Did Technology Kill The Browser-Safe Color Palette

With the advancement of technology comes several debates of the Internet's old-school of thought. One of which is the traditional web safe color palette.

A Lesson in History...
The color management system historically used by Web browser software is based on an 8-bit, 216-color (not 256) palette. The web (browser)-safe color palette was a solution devised by Netscape to solve the problem of displaying color graphics in a similar way on many kinds of display screens, with browsers running under different operating systems (such as Mac, Windows, and UNIX).

The Debate...
Most Web users have computers and monitors set to "thousands" or "millions" of colors, so the importance of the so-called Web-safe palette has sharply diminished in the past few years. When the user has a monitor set to thousands or millions of colors all colors display properly, so there is no longer any need to restrict your color choices to the 216 Web-safe colors.

Just the idea that it is now safe to design without the palette has many designers and programmers up in arms. But let's face it, so few computer users view the web in 256 colors anymore.

And the beat goes on...
Today's computers have more memory, faster processors and don't suffer from the color palette restrictions of the computers from the early days. The need to use the browser-safe palette for color consistency just about become obsolete. As technology advances, so does our flexibility of design.

Its not to say that using the browser-safe palette isn't still a good design practice. It simply limits your choices to 216 colors; and this is okay for those who aren't gifted with color picking skills, and I have to say, it makes designing a whole lot easier when working with limited color choices.

At this point, there's no right or wrong when it comes to which colors you pick, but more important to know how to combine colors in that will portray your business and increase traffic to your site.

For more web design tips & techniques, visit Mandarich Media Group on the web!!