what exactly is the difference
I wrote up a detailed explanation but my session timed out and the forum software threw away all my typing when I hit the back button.
The short answer is 8-bits.
yea i hate it when that happens >:( thats why i copy most of my detailed posts...
16-bit uses 65,336 different colors
24 and 32 bit modes produce the same number of colors - 16.7 million. They differ only in the organization of video memory (3 bytes per pixel for 24 bit, 4 bytes per pixel for 32 bit).
That's a big difference, and you should notice it too. Just be sure to have enough memory, 32-bit color uses alot of power.
The big difference for auto software is the palette. 16-bit may force the OS to approximate some colors rather than use exact colors. If the OS changes a blue pixel to teal or to violet, a human user might not notice a difference but the auto sofware might stop working if it is waiting for the pixel to turn blue.
thanks for the answer Maelstrom