What does the term tones mean

Re: What does the term 'tones' mean?

claws wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm newbie to Image Processing field.
> 
> Here is an snippet from the wiki article on Image Histogram (http://
> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_histogram )
> "Image histograms are present on many modern digital cameras and can
> be used as an aid to show the photographer whether he or she has
> captured an adequate amount of tones or whether image detail has been
> lost to blown-out highlights or blacked-out shadows"
> 
> I didn't get the meaning of 'tones'?

In this context, I believe it means
greytones for each colour band individually.

I think the Wikipedia article is also
unclear.  The photographer decides whether
they have captured an adequate amount of
tones by looking at the image.  Perhaps, for
artistic reasons, the photographer intended
image detail to be lost to blown-out
highlights or blacked-out shadows.

I believe what the article means is that if
the photograph is not what the photographer
intended then histograms can help explain
what went wrong.

-- 
Regards,
Martin Leese
E-mail: please@see.Web.for.e-mail.INVALID
Web: http://members.tripod.com/martin_leese/