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How to determine the number of colors (bits per pixel) in X11

How to determine the number of colors (bits per pixel) in X11

How can I find out how many bits per pixel are actually available in a running X11 session?

To check the system-wide value, run the command:

xwininfo -root | grep Depth

Example output:

  Depth: 24

The following command will print the supported bitness values for the root window:

xdpyinfo | grep depths

The first number indicates the current bit depth:

  depths (7):    24, 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, 32

In X windows, each window can choose which bit depth to use from a list of available bit depths. To find out the bit depth of a specific window, run the command in the terminal:

xwininfo

Then click on a window. The result will be displayed in the terminal, what is in the “Depth:” line is the bit depth, that is, the number of bits per pixel.

Some windows show 24-bit color depth, and some applications (Google Chrome and Firefox web browsers) show 32-bit color depth.

If you prefer a graphical interface, then launch SMPlayer and go to “View” → “Information about connected screens” from the menu.

A window with display properties will open. Here you will find the “Depth” item, which indicates the color depth.

30-bit color depth on Linux

The previous examples show the output when using 8-bit (or equivalently 24-bit) color depth.

The following examples show the output if Linux has 10-bit (or equivalently 30-bit) color depth enabled.

Let's check again the current color depth values that the operating system uses to make sure that the settings actually had an effect:

xwininfo -root | grep Depth

Now the color depth is 30:

  Depth: 30

Let's also check the color depth in Linux using the xdpyinfo utility:

xdpyinfo | grep depths

Instead of 7, it now shows 8 supported color depths, using 30-bit depth:

  depths (8):    30, 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, 24, 32

The xwininfo utility also shows a color depth of 30-bit:

xwininfo

If you prefer a graphical interface, then launch SMPlayer and go to “View” → “Information about connected screens” from the menu.


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