In High Color and True Color modes, every pixel can be a different
colour; this is really nice for photo-like displays.
  In 256-color mode, a special chunk of memory on the video card
holds 256 different colour values, and each pixel refers to one of
those.  This can help speed up games or animation -- it's like a
paint-by-numbers, where you can change what colour #4 is and
*everything* that is that shade changes virtually instantaneously.
There was a generation of games that depended on this, back when
video cards typically had no more than 1 MB of RAM on them.

  I'd try installing the QuickRes powertoy.  It gives you an icon in
the system tray from which you can select amongst various video modes
without rebooting, according to what you'll be doing next.  It's
compatible with *most* video hardware.
  Unless you're doing fancy image stuff, leaving the machine in 256-
color mode may be anacceptible second choice.

David G


On 20 Jun 00, at 23:47, Michael C. Williams wrote:

> Good day, friends. I have a question concerning color settings for
> various programs. My computer's current/default setting is "High
> Color (16 bit)". I just installed a program (game) that will only
> work with the "256 Colors" setting. I changed the setting but then
> I got a text box that said some programs might not work unless I
> restart the computer now. So, I changed it back to High Color/16
> bit.
>
> My question concerns what to do about this. If I want to run this
> program, do I have to change the setting and restart every time?
> Alternatively, what risks do I run if I leave the setting at 256
> colors. I know there are programs that require the high color/16
> bit setting. It is confusing since I don't know what the best
> operating standard is. Would I be better off to just uninstall the
> new program and not use any programs that require 256 colors?
>
> I know it is futile, but there is this little voice in my head
> saying "why do 'they' do this to us"? Sometimes I feel like I have
> a metric wrench and an American standard bolt.

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