16777216

16777216, commonly written as 16,777,216, is a decimal integer that equals 2^24. It is a perfect square because 4096 squared equals 16,777,216, and it is also a power of two. In hexadecimal it is 0x1000000, and in binary it is a 1 followed by 24 zeros.

In computing, 16,777,216 is notable as the total number of distinct values in a 24-bit color space. A 24-bit color representation uses 8 bits for each of the red, green, and blue channels. With 256 possible values per channel, the total number of distinct RGB colors is 256^3, which equals 16,777,216. The highest color value in this space is 0xFFFFFF (decimal 16,777,215), while 0x000000 represents black. This color capacity is often referred to as true color in digital imaging and displays.

24-bit addressing is another context where the number appears. A 24-bit address space can address 2^24 bytes, equating to 16,777,216 bytes, or 16 megabytes. This addressing width has historical relevance in older computer architectures and certain graphics subsystems, where memory capacity and addressing align with powers of two.

Summary: 16777216 is a foundational figure in computing, reflecting fundamental properties of binary powers and its role in 24-bit color and memory addressing.