16 bit wide, 65536 gray level images possible?

[NelisWillers]

Hi all

1)
I have an application where I need to create images with 65536 gray levels. Currently these are drawn in custom code, but we want to get the benefit of hardware acceleration available in PC graphics cards.

2)
Is there any graphics hardware for the PC that would enable one to export the final image, (even if it is only 8 bits (256 gray levels)?

thanks

nelis willers

[Bob]

1: In the system memory, you can store images in whatever format you like. But when it comes to displaying the image with 16-bit greyscale, it's all about the hardware (and maybe drivers too). Todays graphics hardware probably don't support 16-bit greyscale since you need a 16-bit wide D/A-converter, and as far as I know, there's only 8-bit in todays cards (no card I know is using more than 8-bits per "element" like red, green or blue).

2: Any hardware that exports images? If I get your question correct, no, there aren't any. Exporting images to a certain fileformat is up to you to code.