16 bit colors vs 32 bit colors

[Maizel]

Hey guys


I have a question. I was wondering whether setting your display to 16 bit color mode via Catalyst control center or the Nvidia equivalent will net you an FPS increase, since your graphics card has to put out much less colors.

I know the difference is noticeable, but if it's a decent increase, it's something to thing about.

Back in the day, it used to make a big difference Quake 3 ran much, much better in 16 bit mode.


I know I could just frap it, but I want to know what you guys think!

[ROFL Copter]

I have no comment on this ridiculous scenario.

[Maizel]

I have no comment on this ridiculous scenario.

What's with the attitude? It was a genuine question. And what is so ridiculous about it?

[GasMask]

I have no comment on this ridiculous scenario.

Me to however i would like to show that 32 bit does in fact look much better IMO.

[Maizel]

Me to however i would like to show that 32 bit does in fact look much better IMO.

Nobody in this thread has ever claimed that 32 bit doesn't look better.

[GasMask]

Nobody in this thread has ever claimed that 32 bit doesn't look better.

I fully agree with that sorry you can obviously tell i never went to the first post which i do apologise for.

[Pantsalot]

I'd think it would more likely make a minimal difference, probably not worth it but I'd be interested to know
of the results to this & if you won't do the test I might try it out doing a video on FRAPs

[irishron]

I wonder how many high-end games support 16bit color anymore.

[Maizel]

I wonder how many high-end games support 16bit color anymore.

Not many. Haven't seen one in years. But the colors can be forced through utilities.

[ROFL Copter]

Well, if you want to make Crysis look like it was released in 1992, then by all means go for it.

[irishron]

Well, if you want to make Crysis look like it was released in 1992, then by all means go for it.

This is what I mean.

[Maizel]

Well, if you want to make Crysis look like it was released in 1992, then by all means go for it.

Looks like 1992? Who is being ridiculous again?

You may or may not know, 16 bit colors are not the same as 16 bit games.

As I said, the difference is noticable, but your comment that it will look like it;s made in 1992 is very untrue. The difference is noticable but not much worse. I can tell, because I just finished playing Shogun 2 in 16 bit.

Imagine: If the fps gain would be 50% and the the game looks only a little bit worse, I'm sure some people would find it worth the while.

Unfortunately my fraps went tits up, so I didn;t get any measurement. Might try a 3dmark vantage run later, when I can be arsed.

[Pantsalot]

How did you get it 16bit? I've done the obvious things of going to compatibility & changing it on the
display advanced settings & I do see a slight difference on the desktop & you can more easily see it
on Steam but on my games at the highest setting at 1980 x 1080 resolution I don't see the difference,
not even in FPS (though FRAPS never seems to go over 60FPS on them anyway)

[Maizel]

How did you get it 16bit? I've done the obvious things of going to compatibility & changing it on the
display advanced settings & I do see a slight difference on the desktop & you can more easily see it
on Steam but on my games at the highest setting at 1980 x 1080 resolution I don't see the difference,
not even in FPS (though FRAPS never seems to go over 60FPS on them anyway)

I forced it through the CCC. It's under Desktop properties there.

Ingame I see a difference in some place, the transition to colors does not seem to be as smooth, so you get some sort of 'wave' effect on some surfaces.

60 fps? Try disabling v-sync.

[Pantsalot]

I just noticed that after the battle some things have a blue background, do you have that?

Like this:

EDIT: Noticed the difference, I'll see about uploading short video clips or screenshots on Youtube showing the difference perhaps.

[Freddie]

16 bit colour? Didn't that go out with Brit pop and puffer jackets?

[irishron]

16bit color = 16+ million colors.
32bit color = 3+ billion colors.

You lose a lot color blending.

[Maizel]

16bit color = 16+ million colors.
32bit color = 3+ billion colors.

You lose a lot color blending.

Aye, I know. That was the point of this topic. Those 3 billion extra colours have to come from someplace, so I was curious whether this would lead to improved performance.

[irishron]

Not being a tech but building my own for over twnty years, my instincts tell me if a program is optimzed for 32bit color and you run it at 16bit color, what you gain in not having to calculate those "extras" you actually lose time of the cpu/gpu having to convert it to 16bit and then process it for the screen. To me, it would be close.

[Pantsalot]

I expected that they may, especially since some games only offer 32bit in their options screens but
the conversion must cost less in CPU power than what is gained by image demands of the sort