Hello,

I would be very grateful if someone could weigh in on this silly problem
that I cannot get around.

I am troubleshooting my parents computer which is a HP system running XP pro
SP2. The problem is that we discovered that photos were displayed awkwardly
with not as many colours as one would expect.

Si I went into the Monitor properties panel to check that the color settings
were correct. I saw that although 32-bit colors were currently selected, the
color spectrum was 'chunky' as it is with lower numbers of colors and not
'fluid and nice' as I from experience expect 32-bit color spectrum to be.

When I change down to 16-bit colors there is no change, not in images/photos
nor in the spectrum display. This leads me to think that while it is possible
to specify use of 32-bit colors, only 16-bit colors are actually used for
some reason.

I tried different resolutions to see if 32-bit was implemented correctly at
lower resolutions but no change.

The graphics card is an integrated ATI Radeon x200 and I have updated to the
latest Catalyst drivers.

The monitor is a flat panel Hewlett Packard L1706 and I have updated the
driver for this one as well with the appropriate driver from HP's site.

What can be wrong?

Here are some screenshots to illustrate how the color settings have no
effect on the color spectrum:

High resolution 32bit color
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/3897/32bithirestb8.jpg

High resolution 16bit color
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7...ithiresey0.jpg

Low resolution 32bit color
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/7...itloresja0.jpg

Hello,

Some, if not all, LCDs do not support 32-bit - the LCD you have may only be
a 6-bit LCD.
http://compreviews.about.com/od/mult...a/LCDColor.htm
http://www.futurehardware.in/155328.htm

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

"Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:57D82088-0535-4C40-AC86-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello,
>
> I would be very grateful if someone could weigh in on this silly problem
> that I cannot get around.
>
> I am troubleshooting my parents computer which is a HP system running XP
> pro
> SP2. The problem is that we discovered that photos were displayed
> awkwardly
> with not as many colours as one would expect.
>
> Si I went into the Monitor properties panel to check that the color
> settings
> were correct. I saw that although 32-bit colors were currently selected,
> the
> color spectrum was 'chunky' as it is with lower numbers of colors and not
> 'fluid and nice' as I from experience expect 32-bit color spectrum to be.
>
> When I change down to 16-bit colors there is no change, not in
> images/photos
> nor in the spectrum display. This leads me to think that while it is
> possible
> to specify use of 32-bit colors, only 16-bit colors are actually used for
> some reason.
>
> I tried different resolutions to see if 32-bit was implemented correctly
> at
> lower resolutions but no change.
>
> The graphics card is an integrated ATI Radeon x200 and I have updated to
> the
> latest Catalyst drivers.
>
> The monitor is a flat panel Hewlett Packard L1706 and I have updated the
> driver for this one as well with the appropriate driver from HP's site.
>
> What can be wrong?
>
> Here are some screenshots to illustrate how the color settings have no
> effect on the color spectrum:
>
> High resolution 32bit color
> http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/3897/32bithirestb8.jpg
>
> High resolution 16bit color
> http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7...ithiresey0.jpg
>
> Low resolution 32bit color
> http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/7...itloresja0.jpg
>
>

Peter wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would be very grateful if someone could weigh in on this silly problem
> that I cannot get around.
>
> I am troubleshooting my parents computer which is a HP system running XP pro
> SP2. The problem is that we discovered that photos were displayed awkwardly
> with not as many colours as one would expect.
>
> Si I went into the Monitor properties panel to check that the color settings
> were correct. I saw that although 32-bit colors were currently selected, the
> color spectrum was 'chunky' as it is with lower numbers of colors and not
> 'fluid and nice' as I from experience expect 32-bit color spectrum to be.
>
> When I change down to 16-bit colors there is no change, not in images/photos
> nor in the spectrum display. This leads me to think that while it is possible
> to specify use of 32-bit colors, only 16-bit colors are actually used for
> some reason.
>
> I tried different resolutions to see if 32-bit was implemented correctly at
> lower resolutions but no change.
>
> The graphics card is an integrated ATI Radeon x200 and I have updated to the
> latest Catalyst drivers.
>
> The monitor is a flat panel Hewlett Packard L1706 and I have updated the
> driver for this one as well with the appropriate driver from HP's site.
>
> What can be wrong?
>
> Here are some screenshots to illustrate how the color settings have no
> effect on the color spectrum:
>
> High resolution 32bit color
> http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/3897/32bithirestb8.jpg
>
> High resolution 16bit color
> http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7...ithiresey0.jpg
>
> Low resolution 32bit color
> http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/7...itloresja0.jpg
>
>

If you updated the video drivers from HP's website (and you should use
the drivers from HP since this is onboard video) and have no change, the
video hardware is probably failing. If this is a new computer, contact
HP tech support for warranty replacement of the motherboard. If this is
an older machine, if it is a desktop you can try putting in a standalone
video card and see if that helps. The correct hardware to choose depends
on the model computer. If this is a laptop, then you'll need to replace
the motherboard (contact HP tech support) or decide the machine is too
old and will not be cost-efficient to fix.

You didn't say what your computer skills are so only you can decide
whether it would make more sense for your parents to take the machine to
a local computer professional. This will not be a BigStoreUSA/Geek Squad
type of place.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

It may be that there is not enough system memory assigned to the onboard
video to support the desired color depth AND selected resolution. Change
it in the BIOS or contact HP tech support.

Peter wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I would be very grateful if someone could weigh in on this silly problem
> that I cannot get around.
>
> I am troubleshooting my parents computer which is a HP system running XP pro
> SP2. The problem is that we discovered that photos were displayed awkwardly
> with not as many colours as one would expect.
>
> Si I went into the Monitor properties panel to check that the color settings
> were correct. I saw that although 32-bit colors were currently selected, the
> color spectrum was 'chunky' as it is with lower numbers of colors and not
> 'fluid and nice' as I from experience expect 32-bit color spectrum to be.
>
> When I change down to 16-bit colors there is no change, not in images/photos
> nor in the spectrum display. This leads me to think that while it is possible
> to specify use of 32-bit colors, only 16-bit colors are actually used for
> some reason.
>
> I tried different resolutions to see if 32-bit was implemented correctly at
> lower resolutions but no change.
>
> The graphics card is an integrated ATI Radeon x200 and I have updated to the
> latest Catalyst drivers.
>
> The monitor is a flat panel Hewlett Packard L1706 and I have updated the
> driver for this one as well with the appropriate driver from HP's site.
>
> What can be wrong?
>
> Here are some screenshots to illustrate how the color settings have no
> effect on the color spectrum:
>
> High resolution 32bit color
> http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/3897/32bithirestb8.jpg
>
> High resolution 16bit color
> http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7...ithiresey0.jpg
>
> Low resolution 32bit color
> http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/7...itloresja0.jpg
>
>