digital cameras.…
Brightness
The attribute of the visual sensation that describes the perceived intensity of light. Brightness is among the three attributes that specify color. The other two attributes are hue and saturation.…
Bundling file format
Simple bundling formats. These formats encapsulate their constituent files and, save for a directory that provides the filenames, do not describe the content and the relationships that may obtain between files. (In this, they differ from what are often called wrappers.) Archetypes include ZIP, StuffIt, and TAR, the latter associated with the UNIX operating system.…
See Wrapper