[domenad]

I don’t get how 6 bits translates to 200k+ colors. 8 bit color is only 256 colors.

[Petronski]

Six bits for red, six bits for green, six bits for blue.

64*64*64

262,144

[HAL9000]

It’s six bits per color plane, 18 bits total for three planes (red, green, blue), 2 ^ 18 = 262144

[dan1123]

8-bit color is for the total indexed color spectrum per pixel for a video card. Since we are talking about screens, 6 bit is per channel, 6 bits for red, 6 for green, and 6 for blue.

In 8-bit indexed color, the color palate for video cards may be changed to a different set of colors depending on the application. The screen can obviously display many more than 256 colors, but the video card would limit it to 256 at a time.

[Thoramir]

6 bits per color channel (6 bits for red, 6 bits for green, and 6 bits for blue). In the digital photography world color depth is almost always referred to in this manner. It can get a bit confusing for anyone used to the idea that an 8-bit display can only show 256 colors.