- Hardware Considerations
- Screen Size
- Browser Type and Version
- Color Depth and Palette
- Memory and Cache Size
- Hardware Controls
Color Depth and Palette
When talking about color depth of an i-mode screen, what we mean is the number of different colors that can be displayed. This is also called the bit depth, and you'll find references to 8-bit color that corresponds to 256 different colors. The palette is a term for the colors that are available to be displayed.
On an i-mode handset, the color depth and palette could vary greatly from device to device. For instance, early i-mode handsets were only capable of displaying 4-tone black and white. However, in the span of just two years, most i-mode devices on the market in mid-2001 support 256 colorsor even more! For instance, the Sony SO503i handset has a 16-bit palette, which is more that 65,000 colors. Table 2 shows the variety of color depth of a range of i-mode handsets.
Table 2 - Color Depth of Various i-mode Handsets *
i-mode handset model |
Color depth |
P502i |
4-tone black & white |
NM502i |
Black & white |
F502it |
256 colors |
N502it |
256 colors |
D503i |
4,096 colors |
F503i |
256 colors |
P503i |
256 colors |
N503i |
4,096 colors |
SO503i |
65,536 colors |
As mentioned previously, based upon the user agent sent to your server, you can optimize your i-mode site to take full advantage of a user's screen by customizing the content that is sent back to the browser.
Here are some things to keep in mind about the color depth of DoCoMo's i-mode service:
Handsets with color capabilities can show color designations assigned to image files, text, background, and hyperlink text.
Models with color display capabilities can use an 8-bit or higher palette.
The actual color palette in the handset display may differ from model to model.
Colors for fonts and backgrounds can be assigned using the 16 standard colors by color names or by hexadecimal values, as presented in Table 3.
Table 3 - DoCoMo i-mode 16 Standard Colors *
Color Name |
Hexadecimal Value |
aqua |
#00ffff |
black |
#000000 |
blue |
#0000ff |
fuchsia |
#ff00ff |
gray |
#808080 |
green |
#008000 |
lime |
#00ff00 |
maroon |
#800000 |
navy |
#000080 |
olive |
#808000 |
purple |
#800080 |
red |
#ff0000 |
silver |
#c0c0c0 |
teal |
#008080 |
white |
#ffffff |
yellow |
#ffff00 |