This is an excellent tutorial I found on line. This info is what I needed. There's a big difference between the information between JPEG 8-bit which is about 16 million colors versus RAW 12 bit at 68 billion colors and RAW 14 bit at 4 trillion colors. That's a lot of storage space, but watching this video will make me reconsider when I need Raw and when I need jpeg. Obviously jpeg won't be my Fine Art choice of format.
https://fstoppers.com/education/understanding-differences-between-raw-and-jpeg-305979
Fstoppers.com provides tutorials and instructions for beginners and amateurs and those that are less familiar with photo processing programs such as Photoshop's CC (Creative Cloud). This video is offered to you by Lew Kepler through the FStoppers site. This tutorial was brief and did not overwhelm you with information.
RAW files are huge as you know. I was impressed with this one video that explains a good majority of the key elements of raw processing. I knew the RAW format had more dynamic range, and I enjoyed viewing and learning about the technical data which showed how much information is available with you start with RAW files.
Anyway, it was fun watching him show his photo captures and what he does to adjust the image and bring it forward. I particularly liked seeing him use the gradient tool to bring back the color in the sky. He adjusted the tonality using the medium gray eyedropper tool. What a difference. Of course the images he worked on had a high dynamic range. I've been using Photomatix by using 3-5 bracketed images, making my adjustments and selections, and letting Photomatix do the work.
RAW is a storage hog, So be prepared to purchase external drives for saving your images and make sure you have a backup external drive too. When spending the money, remember, this is your work and how would you feel if it was wiped clean? Cloud storage is a consideration, but these so-called 'cloud' storage companies are also subject to bankruptcy and you could still lose all your work with no notice.
And if you want to read more - organization and workflow are key: color_managed_raw_workflow by Adobe
My question is if the image is to be printed or viewed on a calibrated monitor, a laptop, tablet or phone in that order of quality? To use a hifi analogy, will the best turntable, pressing, and cartridge help if you have crappy speakers? Printing properly is a profession in itself.
David