256-Color Driver Not Showing 256 Colors in Windows 3.0

 Last reviewed: November 23, 1994
Article ID: Q63353
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a

SUMMARY

Some Microsoft Windows 3.0 display drivers provide a palette of 256 simultaneous colors. The Video Seven VGA and IBM 8514/A drivers included in the Windows 3.0 package have this capability (with an appropriate amount of RAM on the display card).

However, such a driver does not automatically allow a given Windows application to use 256 simultaneous colors. In a 256-color Windows 3.0 display driver, there are two sets of colors available: 16 system colors and 240 palette colors.

To use more than the 16 system colors, an application must be specifically written to use the Windows 3.0 palette-management capability. If the application is not written to use palette management, it shows only 16 colors. This is not a problem with the display driver.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows is an example of an application that uses Windows 3.00 palette management to provide you with 256-simultaneous- color capability. The Windows 3.0 Control Panel uses system colors only, so it does not show additional colors with a 256-color display driver. This is because there is no need to consume valuable palette color indexes simply to provide an additional color for menu bars, for example.

KBCategory: kbother kbdisplay
KBSubcategory: win30
Additional reference words: 3.00 3.00a 3.0 3.0a Video-7
windrvr Video-Seven

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Last reviewed: November 23, 1994
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