schwalbe@pinocchio.Encore.COM (Jim Schwalbe) (01/25/91)
In article <35950003@hpcvra.cv.hp.com.> daveo@hpcvra.cv.hp.com. (Dave Ochs) writes: >I have a "256 color" driver for Windows 3 that came with my PC/display, but >I can't see any difference when it's loaded. What is supposed to change? I >had fantisized that those stupid dithered colors would turn into solids, but >it didn't happen. Is there something else that needs to be done besides >telling Windows about the new driver? > Yeah, I noticed the same thing. Seems that Windows 3.0 only supports 16 true colors. I think with the 256 color driver though you can run applications that use more than 16 colors. I've tried this and it works. What I haven't tried is seeing what happens running an application that uses 256 colors under windows with a 16 color driver. Has anyone noticed what happens here? I'll have to try that. .---------------------------------------------------------------------------. : Jim Schwalbe .----------------. "Half of what I say is : : Hardware Research Group .--+-------------. | meaningless; but I say it : : Encore Computer Corp. | | E N C O R E | | so that the other half may : : Mail: | `-------------+--' reach you." : : schwalbe@encore.com `----------------' - Kahil Gibran : `---------------------------------------------------------------------------'
daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) (01/25/91)
In article <13912@encore.Encore.COM>, schwalbe@pinocchio.Encore.COM (Jim Schwalbe) writes: > In article <35950003@hpcvra.cv.hp.com.> daveo@hpcvra.cv.hp.com. > (Dave Ochs) writes: >>I have a "256 color" driver for Windows 3 that came with my PC/display, but >>I can't see any difference when it's loaded. What is supposed to change? I >>had fantisized that those stupid dithered colors would turn into solids, but >>it didn't happen. Is there something else that needs to be done besides >>telling Windows about the new driver? >> > > Yeah, I noticed the same thing. Seems that Windows 3.0 only supports 16 true > colors. I think with the 256 color driver though you can run applications > that use more than 16 colors. I've tried this and it works. What I haven't > tried is seeing what happens running an application that uses 256 colors > under windows with a 16 color driver. Has anyone noticed what happens here? > I'll have to try that. Windows does only support 16 colors (except I've heard the the title screen will use 256, but I haven't noticed it.) You need an application that is 256 color "aware" to take advantage of the 256 colors. Paintbrush can work with 256 color BMP's, but won't give you a 256 color pallette. There are many other programs available that DO take advantage of the 256 colors: GIF viewers, screen savers, and other graphics programs. I think that programs know enough to detect the 256 color ability on a system that it won't use that mode with a 16 color driver. But, if you try do display a 256 color bmp with a 16 color system, I think it tries its best to display it using 16 colors (but I might be wrong - I can't exactly remember what happened when I tried this.) Perhaps Windows 3.1 will use 256 colors... Oh yeah, to find out more about this stuff, there is a Frequently Asked Questions file usually circulating on comp.windows.ms that will tell you all about this sort of stuff. Bryon Daly daly@ecs.umass.edu
storm@cs.mcgill.ca (Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) (01/26/91)
In response to the post by schwalbe@pinocchio.Encore.COM (Jim Schwalbe): I have installed the 256 color drivers for the ATI VGA wonder, and the difference is phenomenal. All the dithered colors remain the same, but the support for the extended colors is there. I recently converted a 256 color .GIF file, and use it as the background bitmap. The colors are AMAZING. There is also a difference in the clarity of the dithered colors, and how pure they appear to be. I like it a LOT better. It slows the system down a little, but it's worth it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ storm@cs.mcgill.ca Marc Wandschneider