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Graphics Modes
This term defines the most visible aspects of the hardware graphics configuration. It consists of display resolution (screen height and width), color depth, and monitor refresh rate.
Color Depth
This defines the number of distinct colors that can be displayed simultaneously. It is sometimes call bit depth because it is directly related to the number of bits used for each pixel. A pixel, or picture element, is a single point in a graphics image or display monitor. "bpp" is the abbreviation for bits per pixel.
- 8 bpp = 256 distinct colors
- 16 bpp = 65,536 distinct colors (high color)
- 32 bpp = 16.7 million distinct colors (true color)
Screen Area
Screen area, or resolution, is represented in pixel count, i.e., 800x600 or 1024x768. Some monitors and/or systems do not support the full range of supported resolutions and refresh rates. Some Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) versions of the graphics drivers may not have all the listed video modes available. Please refer to your monitor or system manufacturer for more information.
Refresh Rate
Refresh rate, expressed in hertz, refers to the amount of times the screen image is repainted on the display every second. So a refresh rate of 60 means that the screen image is refreshed 60 times per second. Please note that not all monitors support all refresh rates. Refresh rate can be changed via Devices Settings, but if the refresh rate is changed to a setting that the display or graphics adapters cannot support, the display will either blank out (black screen) or the on-screen image may become distorted.
Supported Modes
For additional information on supported modes including answers to commonly asked questions, click here to visit the 'Supported Display Modes and Resolutions' document.
This applies to:
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