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| 1-bit | 4-bit | 8-bit | 12-bit | 16-bit | 18-bit | 24-bit | 31-bit | 32-bit | 36-bit | 48-bit | 60-bit | 64-bit | 128-bit |
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| Single precision floating-point format (32-bit) Double precision floating-point format (64-bit) Quadruple precision floating-point format (128-bit) | |||||||||||||
In computer architecture, 32-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are at most 32 bits (4 octets) wide. Also, 32-bit CPU and ALU architectures are those that are based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. 32-bit is also a term given to a generation of computers in which 32-bit processors are the norm.
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GiB of byte-addressable memory.
The external address and data buses are often wider than 32 bits but both of these are stored and manipulated internally in the processor as 32-bit quantities. For example, the Pentium Pro processor is a 32-bit machine, but the external address bus is 36 bits wide, and the external data bus is 64 bits wide.[1]
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Prominent 32-bit instruction set architectures include the IBM System/360, the DEC VAX, the ARM, the MIPS, and the Intel IA-32.
In digital images/pictures, 32-bit can refer to 24-bit truecolor images with an 8-bit alpha channel.
Alternatively it may refer to 32-bit per channel rather than 24-bit colour + 8-bit alpha. 32-bit per channel images are used to represent values brighter than white; these values can then be used to more accurately retain bright highlights when either lowering the exposure of the image or when it is seen through a dark filter or dull reflection.
An example of this is the reflection seen in an oil slick; even though the reflection is only a fraction of that seen in a mirror surface, the reflection of highlights can still be seen as bright white areas, not dull grey shapes.
A 32-bit file format is a binary file format for which each elementary information is defined on 32 bits (or 4 Bytes). An example of such a format is the Enhanced Metafile Format.
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