Which of the following could be a natural interpretation of an 8-bit value…

The same 8-bit pattern can represent two different decimal numbers, depending on which convention is applied: under the unsigned convention every bit contributes its ordinary positive place value (2⁰, 2¹, 2², …); under the 8-bit signed two's-complement convention, the most significant bit (MSB) instead carries a negative place value, while the remaining bits keep their normal positive weights. Both conventions are valid ways to read the same bits, so the two values can genuinely coexist as separate interpretations of one pattern.

1. Write the pattern by bit position: 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1, i.e. bit7=1, bit6=0, bit5=0, bit4=0, bit3=1, bit2=0, bit1=1, bit0=1.

2. Unsigned reading: add the place values of the set bits — 2⁷ + 2³ + 2¹ + 2⁰ = 128 + 8 + 2 + 1 = 139.

3. Signed two's-complement reading: the MSB (bit7) is 1, so the pattern is negative; its magnitude is 2⁸ minus the unsigned value already found — 256 − 139 = 117 — so the signed value is −117.

Cross-check the signed value independently using the invert-and-add-one rule: invert every bit of 10001011 to get 01110100, then add 1 to get 01110101, whose unsigned value is 64 + 32 + 16 + 4 + 1 = 117; since the original MSB was 1 (negative), the signed value is −117 — matching the subtraction method above.

So the same pattern 10001011 legitimately equals 139 under the unsigned convention and −117 under the 8-bit signed two's-complement convention — both readings hold at once, so both (i) and (ii) are valid interpretations.