12bitperchannel

12bitperchannel is a term used to describe a color depth in digital imaging where each color channel (red, green, and blue) is encoded with 12 bits. With 12 bits per channel, each channel can take 4096 distinct levels, giving a total of 2^(12×3) = 68,719,476,736 possible colors per pixel in an uncompressed RGB model. In typical workflows this data is stored within containers or RAW formats that may later be processed and converted to display-ready bit depths.

Compared with the more common 8-bit-per-channel depth, 12bitperchannel provides greater tonal granularity and reduced posterization in smooth gradients, especially in areas of subtle shading or high dynamic range. It also affords more headroom for raw image editing operations such as exposure adjustments, contrast changes, and highlight recovery, since the data originally captures finer tonal steps. In practice, many imaging pipelines retain 12-bit linear data inside higher-bit containers (such as 16-bit TIFF or DNG) or within camera RAW formats before any color space conversion or gamma encoding.

Formats and usage vary by domain. In photography, sensors may natively capture 12- or higher-bit data and store it in RAW files that are later demosaiced and tone-mapped. In video and film, 12-bit per channel or higher can be used in RAW or log-encoded workflows, though final delivery for consumer displays commonly reduces to 8- or 10-bit color. Display devices and standard video pipelines often require tone-mapping or dithering to map 12-bit data to lower bit depths.