So, it's like this. I know close to nothing when it comes to computers and i want to know if there's really much difference between the 16 bit color setting from the 64 bit. I'd like it to look the best my comp can do without slowdown, but if there isn't even that much difference then i don't wanna bother with 64...well, i've confused myself. if anybody can figure out what im asking, an answer would be appreciated! Thanks!
The differences in the graphics bits is the number of independant, different colors displayed on screen.
*2-bit color displays only "black" and "white"
*4-bit color displays up to 16 colors... save an image in Paintbrush in 16-color mode, and the displayed at the bottom of the screen are the ones that appear.
*8-bit color displays up to 256 colors.
*16-bit color displays up to 65,000-something colors.
*32-bit color displays up to millions of colors.
*64-bit color displays millions, or possibly, billions of colors.
So, what does this mean? Probably jack to you and your eyeball. What these colors mean is that... take an image, for example. Look at the cat on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dithering That is what happens when you display an image that has too many colors then the current display mode (16 or 64 bit in your case), the colors change distorting the image.
This is mostly prevailant when working with images in either a 16 (4 bit) or 256 color (8 bit) mode... the images lose their quality. However, with 16 bit color mode on and above.. the image degredation is barely noticeable unless you're working on photo-intensive design applications (then you'd want higher quality.)
Personally, I'd stay with 16-bit. The more colors you have on screen at a time can slow a computer down... thats why some people back in the day used 16 colors or 256 colors since it was faster then using 16-bit mode.
Ah! Thank you! That was exeptionaly helpful! You really are the "answerman" i guess!
I guess another explanation, probably better, would be this.
In the file, every dot has a color value associated it it, such as RGB(255,255,255) which is pure white. When you view a picture, your computer matches up that RGB value above with the closest match available in your selected color mode.
So, if you have a picture of your average color chart, as below:
The first is the image saved with only 16 colors, the second saved in 256 colors, and the last saved as a 24 bit bitmap. If you take a 24-bit bitmap and try viewing it in 16-color mode, that is how it would look like. Basically, take a random point from the rightmost picture and look at the color you selected.
Then take that EXACT same point and look at it in 16 or 256 color mode. That would the closest match and that is the color that would display in the mode.
Basically, 16 bit color is fine, though some applications and needs require higher. Unless you're a video enthusiast, 16 bit is AOK.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: anwserman on 2005-08-25 19:03 ]</font>
*nod nod* Thanks again!
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