Bit resolution

The number of bits per sample, sometimes called word length. The higher the number of bits used per sample, the higher the resolution, yielding lower distortion and lower noise. In linear quantization (the same level interval between each bit) the quantization noise is approximately 6 dB lower, each time one more bit is used per sample. Example: 16 bit yields 96 dB s/n, 24 bit yields 144 dB s/n. The number of bits per sample usually is a multiple of 8, as 8 bits form one byte. So, the resolution is usually 8, 16, 24, 32, … bits.