I've heard that the data in gray-scale images with 8-bits color depth is stored in the first 7 bits of a byte of each pixel and the last bit keep intact! So we can store some information using the last bit of all pixels, is it true?
If so, how the data could be interpreted in individual pixels? I mean there is no Red, Blue and Green! so what do those bits mean?
And How can I calculate the average value of all pixels of an image? I prefer to use pure java classes not JAI or other third parties.
Update 1
BufferedImage image = ...; // loading image
image.getRGB(i, j);
getRGB method always return an int which is bigger than one byte!!! What should I do?