Chapter 16: Monitors and Displays^375
Color Depth
In addition to its resolution, the color depth of a monitor is another very important
characteristic, depending on your needs. The color depth of a monitor is the maximum
number of colors that it can display. The color depth is represented as the number of
bits required tohold the number of colors in the color depth. For example, an 8-bit color
depth has a maximum of 256 colors, because that is the highest value that can be written
in 8-bits. In binary numbers, the range of numbers available in 8 bits is 00000000 to 11111111,
or the range in decimal numbers of 0 to 255, which represents different 256 colors. The colors
included in the color palette for a particular color depth are represented in the binary values
stored in the number of bits available. Table 16-4 lists the number of colors associated with
each of the color depths, which are also called bit depths, supported on current monitors.
Depending on the PC, video card, and monitor, either 24-bit or 32-bit is typically
designated as True Color setting. The number of colors that 32-bit color, which is popular
with 3D video accelerator systems, can develop is perhaps overkill. The human eye
cannot distinguish beyond 16 million or so colors. Above that the eye may have difficulty
discerning the color distinction of two adjacent pixels.Checking Out the Color Depth and Resolution
The following is an exercise you can do to check the resolution and color depth on your
own Windows PC or notebook computer.- At the Windows Desktop, right-click in an empty space to display the Desktop
menu shown here: - Choose Properties to open the Display Properties window shown in Figure 16-3.
- Select the Settings tab.
- Towards the bottom of the Settings tab are two side-by-side settings that
control the color depth (Colors) and the screen resolution (Screen Area),
as shown in the next illustration.