List of 8-bit Computer Hardware Palettes

List Of 8-bit Computer Hardware Palettes

This is a list of color palettes of some of the most popular early 8-bit personal computers and terminals, roughly those manufactured from 1975 to 1985. Although some of them use RGB palettes, are more common specific hardware-implemented 4, 16 or more color palettes: not bit nor level combinations of RGB primaries, but fixed ROM/circuitry colors selected by the manufacturer. Also, the list does not include obscure palettes, such as those available only through special adjustment and/or CPU assisted techniques (flickering, palette swapping, etc.), except where noted.

For color palettes of 16-bit personal computers, see the List of 16-bit computer hardware palettes article.

For current RGB display systems for 32-bit and better PCs (Super VGA, etc.), see the 16-bit RGB for HighColor (thousands) and 24-bit RGB for TrueColor (millions of colors) modes.

This n-bit distinction is not intended as a true strict categorization of such machines, since mixed architectures also exist (16-bit processors with 8-bit data bus, for example). The distinction is more related to a broad 8-bit computer age or generation (around 1975-1985) and its associated state of the art in color display capabilities. In any case, every computer listed here shares similar 8-bit technology, except where noted.

For various software arrangements and sorts of colors, see the List of software palettes article.

For video game consoles, see the List of videogame console palettes article.

For a more complete and technical description of the computer's hardware video capabilities, see the List of home computers by video hardware.

The original model of every system is listed, which implies that enhanced versions, clones and compatibles also support the palette of the original.

For every model, their main different graphical color modes are listed based exclusively in the way they handle colors on screen, not all their possible different screen modes (text modes or resolution modes that share the same color schemes).

Every palette is represented with a series of color patches and is complemented with a listing of color numbers/indices and names, and other technical details about how the colors are produced and/or used by the computer's display video subsystem.

For each unique palette, an image color test chart and sample image (TrueColor original follows) rendered with that palette (without dithering) are given. Color charts for palettes that already exist in other articles are not shown here. The test chart shows the full 8-bits, 256 levels of the red, green and blue (RGB) primary colors and cyan, magenta and yellow complementary colors, along with a full 8-bits, 256 levels grayscale. Gradients of RGB intermediate colors (orange, lime green, sea green, sky blue, violet and fuchsia), and a full hue's spectrum are also present. Color charts are not gamma corrected.

These elements let you study the color depth and distribution of the full colors of any given palette, and the sample image indicates how the full color selection of such palettes would represent real life images. These images are not necessarily representative of how the image would be displayed on the original graphics hardware, so simulations of how the sample image would render in different graphic modes are provided, if available. These simulations are always up to the maximum vertical resolution of the given graphic mode or up to 200 scan lines, if vertical resolution is greater. So any of them could be properly padded, transcoded and dumped into the original hardware and/or software emulators without any other changes. See the summary of every simulated image to obtain technical details about conversion to the original machine's format.

The simulated images only try to show how a certain system is able to handle an image in terms of color without improvements nor additional clever tricks of design like anti-aliasing or dithering. Doubtlessly a human artist is able to improve enormously the look of the simulated images to approximate them to the original one, but that is not the goal of this article.

Note: please do not change the compression scheme of every image by a lossy compression scheme (i.e. JPEG) in order to improve their file size, nor change the thumbnail size of the images, nor gamma-correct them. They are didactical material AS IS, and they have been already optimized for this purpose.