Binary image

A binary image is a digital image that consists of pixels that can have one of exactly two colors, usually black and white. Each pixel is stored as a single bit — i.e. either a 0 or 1.

A binary image can be stored in memory as a bitmap: a packed array of bits. A binary image of 640×480 pixels has a file size of only 37.5 KiB, and most also compress well with simple run-length compression. A binary image format is often used in contexts where it is important to have a small file size for transmission or storage, or due to color limitations on displays or printers.

It also has technical and artistic applications, for example in digital image processing and pixel art. Binary images can be interpreted as subsets of the two-dimensional integer lattice Z²; the field of morphological image processing was largely inspired by this view.^{[clarification needed]}