Bitmap
1. A graphic file format with
the file extensions of *.bmp or *.dib (device-independent bitmap) used in Microsoft Windows and OS/2. Bitmap images can be saved as either 4-bit (16 colors), 9-bit (256 colors), 16-bit (65,536 colors),
or 24-bit (16.7 million colors) and saved as uncompressed images. Because of
their larger files size, when compared to other images formats, such as GIF and JPEG, bmp, and dib images are not
commonly used or recommended outside of the Microsoft Windows environment.
In the picture to the right, is an example of a bitmap image.
- Creating a bitmap image in Microsoft Windows is usually done using Microsoft paint or other paint program.
2. A bitmap is also used to describe raster or bitmapped image formats.
Also see: Bit-mapped graphic, Bitmap font, Object-oriented graphics, PNG, Raster, Video definitions
