Mac OS X: Only Use 256 Colors and/or 640 by 480 Resolution When Required by Classic

Symptom

Irregularities may appear in system graphics when using either the 256 color depth setting or the 640 by 480 screen resolution. Normally, neither is a choice in the Displays preference panel.

Solution

You should use the 256 color depth setting or the 640 by 480 screen resolution in Mac OS X only when a Classic application prompts you to do so or makes the change automatically. The applications that require these settings should not suffer any graphic anomalies in most cases.

However, when you quit the application that requires one or both of these settings, you should check the Displays pane of the System Preferences application. If the application did not automatically switch the display's settings back to a higher resolution and color depth, you should do so using the menus in the Displays pane.

Note: For convenience, you may select the option to "Show displays in menu bar" in the Displays pane of System Preferences.

Mac OS X 10.2 or Later

If display irregularities persist after resetting the resolution and color depth, use the following solution (requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later):

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Open the Displays preference pane.
3. Select a resolution of at least 800 x 600.
4. Open the Universal Access preference pane.
5. Click the Set Display to Grayscale button.
6. Click the Set Display to Grayscale button again to restore color.