Dithered Text in Windows

 Last reviewed: November 23, 1994
Article ID: Q73357
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a

SUMMARY

If you are using a Windows video driver that dithers some display colors (such as a 16-color VGA video driver), you may notice that when you choose a dithered color for text, the text is displayed in an undithered or pure color. This is to prevent you from changing your screen to an unreadable color combination.

Applications that allow text to be formatted to any color include Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows and Microsoft Excel for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

In Excel, if you format text to a dithered shade of blue with RBG (red, green, blue) values of R=255, G=64, and B=0, the text is displayed in pure red. However, if the worksheet or chart is opened in Excel running under Windows with a video driver that can render that shade of red as a pure, undithered color, it appears in the colors you selected. An example is opening the same file on a computer on which Windows is using a video driver that is capable of displaying 256 or more colors.

To get pure colors with a 16-color Windows compatible video driver, select the appropriate RGB (red, green, blue) values for the colors so that they are not dithered. RGB values that give pure colors must be combinations of 0 and 128 or combinations of 0 and 255, as entered into the More Colors dialog box in PowerPoint for Windows (not including light gray).

Pure Color Table for 16-Color Video Drivers

   Color Name       Red Value    Green Value    Blue Value
   ----------       ---------    -----------    ----------

   Black              0             0              0
   White             255           255            255
   Red               255            0              0
   Green              0            255             0
   Blue               0             0             255
   Cyan               0            255            255
   Magenta           255            0             255
   Yellow            255           255             0
   Light gray        192           192            192
   Gray              128           128            128
   Dark red          128            0              0
   Dark green         0            128            128
   Dark blue          0             0             128
   Teal               0            128            128
   Purple            128            0             128
   Tan               128           128             0
Other colors may appear to be pure colors, but when you format text for those colors, the text is displayed in one of the 16 colors listed above if the video driver does not support more than 16 pure colors.

KBCategory: kbother kbdisplay
KBSubcategory: win30
Additional reference words: 3.00 3.0 3.0a 3.00a non-dithered

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Last reviewed: November 23, 1994
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