KB22265 - How to set the color depth for Windows Terminal Services/Hob-Soft or Premier Java RDP Applet

This article provides information on how to set the color depth for Windows Terminal Services/Hob-Soft or Premier Java RDP applet.

By default, the color depth settings is 8 bit. when accessing a Terminal Service Session with a Hob-Soft Embedded RDP Applet/Premier Java RDP Applet, Terminal Service Session and RDP Launcher. Also, "A color depth of 24 bit is only supported on Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 even we specify 32 bit in the PCS Terminal Service configuration.

 

1. If you have configured using Hob-Soft Java Applet/Premier Java RDP Applet, the following parameter needs to be added in the HTML code:

   <param name="COLORDEPTH" value="32">

 

2. For the Terminal Services bookmark, navigate to Terminal Services > Bookmarks and change the Color Depth to 32-bit (True Color):
    

   

 

3. For RDP Launcher, the color depth has to be enabled to 32-bit (True Color). Login as a user, click Preferences > General > Remote Desktop Launcher, and set the Color Depth to 32-bit (True Color) :
    

   

 

4. If the RDP is performed to a Windows XP machine, 24 bit is the max color depth that can be set. To confirm this, refer to the following Microsoft link:
   
   http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772048.aspx
   
   So even if 32 bit is specified in the PCS device configuration, you will still be getting 24 bit color depth. Even after specifying 24 bit in the PCS configuration and you still do not receive 24 bit and receive 8 or 16 bit color depth, check the following configuration to confirm the Maximum Color Depth on the end user system.

To change the color depth of Terminal service of a Windows XP system:
 

1. Click Start, Run, and then type MMC.
2. Click the Console menu, click Add/Remove, and then click Add. Select Group Policy.  
3. Click Add, ensure that Local Computer is selected in the Group Policy Object box, click Finish, and then click Close.
4. Select Computer Configuration, click Administrative Templates, and then Terminal Services.  
5. Right click Limit Maximum Color Depth and click Properties, select Enable and then select the 24-bit option from Color depth. Click OK.

The following image clearly illustrates the maximum supported color depth (24 bit) on Windows XP:

On Windows 7:

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type MMC.
2. Click the Console menu, click Add/Remove, and then click Add. Select Group Policy.  
3. Click Add, ensure that Local Computer is selected in the Group Policy Object box, click Finish, and then Close.
4. Select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Remote Session Environment.  

Here, as shown in the image below, this can be enabled and the maximum supported color depth is 32 bit. You can change this to 32 bit or make it Client Compatible as required. Windows XP supports only the maximum of 24 bit as the color depth.


So a color depth of 24 bit is supported only on Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003, even if 32 bit is specified in the PCS Terminal Service configuration.