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Q63353: 256-Color Driver Not Showing 256 Colors in Windows 3.0

Article: Q63353
Product(s): Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.0a
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 05-OCT-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a 
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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 query words: 3.00 3.00a 3.0 3.0a Video-7 windrvr Video-Seven

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbWin3xSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin300 kbWin300a
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0a

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