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Image Bit Depth Checker
Read the bit depth, colour type and channel layout straight from a PNG or JPEG header.
Check bit depth
Format: choose an image to begin
Bit depth: —
Colour type: —
Channels: —
Colours per pixel: —
How to use the Image Bit Depth Checker
- Choose a PNG or JPEG image from your device.
- The tool reads the PNG IHDR chunk or the JPEG frame marker.
- Read the bit depth, colour type and channel count for the file.
Features
- Reads bit depth and colour type from the PNG IHDR chunk
- Reads sample precision and component count from the JPEG frame marker
- Explains indexed palettes and alpha channels
- Reports bits per pixel and the possible value count
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Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the free online image bit depth checker.
Choose a PNG or JPEG and the tool reads the depth from the file header, without needing to
decode any pixels.
It is the number of bits used for each colour channel, so 8 bit channels give 256 levels and
16 bit channels give 65536.
It says whether the image is greyscale, truecolour, indexed or has an alpha channel alongside
its colour data.
Three, one each for red, green and blue, and a fourth alpha channel is added when the image
carries transparency.
No. Only the header bytes are read, and all of that happens inside your browser.
The baseline JPEG standard stores samples with 8 bit precision, and the 12 bit variant is
rarely used today.
It stores a palette of up to 256 colours and each pixel holds a small index into that palette
instead of a full colour.
Yes. Doubling the bits per channel roughly doubles the raw data that the encoder has to store
or compress.
Yes. The checker is fully responsive and works in the browser on phones, tablets and
desktops.
Last updated: October 10, 2026