Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!mcnc!unccvax!cs75jmc
From: cs75jmc@unccvax.UUCP (John Covington WN4BBJ)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: How can I tell what monitor there is?
Summary: Can't detect composite monitors
Message-ID: <1575@unccvax.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jul 89 12:49:39 GMT
References: <934@kosman.UUCP> <664@chyde.uwasa.fi>
Organization: Univ. of NC at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Lines: 26

In article <664@chyde.uwasa.fi>, ts@chyde.uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) writes:
> In article <934@kosman.UUCP> kevin@kosman.UUCP (Kevin O'Gorman) writes:
> >Mainly, I want to know if I have color or not.  Right now, I don't care
> >too much if it's CGA, EGA or VGA, but if there's a way to tell and you
> 
> The type of the monitor (color/mono) can be found out utilizing
> interrupt 10Hex.  For details see, for example, Stephen O'Brien,

You can detect what video mode the program is in but you can't tell
what kind of monitor is actually attached.

If the computer is running a  composite monochrome monitor with a CGA
adapter then the display will be monochrome but the video mode might
be reported as color (mode 3 for text).

You may want to write your program so it checks for the video mode. If
the video mode is one that does not support color (eg mode 2), don't 
use it!  This will allow users of composite mono monitors (a lot more 
of them than you think) to do a MODE BW80 command to make the screen 
look better for them.


John Covington WN4BBJ        E-mail: cs75jmc@unccvax.UUCP
P.O. Box 217122              MCI Mail: JCOVINGTON 342-6957
Charlotte, NC 28221-7122     Packet Radio: WN4BBJ @ KK4L
(704) 537-7653               "Give it back, Eric, it's not yours" (the ICOM)