> Whether in the real world it is preferable to adjust image colors > using 16 bits per channel rather than 8 bits per channel has been > a long standing argument.
It is a fact that it is "preferable" to make tonal moves using 16 bits per channel. Whether you can detect the difference is yet another story, and is largely based on what you are outputting to, and the size of your tonal corrections. With today's better inkjet outputs (especially Piezo B&W) you certainly can see a huge difference on images that you are making large tonal corrections to.
