diff --git a/pysaliency/external_models/deepgaze.py b/pysaliency/external_models/deepgaze.py
index f12c2f1..f821923 100644
--- a/pysaliency/external_models/deepgaze.py
+++ b/pysaliency/external_models/deepgaze.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import numpy as np
 import torch
 
-from ..models import Model, ScanpathModel
 from ..datasets import as_stimulus
-
+from ..models import Model
+from ..utils import as_rgb
 
 
 class StaticDeepGazeModel(Model):
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@ def _log_density(self, stimulus):
         stimulus = as_stimulus(stimulus)
         stimulus_data = stimulus.stimulus_data
 
-        if stimulus_data.ndim == 2:
-            stimulus_data = np.dstack((stimulus_data, stimulus_data, stimulus_data))
-
+        stimulus_data = as_rgb(stimulus_data)
         stimulus_data = stimulus_data.transpose(2, 0, 1)
 
         centerbias_data = self.centerbias_model.log_density(stimulus)
diff --git a/pysaliency/utils/__init__.py b/pysaliency/utils/__init__.py
index 316eb7b..2046b22 100644
--- a/pysaliency/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/pysaliency/utils/__init__.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import requests
 from boltons.cacheutils import LRU
+from PIL import Image
 from scipy.interpolate import griddata
 from tqdm import tqdm
 
@@ -509,4 +510,19 @@ def iterator_chunks(iterable, chunk_size=10):
 
     counter = count()
     for _, g in groupby(iterable, lambda _: next(counter) // chunk_size):
-        yield g
\ No newline at end of file
+        yield g
+
+
+def as_rgb(image: np.ndarray):
+    """makes sure that image data is in 8 bit RGB format"""
+
+    pil_image = Image.fromarray(image)
+
+    if pil_image.mode == 'I;16':
+        # convert 16 bit images to 8 bit
+        array = np.uint8(np.array(pil_image) / 256)
+        pil_image = Image.fromarray(array)
+
+    rgb_image = pil_image.convert('RGB')
+
+    return np.array(rgb_image)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/external_models/test_deepgaze.py b/tests/external_models/test_deepgaze.py
index 72faddf..fd97eaa 100644
--- a/tests/external_models/test_deepgaze.py
+++ b/tests/external_models/test_deepgaze.py
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import os
 
 import numpy as np
+import pytest
 
 import pysaliency
 from pysaliency.external_models.deepgaze import DeepGazeI, DeepGazeIIE
 
-import pytest
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope='module')
 def color_stimulus():