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From: "carlos lopez" <clv2clv_00000000_@adinet.com.uy>
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Subject: Re: Computer precision?
Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 20:21:03 +0000 (UTC)
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onofftopic@gmail.com wrote in message
<d039b0df-5f51-43a0-9b4b-e3127d398868@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>...
> Hi,
> 
> according to the Matlab Help double computer precision
(64-bit) is
> default in Matlab for 32-bit computers. Maybe is this question
> offtopic, but i would like to know why is there no higher
precision,
> e.g. 128-bit precision, for 32-bit computers?
> 
> What is the limitation for the computer precision?
Hello onofftopic@gmail.com:
On principle there is no fundamental limitation... aside
from the degradation in performance. 
In order to use arbitrary precision you might want to test
the Multiple PRecision toolbox by Ben Barrowes, available on
the FEX. It allows to simulate any precision. 
"Double precision" is defined in the IEEE 754 standard; 32
bit matlab implements it on all the architectures, so you
can achieve identical results irrespective of the platform. 
If you need just a bit more precision than double AND you
are using INTEL processors, you might want to look at the
Extended Precision class by Marcel Leutenegger, available
somewhere.
Regards
Carlos