Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!unido!gmdzi!strobl From: strobl@gmdzi.UUCP (Wolfgang Strobl) Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms Subject: Re: 256 color superVGA? Message-ID: <3205@gmdzi.UUCP> Date: 15 Aug 90 18:55:35 GMT References: <90225.112821MXP122@psuvm.psu.edu> <1131@dms.UUCP> Organization: GMD, Sankt Augustin, F. R. Germany Lines: 61 morris@dms.UUCP (Jim Morris) writes: >Windows itself does not seem to use the 256 color capability of >a 256 color driver. >However applications can be written that use a 256 color "Logical Palette". >I knocked up a quick program to try it, and the logical palettes do work. Unfortunately, I don't have the Windows 3 toolkit, yet. It seems to be a v e r y l o n g w a y over the ocean. So I can't comment on that ... >In order for other windows that are in the backround to adjust to a >palette change requires that they respond to a WM message, I don't >think any of the windows Apps I have do that. >So the answer to your question is the Win3 system has support >for 256 colors, but none of the standard apps support it yet. >(I think, if anyone knows better pease post) I have a IBM PS/2 model 70 with a 8514/A adapter and screen in my office. The 8514/A-adapter has a resolution of 1024*768 with 256 colors. Windows 3 comes with a driver for this combination. I loaded YODA.BMP (a 256 color bitmap from one of the Windows ftp servers) as a background picture, started two copies of Windows pbrush and loaded a few 256 color bitmaps (mostly converted with grwfwk31) into them. Then I switched between these two instances of pbrush and got the following behaviour: As long as I have the background picture only, this is shown using it's true colors. After the first pbrush is started and has a 256 color bitmap loaded, the pbrush picture comes up with correct colors, and the background picture is repainted with somewhat approximated colors. The same occurs after starting the second copy of pbrush: now the topmost picture looks correct, and the picture in the first instance of pbrush looks as if it was painted with the remaining free slots in the palette and/or the nearest colors of the topmost picture. Pbrush and the background displayer seem to be able to adjust the hardware palette to use the colors of the picture to be displayed, at least when using the 8514/A driver. I seems not to be possible to make any changes to the palette of a loaded picture or to define a new one, with pbrush. After copying a part of a 256 color picture to the clipboard, the clipboard offers two display formats: bitmap (which shows the clipped portion of the picture) and palette (which seems to display all the colors in the loaded .bmp picture, in their order). I haven't found this documented anywhere in the documentation. I have access to a a HP Vectra with a Video 7 VRAM VGA with 512K (for which there is a 256 color driver in the Windows 3 distribution, too), but haven't tried the above with it. I am not aware of any other Windows 3 drivers which support 256 colors, yet. Wolfgang Strobl #include