The modes available in RISC OS depend on the configured monitor type (see *Configure MonitorType on *Configure MonitorType) and the model of computer. Below is a table of all modes provided by RISC OS, which shows:
- the mode number
- the text resolution in columns × rows
- the graphics resolution in pixels, which corresponds to the clarity of the mode's display
- the resolution in OS units, which corresponds to the area of workspace shown by the mode
- the number of logical colours available
- the memory used to display the screen (to the nearest 0.1Kbyte)
- the vertical refresh rate to the nearest Hz (invalid for monitor type 5), which indicates the degree of flickering that you may perceive
- the bandwidth used to display the screen (to the nearest 0.1Mbyte/second), which corresponds to the load the mode places on the computer
- the monitor types that support that mode:
-
| Type
| Monitor
|
| 0
| 50Hz TV standard colour or monochrome monitor
|
| 1
| Multi-frequency monitor
|
| 2
| 64Hz high-resolution monochrome monitor
|
| 3
| 60Hz VGA-type monitor
|
| 4
| Super-VGA-type monitor (not available in RISC OS 2)
|
| 5
| LCD (liquid crystal display) (not available in RISC OS 2)
|
- the notes on the following page that are relevant to the mode.
| Mode
| Text resolution
| Pixel resolution
| OS units resolution
| Logical colours
| Memory used
| Refresh rate
| Bandwidth
| Monitor types
| Notes
|
| 0
| 80 × 32
| 640 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 2
| 20K
| 50Hz
| 1M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 1
| 40 × 32
| 320 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 4
| 20K
| 50Hz
| 1M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 2
| 20 × 32
| 160 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 16
| 40K
| 50Hz
| 2M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3) (5) (7)
|
| 3
| 80 × 25
| Text only
| Text only
| 2
| 40K
| 50Hz
| 2M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3) (5)
|
| 4
| 40 × 32
| 320 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 2
| 20K
| 50Hz
| 1M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 5
| 20 × 32
| 160 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 4
| 20K
| 50Hz
| 1M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 6
| 40 × 25
| Text only
| Text only
| 2
| 20K
| 50Hz
| 1M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3) (5) (7)
|
| 7
| 40 × 25
| Teletext
| Teletext
| 16
| 80K
| 50Hz
| 4M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3) (5)
|
| 8
| 80 × 32
| 640 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 4
| 40K
| 50Hz
| 2M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 9
| 40 × 32
| 320 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 16
| 40K
| 50Hz
| 2M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 10
| 20 × 32
| 160 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 256
| 80K
| 50Hz
| 4M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 11
| 80 × 25
| 640 × 250
| 1280 × 1000
| 4
| 40K
| 50Hz
| 2M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3) (8)
|
| 12
| 80 × 32
| 640 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 16
| 80K
| 50Hz
| 4M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 13
| 40 × 32
| 320 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 256
| 80K
| 50Hz
| 4M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 14
| 80 × 25
| 640 × 250
| 1280 × 1000
| 16
| 80K
| 50Hz
| 3.9M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3) (8)
|
| 15
| 80 × 32
| 640 × 256
| 1280 × 1024
| 256
| 160K
| 50Hz
| 8M/s
| 0,1,3,4,5
| (3)
|
| 16
| 132 × 32
| 1056 × 256
| 2112 × 1024
| 16
| 132K
| 50Hz
| 6.6M/s
| 0,1
| (6)
|
| 17
| 132 × 25
| 1056 × 250
| 2112 × 1000
| 16
| 132K
| 50Hz
| 6.5M/s
| 0,1
| (6) (8)
|
| 18
| 80 × 64
| 640 × 512
| 1280 × 1024
| 2
| 40K
| 50Hz
| 2M/s
| 1
|
| 19
| 80 × 64
| 640 × 512
| 1280 × 1024
| 4
| 80K
| 50Hz
| 4M/s
| 1
|
| 20
| 80 × 64
| 640 × 512
| 1280 × 1024
| 16
| 160K
| 50Hz
| 8M/s
| 1
|
| 21
| 80 × 64
| 640 × 512
| 1280 × 1024
| 256
| 320K
| 50Hz
| 16M/s
| 1
|
| 22
| 96 × 36
| 768 × 288
| 768 × 576
| 16
| 108K
| 50Hz
| 5.4M/s
| 0,1
| (1) (9)
|
| 23
| 144 × 56
| 1152 × 896
| 2304 × 1792
| 2
| 126K
| 64Hz
| 8.1M/s
| 2
|
| 24
| 132 × 32
| 1056 × 256
| 2112 × 1024
| 256
| 264K
| 50Hz
| 13.2M/s
| 0,1
| (6)
|
| 25
| 80 × 60
| 640 × 480
| 1280 × 960
| 2
| 37.5K
| 60Hz
| 2.3M/s
| 1,3,4,5
|
| 26
| 80 × 60
| 640 × 480
| 1280 × 960
| 4
| 75K
| 60Hz
| 4.5M/s
| 1,3,4,5
|
| 27
| 80 × 60
| 640 × 480
| 1280 × 960
| 16
| 150K
| 60Hz
| 9M/s
| 1,3,4,5
|
