CompuServe Messages

Ben, a question about IM and 24bit processing programs in general: Have you ever considered allowing the user to *process* data in something other than 24bit format? For instance, if I have a 24bit pic on disk, but my machine doesn't have tons of ram, how about letting the user (at their choice, of course) load the image in as a 15 or 12 bit image, or such? You'd just translate the image into that 'deep' a color res as you loaded it, and perform all operations on it at that level. That would save 1/3 or 1/2 the memory. You'd still save as 24bit, for compatibility, but the color res wouldn't be there. Hey, sort of like a DCTV image! 🙂 If the user's ultimate output was to be HAM or Amiga 32color, etc… then the lower color res wouldn't be a problem (or as much of one). I realize that would comprimise quality, but it might open the product up to others who don't have the extra ram? Or would the programming, etc of above not be worth the few extra sales? Or is this another ridiculous idea? –jp–seattle–