[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Simulating Gray-Scale on VGA Color Monitor?

joel@peora.UUCP (10/25/88)

This might be a stupid question, but I was wondering if  it  might  be
possible  to  simulate  gray-scale  on  a  VGA  color monitor.  It you
display white on a VGA monitor by using the same intensities  of  red,
green  and  blue, then it seems to me that if you decrease them all by
the same amount, then you get a less intense white.  If I remember the
VGA  spec right, at 640x480 you get to select 16 colors from a palette
of 16 million, with a byte apiece for Red, Green,  and  Blue.  If  you
used  F0F0F0  for  one  color, then E0E0E0, for the next etc., then it
seems to me that this would give you 16  levels  of  gray,  in  effect
simulating a monochrome display.

Of course I know that VGA monochrome monitors already exist,  but  the
color  ones appear more common, and it would be nice to be able to use
the same techniques on both.

It seems to me that this technique  would  be  useful  for  displaying
scanned  pictures, and would allow anti-aliasing to be used to improve
the appearance of characters on-screen, as well as graphics displays.

So can anybody tell me if this idea makes sense?

-- 
Joel Upchurch/Concurrent Computer Corp/2486 Sand Lake Rd/Orlando, FL 32809
joel@peora.ccur.com {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd,ucf-cs}!peora!joel (407)850-1040