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VMware ACE Administrator’s Manual
Setting Screen Color Depth
in a Virtual Machine
The number of screen colors available in the guest operating system depends on the
screen color setting of the host operating system.
Virtual machines support
• 16-color (VGA) mode
• 8-bit pseudocolor
• 16 bits per pixel (16 significant bits per pixel)
• 32 bits per pixel (24 significant bits per pixel)
If the host is in 15-bit color mode, the guest operating system’s color setting controls
offer 15-bit mode in place of 16-bit mode.
If the host is in 24-bit color mode, the guest operating system’s color setting controls
offer 24-bit mode in place of 32-bit mode.
If you run a guest operating system set for a greater number of colors than your host
operating system is using, you can encounter various problems. In some cases, for
example, the colors in the guest are not correct. In others, the guest operating system
is not able to use a graphical interface.
If you encounter problems, you can either increase the number of colors available on
the host or decrease the number of colors used in the guest.
For best performance, use the same number of colors in the guest and on the host.
Changing Screen Color Depth on the Host
If you choose to change the color settings on your host operating system, you should
first shut down the guest operating system, power off the virtual machine and close
VMware ACE Manager or VMware ACE.
Follow standard procedures for changing the color settings on your host operating
system, then restart VMware ACE Manager or VMware ACE and the virtual machine.
Changing Screen Color Depth in the Virtual Machine
If you choose to change the color settings in the guest operating system, the
approach depends on the combination of host and guest you are using.