High color

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High color is a term from computer technology and describes a color depth (maximum number of colors that can be displayed at the same time). In High Color with Windows (16-bit color depth, 2 16 = 65,536 colors), five bits each are reserved for red and blue and six bits for green (because the human eye is most sensitive to this), and the resulting color through additive color mixing certainly. Macintosh computers, on the other hand, can only display a 15-bit color depth in high-color mode. H. 2 15 = 32,768 colors.

This color depth is sufficient for many applications. However, especially with color gradients, photos and films, there can be visible gradations; To get around this, you need True Color (there are no differences between Windows and Macintosh). High color is hardly used today. In the past, it was also used for computer games, as it reduces the amount of data to be treated for a fast sequence of images compared to true color and can thus enable more fluid moving images.

High color was primarily used as a display format for graphics cards ; most graphic formats do not support high color. An exception is Windows Bitmap with so-called "bit masks", this sub-format is only supported by a few applications.