An 8-bit digital radiography system can produce how many shades of gray?

An 8-bit digital radiography system can represent a total of 2 raised to the power of 8, which equals 256 different values. Each value corresponds to a shade of gray in the image produced. In digital imaging, the bit depth determines the number of possible gray shades; for instance, a higher bit depth allows for more shades, leading to greater detail and contrast in the images captured.

In this case, since there are 8 bits, the calculation is straightforward:

2^8 = 256.

This means the correct answer is 256 shades of gray, making choice B the right one. The other options represent different bit depths (such as 7 bits which would produce 128 shades, 9 bits for 512 shades, and 10 bits for 1024 shades) but do not apply to an 8-bit system. Thus, understanding the principle behind bit depth is crucial for grasping the capacities of digital radiography systems.