Which statement correctly describes 8-bit depth with respect to gray values?

• A. It captures 256 gray values
• B. It captures 64 gray values
• C. It captures 1024 color values
• D. It captures 16 gray values

Answer: (A)

8-bit depth means there are 2^8, or 256, distinct gray levels. In a grayscale image, each pixel uses 8 bits to describe brightness, so you can represent 0 to 255, giving 256 possible gray values from black to white. The other options correspond to different bit depths: 64 gray values come from 6-bit depth, 1024 color values would imply 10-bit depth per channel, and 16 gray values come from 4-bit depth. So 256 gray values is the correct description for 8-bit depth.