With purely 14 bit data, a given pixel could have a value of, say, 1000 in one image and 1001 in another picture. The average between the two is 1000.5 which cannot be represented by an integer. By multiplying the values by 4, the first value becomes 4000 and the second 4004 with a average of 4002 which can be represented by an integer. The advantage of converting the data to 16 bit this way is that a more natural representation of intensity differences can be achieved when compared to pure 14 bit data.

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