Seems like there needs to be some clarification between terms and the concept of “elements” in an “Image” within a “scene or scenes” and using a “system.” There is a big difference between “digits” and “elements” when describing how a system is constructed.
The “X-Digit System” phrase should refer to how many digits can be encoded within a single ELEMENT of an image.
So the ELEMENT is the simplest single ingredient used to encode information. This could be one person, one object, one action, one color, one location, one shape, one texture, one emotion, one… Etc
The number of digits that can be encoded in this smallest ingredient determines what the X is in “My X-Digit System.”
By combining many ELEMENTS into a single mental image, you can encode multiples of your X. So if you visualize a “green monkey that is slapping a spiky banana at the laundromat” you might be encoding 12 digits within a single snapshot IMAGE, but you need to decode each ELEMENT of that IMAGE into a series of 2-digit numbers. You have not created a “12-digit SYSTEM.”
It may seem better to be able to encode 12 digits in a single IMAGE or a SCENE containing multiple IMAGES. It might even make you think, “Wow! This is 6 times as efficient at compressing numbers as a regular single element 2-digit system!”
BUT, in reality you still have to spend mental energy encoding each of the six ELEMENTS in your IMAGE, and then ensure that the order doesn’t get swapped during recall, and then still decode each of those ELEMENTS precisely to retrieve that series of 12 digits. You are still doing this in 2-digit segments. So this is actually a combination of six 2-digit SYSTEMS for encoding information into different ELEMENTS of an IMAGE or SCENE.
A system that provides 3-digit encoding in a single ELEMENT offers the advantage of 33% more data compression per element. It may seem more difficult to create SCENES or IMAGES if each ELEMENT without as much of a structure, but being able to naturally link four 3-digit ELEMENTS together to form a SCENE that is easy to remember is often easier than spending the effort to ensure six non-arbitrary elements are accurately memorized in what sometimes may be a sequence that doesn’t lend itself to easy visualization.
The tradeoff of course is the number of ELEMENTS that need to be learned and developed into instant assocations for a 3-digit system is exponentially larger than a 2-digit one.
It may be more clear to refer to new system ideas as a “X-Element / X-Digit System.” So a system that uses “Location-Person-Action-Adjective-Object” sequences where each of those elements represents 2 digits would be a “5 Element / 2-Digit System.” It would not be a “10-digit system.” It would just be a system that can be used to encode 10 digits within a “scene.”
Just some food for thought to try to ensure clarity when discussing the many varying ideas of encoding digits into elements!
(Note: “You” in this post isn’t referring to anyone in particular, just a generic shorthand for “a person making a system.” Also, the terms “ELEMENT,” “IMAGE,” “SCENE,” etc. are my best attempt at using a word to more clearly represent the units we’re talking about. If another term makes more sense in this context, I’m happy to go with it as long as we are talking about the same thing!)