Combining Unlike Integer Types
In this section...
“Overview” on page 15-3
“Example of Combining Unlike Integer Sizes” on page 15-3
“Example of Combining Signed with Unsigned” on page 15-4
Overview
If you combine different integer types in a matrix (e.g., signed with unsigned, or 8-bit integers with
16-bit integers), MATLAB returns a matrix in which all elements are of one common type. MATLAB
sets all elements of the resulting matrix to the data type of the leftmost element in the input matrix.
For example, the result of the following concatenation is a vector of three 16-bit signed integers:
A = [int16(450) uint8(250) int32(1000000)]
A =
1×3 int16 row vector
450
250
32767
Example of Combining Unlike Integer Sizes
Concatenate the following two numbers once, and then switch their order. The return value depends
on the order in which the integers are concatenated. The leftmost type determines the data type for
all elements in the vector:
A = [int16(5000) int8(50)]
A =
1×2 int16 row vector
5000
50
B = [int8(50) int16(5000)]
B =
1×2 int8 row vector
50
127
The first operation returns a vector of 16-bit integers. The second returns a vector of 8-bit integers.
The element int16(5000) is set to 127, the maximum value for an 8-bit signed integer.
The same rules apply to vertical concatenation:
C = [int8(50); int16(5000)]
C =
2×1 int8 column vector
Combining Unlike Integer Types
15-3