What is Video Color Depth ?
| Video Color Depth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The combination of the display modes supported by your graphics adapter and the color capability of your monitor determine how many colors can be displayed. For example, a display that can operate in Super VGA (SVGA) mode can display up to 16,777,216 (usually rounded to 16.8 million) colors because it can process a 24-bit long description of a pixel. The number of bits used to describe a pixel is known as its bit depth. With 24-bit bit depth, eight bits are dedicated to each of the three additive primary colors -- red, green and blue. This bit depth is also called true color because it can produce the 10,000,000 colors discernible to the human eye, while a 16-bit display is only capable of producing 65,536 colors. Displays jumped from 16-bit color to 24-bit color because working in 8-bit increments makes things a whole lot easier for developers and programmers. Simply put, colors bit depth refers to the number of bits used to describe the color of a single pixel. The bit depth determines the number of colors that can be displayed at one time. Take a look at the following chart to see the number of colors different bit depths can produce. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You will notice that the last entry in the chart is for 32 bits. This is a special graphics mode used by digital video, animation and video games to achieve certain effects. Essentially, 24 bits are used for color and the other 8 bits are used as a separate layer for representing levels of translucency in an object or image. Nearly every monitor sold today can handle 24-bit color using a standard VGA connector, as discussed previously. |
Beginner's Help
BUG Club Home
