Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!bu.edu!nntp-read.bu.edu!robertl From: robertl@bucsf.bu.edu (Robert La Ferla) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: Colour Palette on a ColorStation Message-ID: Date: 13 Apr 91 05:03:24 GMT References: Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Reply-To: robertl@bucsf.bu.edu (Robert La Ferla) Distribution: comp Organization: Boston University Computer Science Department Lines: 30 In-reply-to: spinner@wpi.WPI.EDU's message of 12 Apr 91 15:01:57 GMT I think the problem stems from the definition of a color palette. There are two types of palettes, software and hardware. The hardware palette is what the video hardware can reproduce on the screen independent of the actual colors that your monitor can reproduce. The software palette is known as the "color wheel" and allows you to select colors from a virtual palette. The virtual palette is 32 bit color (24 bit color + 8 bit transparency) for a total of 16,777,216 colors plus transparency. The NeXTStation Color has 16 bit color which is 4 bits red, 4 bits green, 4 bits blue and 4 bits transparency (alpha channel) The color content is then 12 bits so 2^12 = 4096 colors available on the hardware color palette. The number of colors available on the screen at once is 4096. Please note that the NeXTStation Color uses dithering to give the impression of more colors (32 bit color.) The NeXTDimension has 32 bit color which is 8 bits red, 8 bits green, 8 bits blue and 8 bits transparency. The color content is then 24 bits so 2^24 = 16,777,216 colors. The number of colors on the screen is limited to the number of pixels on the screen because there are less than 16,777,216 pixels. How could you display more colors than pixels given a single monitor? You can't. Robert La Ferla Lotus Development Corporation Advanced Technology Group / Improv #include