Colors
Each color component (red, green or blue) on the NeoGeo is coded with 5 bits and 1 common bit (dark bit), effectively making full use of the 16 color definition bits (65536 colors palette).
Colors definitions are stored in palettes.
Format
A color word is composed in the following manner:
| Bit | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Def | Dark bit | R0 | G0 | B0 | R4 | R3 | R2 | R1 | G4 | G3 | G2 | G1 | B4 | B3 | B2 | B1 |
Which can also be seen in a simpler way:
| Bit | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Def | LSBs | Red MSBs | Green MSBs | Blue MSBs | ||||||||||||
With:
- Red: R4~0
- Green: G4~0
- Blue: B4~0
- The dark bit, used as a common LSB for the 3 components
The upper 4 bits of each component fit in 3 nibbles, making it easy to write or guess color values ($0F00 is red, $00F0 is green...).
Color depth
The NeoGeo's 16 bit color depth is close to the 15 bit depths of the SNES, GBA and Saturn consoles.
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Full 24 bits HSV gradient (CRT monitor)
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Full NeoGeo gradient (16 bits)
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Without using the dark bit (some image converters ignore it)
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Without using the whole upper nibble (12 bits only)
Converter
Enter 24 bit RGB values to get the NeoGeo color word.