Microsoft KB Archive/156822

= Tseng Labs ET4000-W32I Chipset Only Supports 65K Colors =

Article ID: 156822

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q156822



SUMMARY
Any Video card using the Tseng Labs ET4000-W32I chipset under Windows NT 4.0 will only be able to support 65K colors. This is a change from Windows NT 3.5x, which allowed for 16.7M colors using the same chip set.

The W32I chipset uses a banked video memory system. The 16.7M color mode requires 24 bits per pixel, which is difficult to implement on a banked video system. Windows NT 3.51 emulated a linear (non-banked) video system by using a page-fault driven banking scheme. In Windows NT 4.0, the Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and the video drivers were moved into the kernel. This move makes it impossible to implement non-banked emulation and, therefore, can only support 65K colors.



MORE INFORMATION
Full 24-bit, 16.7M color is supported with video cards using the Tseng Labs ET6000 chipset.

Additional query words: prodnt

Keywords: kbsetup KB156822

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