Very Computer

I am developing an interactive artwork that uses Grayscale images.
When I save the Bitmap as Grayscale, and then display it on a monitor in
256 color mode, the image looses a lot of the detail.  I am using an
Picture Control in VB5 to show the image full screen.

Is there a way to force Windows to use a grayscale pallette at all times,
or when this application has the focus?

Your main problem is likely to be that you aren't using a grayscale
palette at all, but rather a half-tone palette (this is the VB
default).  Try setting the form's PaletteMode property to UseZOrder,
and make sure the picturebox is on top of the ZOrder (you can insure
this by the code Picture1.ZOrder).

You'll still only get about 236 shades of gray.  If this makes a
visible difference, save your pictures as grayscale, then reduce the
color depth to 236 colors.  

Jim Deutch
MS Dev MVP

Quote:> I am developing an interactive artwork that uses Grayscale images.
> When I save the Bitmap as Grayscale, and then display it on a monitor
in
> 256 color mode, the image looses a lot of the detail.  I am using an
> Picture Control in VB5 to show the image full screen.

> Is there a way to force Windows to use a grayscale pallette at all
times,
> or when this application has the focus?

Thanks!  This helped quite a bit.  I noticed the Custom Palette option
under the palette property, and create a palette in Photoshop saved as a
GIF.  This worked well.  

Now I would like to create an optimized palette and save my current and
future images using this.
Does anyone know where I can find the RGB values of the 20 Windows reserved
colors?