Message-Id: <mailto:199604092309.SAA05407@library.wustl.edu> Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 16:05:07 -0700 From: Bob Weaver <mailto:Bob.Weaver@NAU.EDU> Subject: Re: Grayscale display problems in PC/Windows To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
At 05:50 PM 4/9/96 -0400, you wrote: >...
>I'm having a problem with displaying high-quality 8-bit
>grayscale (256 shades of gray) images on the monitor of
>my Pentium PC, running MS-Windows 3.1, with a Diamond
>Stealth 32 PCI graphics board with 2 MB of DRAM.
>...
Hello: Your analysis appears to be correct, excepting one point: A 256-color palette created in Windows will in fact be a 240-color palette; Windows reserves the first 16 colors for itself (since in your case, a gray-scale palette would make all Windows features themselves appear in shades of gray). The only real solution is "real" 24-bit color; if you can persuade your graphics card vendor to upgrade your card, congratulations--more likely you will have to pay for a new one. Fortunately, costs of these continue to decrease. For the future, I suggest you aim high, and acquire a card (and monitor) capable of 1024x768x24-bits. The way of things is such that in a year or two you will be kicking yourself for not getting 1280x1024x30-bits or better. (Note that some scanners are already using 30- to 36-bit color.) Good luck! Bob Weaver Northern Arizona University