@Al. For multiples of 1/8 (Atkinson) you need 8*256=2048 integers, that is 11 Bit. For multiples of 1/16 (Floyd-Steinberg) you need 16*256=4096 integers, that is 12 Bit. In 2 chars = 16 Bit fit even multiples of 1/256. No dither-algorithm uses such tiny diffusion-errors.