title: How to check whether a TIFF file truly has 16 bit depth
body: <p>Assume I convert an 8-bit TIFF image to 16-bit with the following ImageMagick command:</p>
  <pre><code>$ convert 8bit-image.tif -depth 16 16bit-image.tif
  </code></pre>
  <p>The result is a file that is detected by other programs as a file with 16-bit depth:</p>
  <pre><code>$ identify 16bit-image.tif
  16bit-image.tif TIFF 740x573 740x573+0+0 16-bit sRGB 376950B 0.000u 0:00.000
  </code></pre>
  <p>Naturally, this file does not have &quot;true&quot; 16 bit, since it's an 8 bit file which has simply been marked as 16 bit. It hasn't got the subtle nuances one would expect from true 16 bit. How can I distinguish a true 16 bit image from one that just &quot;pretends&quot;?</p>
  <p>Best,</p>
  <p>Bela</p>