What is bit planes?

Bit planes are the layers of an image representation in which each bit plane represents one bit of the image data. In digital image processing, an image is divided into multiple bit planes based on the intensity levels of the image pixels. Each bit plane can have only two intensity levels - 0 or 1, representing the presence or absence of the corresponding bit in the pixel value.

Bit planes are widely used in image processing for various applications such as image compression, image enhancement, and image analysis. By manipulating the bit planes of an image, different visual effects can be achieved, such as image sharpening, contrast enhancement, and noise reduction.

Bit planes are also used in digital watermarking, where information is embedded into the least significant bit planes of an image to hide it from plain view. This technique is commonly used to protect the copyright of digital images.

Overall, bit planes play a crucial role in digital image processing and provide a versatile tool for manipulating and analyzing image data.