| 28
| 80 × 60
| 640 × 480
| 1280 × 960
| 256
| 300K
| 60Hz
| 18M/s
| 1,3,4,5
|
| 29
| 100 × 75
| 800 × 600
| 1600 × 1200
| 2
| 58.6K
| 56Hz
| 3.3M/s
| 1,4
| (1) (2)
|
| 30
| 100 × 75
| 800 × 600
| 1600 × 1200
| 4
| 117.2K
| 56Hz
| 6.6M/s
| 1,4
| (1) (2)
|
| 31
| 100 × 75
| 800 × 600
| 1600 × 1200
| 16
| 234.4K
| 56Hz
| 13.2M/s
| 1,4
| (1) (2)
|
| 33
| 96 × 36
| 768 × 288
| 1536 × 1152
| 2
| 27K
| 50Hz
| 1.4M/s
| 0,1
| (1)
|
| 34
| 96 × 36
| 768 × 288
| 1536 × 1152
| 4
| 54K
| 50Hz
| 2.7M/s
| 0,1
| (1)
|
| 35
| 96 × 36
| 768 × 288
| 1536 × 1152
| 16
| 108K
| 50Hz
| 5.4M/s
| 0,1
| (1)
|
| 36
| 96 × 36
| 768 × 288
| 1536 × 1152
| 256
| 216K
| 50Hz
| 10.8M/s
| 0,1
| (1)
|
| 37
| 112 × 44
| 896 × 352
| 1792 × 1408
| 2
| 38.5K
| 60Hz
| 2.3M/s
| 1
| (1)
|
| 38
| 112 × 44
| 896 × 352
| 1792 × 1408
| 4
| 77K
| 60Hz
| 4.6M/s
| 1
| (1)
|
| 39
| 112 × 44
| 896 × 352
| 1792 × 1408
| 16
| 154K
| 60Hz
| 9.2M/s
| 1
| (1)
|
| 40
| 112 × 44
| 896 × 352
| 1792 × 1408
| 256
| 308K
| 60Hz
| 18.5M/s
| 1
| (1) (3) (4)
|
| 41
| 80 × 44
| 640 × 352
| 1280 × 1408
| 2
| 27.5K
| 60Hz
| 1.7M/s
| 1,3,4,5
| (1) (3) (4)
|
| 42
| 80 × 44
| 640 × 352
| 1280 × 1408
| 4
| 55K
| 60Hz
| 3.3M/s
| 1,3,4,5
| (1) (3) (4)
|
| 43
| 80 × 44
| 640 × 352
| 1280 × 1408
| 16
| 110K
| 60Hz
| 6.6M/s
| 1,3,4,5
| (1) (3)
|
| 44
| 80 × 25
| 640 × 200
| 1280 × 800
| 2
| 15.7K
| 60Hz
| 0.9M/s
| 1,3,4,5
| (1) (3)
|
| 45
| 80 × 25
| 640 × 200
| 1280 × 800
| 4
| 31.3K
| 60Hz
| 1.9M/s
| 1,3,4,5
| (1) (3)
|
| 46
| 80 × 25
| 640 × 200
| 1280 × 800
| 16
| 62.5K
| 60Hz
| 3.8M/s
| 1,3,4,5
| (1) (3)
|
Notes on display modes
- These modes are not available in RISC OS 2.00, nor (except for mode 31) are they available in RISC OS 2.01.
- These modes are not available on early models of RISC OS computers (ie the Archimedes 300, 400 and 400/1 series, and the A3000), because they are unable to clock VIDC at the necessary rate.
- These modes are handled differently with a VGA or Super-VGA-type monitor. If you are using such a monitor:
- RISC OS 2.00 does not implement these modes.
- These modes are all displayed on a screen having 352 raster lines. Where a mode has fewer than 352 vertical pixels, it is centred on the screen with blank rasters at the top and bottom. Because of their appearance these modes are known as letterbox modes.
- The refresh rate is 70Hz.
- The bandwidths shown in the table for these modes are lower than these monitor types consume, because no allowance has been made for the blank rasters.
- Early models of RISC OS computers (ie the Archimedes 300, 400 and 400/1 series, and the A3000) scan these modes some 4.7% slow. Again this is because they are unable to clock VIDC at the necessary rate. Most VGA and Super-VGA-type monitors can still successfully lock onto this signal, but some may not. Furthermore, these models do not provide a Sync Polarity signal. This makes the effect of letterbox modes (see above) more severe.
- Early models of RISC OS computers (ie the Archimedes 300, 400 and 400/1 series, and the A3000) also scan these modes some 4.7% slow with multi-frequency monitors. Again this is because they are unable to clock VIDC at the necessary rate.
- These modes do not display graphics, and are provided for compatibility with BBC/Master series computers.
- In these modes circles, arcs, sectors and segments do not look circular. This is because the aspect ratio of the pixels is not in a 1:2, 1:1 or 2:1 ratio.
- These are gap modes, where the colour of the gaps is not necessarily the same as the text background.
- These modes are not a multiple of eight pixels high. By default, in these modes the bottom of the screen corresponds to the bottom line of ECF patterns, but the top line will not correspond to the top line of ECF patterns.
- This mode is not available in RISC OS 3 (version 3.00). It provides a double-sized display suitable for use by visually impaired people. Unfortunately some applications may not provide correct displays when used with this mode.
Other notes
Mode 32 has not been defined.
If an attempt is made to select a mode which is not appropriate to the current monitor type (or OS version), a suitable mode for that monitor is used. For example, an attempt to select mode 23 on a type 0 monitor will result in mode 0 being used.
In 256 colour modes, there are some restrictions on the control of the colours. Only 64 base colours may be selected; 4 levels of tinting turn the base colours into 256 shades. Also, the selection from the colour palette of 4096 shades is only possible in groups of 16.
