# Can Flash handle 16 bits per color channel?

**URL:** https://forum.kirupa.com/t/can-flash-handle-16-bits-per-color-channel/322719
**Category:** flash
**Created:** [May 31, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/can-flash-handle-16-bits-per-color-channel/322719 "2011-05-31T16:54:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Wallee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Wallee](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Wallee)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/can-flash-handle-16-bits-per-color-channel/322719/1 "2011-05-31T16:54:32Z")

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Hi!

I was wondering if Flash was able to handle PNG files with 16 bits per channel. I seem to remember (quite clearly actually) from some official blog post on Pixel Bender, that since Flash only handles 8 bits per channel and Pixel Bender works at 24, a conversion occurs when data is passed from Flash to PB and vice versa. (this thread is totally unrelated with Pixel Bender though)

So if I’m correct, Flash uses 8 bits per channel even if you try to load a 16 bits per channel PNG. Do you guys have any experience whether this is a fact or not?

Secondly, assuming this is a fact…could I still load a 16 bits per channel into Flash, not to display it but to convert the data to a 8 bits per channel PNG that I would save as a file. For instance the 16 BpC PNG could be loaded in a ByteArray and I’d work from here, however I have to know whether the PNG would still be 16 BpC once it reach the ByteArray. If Flash already converted it to 8 BpC, sucks. I need to do the conversion in a special way using my own algorithm.

Thanks!