Colors

All 65536 (2^16) possible NeoGeo colors.

Each color component (red, green or blue) on the NeoGeo is coded with 6 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.

• 

  Full 24 bits HSV gradient (typical computer monitor)

• 

  Full NeoGeo gradient (16 bits)

• 

  Without using the dark bit (some image converters ignore it)

• 

  Without using the whole upper nibble (12 bits only)

Converter

Enter 24 bit RGB values to get the NeoGeo color word.