16 grays on a classic Mac.
4-bit color is a color depth that can allow for up to 16 grays, or 16 colors assigned by a color lookup table (CLUT). This is referred to as "16 colors" on classic Macintosh systems, and the EGA standard by PC users.
Color palettes[]
16 colors on a classic Mac, showing the System Palette.
When the cost of video RAM was high, early computers used color palettes to improve the appearance of graphics with a limited number of colors.
Apple Computer[]
Apple Computer implemented the 8 basic QuickDraw colors in a rudimentary 16-color "System Palette", though the term is more commonly associated with the 256-color palette.[1]
Microsoft[]
Microsoft implemented a palette based on the EGA standard in which the first 8 colors were lower-luminosity values of the last 8.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Color Palettes (PDF) by Marc Johnson, Columbia University School of the Arts. 2020.
- ↑ Microsoft Windows 1.01, PCjs Machines. 1985-11-20.
See also[]
External links[]
- 4-bit color at the Adobe Wiki
- Color depth and List of software palettes at Wikipedia
