Rendering FITS Data

This is more of a general question about rendering data to an
image, than about FITS data per se.

For astronomers, what are some of the more useful data-to-color
transformations?  I'm having difficulty resolving
domain-specific vocabulary, so I hope I'm not being
confusing -- it has certainly stymied my attempts to google
this information.

For instance:

If you have a 2d array of 16-bit signed integer values, you can
make a simple linear transformation to and 8-bit grayscale
palette.  I imagine log and poly transforms are of use as well.

Basically, I'm looking for a discussion of useful techniques,
either here, or some existing web resources.  Thanks for your
time and consideration.