Bit Depth
The number of bits used to represent each color channel per pixel, determining the total number of possible color values.
Standard images use 8 bits per channel (256 values per RGB channel, 16.7 million total colors). Professional editing often uses 16-bit depth (65,536 values per channel) for smoother gradients and more editing latitude. Higher bit depth prevents banding artifacts in gradients and allows more aggressive adjustments without quality loss.