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Average computer screen colors statistics
<ARTICLE SUMMARY> What colors are used on your Web site depends upon how many colors you assume that other computers can "see." According to recent statistics, the average computer screen colors in use today are "thousands."
(Last updated 3/5/01)
You may have heard about websafe colors by now. Those are the 216 colors that are common between PCs and Macs, and that can be "safely" used for people who view the world through computers that can only render "hundreds of colors."
We say "safely," because:
- the colors will look about the same to everyone (although gamma settings will make them slightly darker on a PC, slightly lighter on a Mac)
- all 216 colors exist within the "hundreds of colors" spectrum, and so no color approximations need to be made
Use colors that require "thousands of colors" to render properly, however, and two things will happen:
- colors may look a little more different between PCs and Macs
- computers that can only render hundreds of colors may present the Web page with dots in the colors or splotches in the photographs, since such computers can't process all the color information presented to them
On the other hand, limiting yourself to 216 colors may be overly conservative if everyone's able to look at millions of colors. (Imagine doing all your print and TV work using a 216-color palette.)
As a marketer, then, you want to consider computer screen colors as well as average computer screen resolution and average internet connection speeds when developing and approving websites.
So what are the average computer screen colors experienced by users today?
According to real-time analysis of Web surfers, MyComputer.com suggests that "thousands of colors" are now the average computer screen colors (a few years ago, it would have been "hundreds of colors," hence the popularity of the websafe colors).
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Average Computer Screen Colors
January 2001
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| Screen Colors |
% of Users |
| Less than 256 |
0.3% |
| 256 (8-bit) |
8.1% |
| 65,536 (16-bit) |
50.3% |
| 16.7 million (24-bit) |
10.8% |
| 16.7 million (32-bit)* |
21.5% |
| Unknown |
9.0% |
Source: MyComputer.com, 1/01
* 32-bit has higher intensity colors |
This roughly corresponds to our own site traffic logs, by the way.
How many colors should your site be designed for?
It certainly appears that thousands of colors are now "safe." Safe, that is, if spots or blotches are your main concern. If cross-platform accuracy (minus gamma) is a huge concern, however, then you'll still want to consider those pesky 216 colors.
Designers and programmers are prejudiced toward millions of colors because that's what their computers can produce. (This is the same reason why they often create slow-loading pages--because they work over high-speed Internet connections while most of the world doesn't.)
It's always a good idea to view your site through the eyes of your target group. If you're computer screen colors are set to "millions," reset to "thousands" or "256" and look again. Do you still like what you see?
As happened with televisions, we can expect that the average computer screen colors to increase to millions of colors as the years go by. But if you are targeting the masses, it pays to keep pace with them rather than with the technology.
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