Tseng Labs ET4000-W32I Chipset Only Supports 65K Colors

 Last reviewed: March 27, 1997
Article ID: Q156822
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SUMMARY

Any Video card using the Tseng Labs ET4000-W32I chipset under Windows NT 4.0 will only be able to support 65K colors. This is a change from Windows NT 3.5x, which allowed for 16.7M colors using the same chip set.

The W32I chipset uses a banked video memory system. The 16.7M color mode requires 24 bits per pixel, which is difficult to implement on a banked video system. Windows NT 3.51 emulated a linear (non-banked) video system by using a page-fault driven banking scheme. In Windows NT 4.0, the Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and the video drivers were moved into the kernel. This move makes it impossible to implement non-banked emulation and, therefore, can only support 65K colors.

MORE INFORMATION

Full 24-bit, 16.7M color is supported with video cards using the Tseng Labs ET6000 chipset.

Additional query words: prodnt
Keywords : kbsetup nthw ntsetup
Version : 4.0
Platform : WinNT

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Last reviewed: March 27, 1997
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