[ The PC Guide | System
Optimization and Enhancement Guide | System Optimizations and
Enhancements | Video and Image Optimization ]
Adjust the Image Color Depth
The color depth of the displayed image refers to how many bits of information are used
to represent the color of each pixel. The more colors that are used, the better the
quality of the image, but of course there are other factors that trade off against image
quality.
If your video card is capable of displaying higher color depths, you can enable these
color depths to get higher quality images. By default, most PCs come with 256-color mode
enabled, which is the "standard" of sorts within Windows. The disadvantages of
using higher color depths are similar to those of using higher resolutions: slower video
performance; a potentially lower refresh rate
which may cause flicker on some monitors, and less support for higher resolutions than if
you used 256-color mode.
There are several ways to change the color depth:
- Use the utility that your video card manufacturer provided with the video card for
changing the color depth.
- Download the "QuickRes" utility, which is part of Microsoft's free PowerToys
collection for Windows 95. QuickRes, which sits in the system tray (on the
Windows 95 Task Bar) and looks like a small blue computer screen, will change screen
resolutions and color depths for you.
- Go into the Control Panel (under Settings on the Start Menu), select the
"Display" icon, select the "Settings" tab and change the "Color
palette" box.
 Next: Enable Changing Screen Resolutions and Color Depths On The Fly in Windows 95
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