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- From: akin@tuolumne.asd.sgi.com (Allen Akin)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
- Subject: Re: 8 bit vs 24 bit color question.
- Date: 23 Nov 1992 20:18:58 GMT
- Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mountain View, CA
- Lines: 31
- Message-ID: <1erebiINNr8g@fido.asd.sgi.com>
- References: <1992Nov21.015223.18065@netcom.com>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: tuolumne.asd.sgi.com
-
-
- In article <1992Nov21.015223.18065@netcom.com>, jchauvin@netcom.com writes:
- >
- > I recently received a Silicon Graphics Crimson Elan and was under the
- > impression that this configuration supported 24 bit color.
-
- You're correct; the Elan does support 24 bit color.
-
- > ...Why is it then that the default color visual is 8 bit?
-
- A large number of programs written for the X Window System assume that
- the default visual is 8-bit pseudocolor. Making this the default for
- Elan minimized hassle for most users.
-
- > Is it possible to switch between 8 bit and 24 bit color like on the
- > Macintosh?
-
- You can make a truecolor visual the default by supplying the proper
- options (try "-class TrueColor -depth 24") on the command line that
- invokes the X server. I believe the usual place to do this is in the
- file /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers. See "man xdm" for more information on
- this file, and "man Xsgi" for more information on server options.
-
- On Elan hardware, windows of many visual types may be active on the
- screen at the same time without colormap flashing. You won't need
- full-screen depth-switching as found on the Macintosh. Your main
- concern will be choosing a default Visual that best meets the needs of
- any ill-behaved applications (those that don't examine the list of
- supported Visuals before creating windows) that you need to run.
-
- Allen
-