Python Fast monochromatic bitmap

Question

i want to implement 1024x1024 monochromatic grid , i need read data from any cell and insert rectangles with various dimensions, i have tried to make list in list ( and use it like 2d array ), what i have found is that list of booleans is slower than list of integers.... i have tried 1d list, and it was slower than 2d one, numpy is slower about 10 times that standard python list, fastest way that i have found is PIL and monochromatic bitmap used with "load" method, but i want it to run a lot faster, so i have tried to compile it with shedskin, but unfortunately there is no pil support there, do you know any way of implementing such grid faster without rewriting it to c or c++ ?

Answer 1

Raph's suggestin of using array is good, but it won't help on CPython, in fact I'd expect it to be 10-15% slower, however if you use it on PyPy (http://pypy.org/) I'd expect excellent results.