EGA palette remapper
EGA shows 16 colors at once — but each of those 16 slots can be set to any of the 64 master colors. That's the authentic hardware capability almost no software touched. Pick a slot, then click a color from the 64 to assign it. Export your custom 16 when you're done.
Your 16 slots
Click a slot to select it (highlighted), then choose its color from the master palette below. Slots start at the CGA-compatible EGA defaults.
The 64-color master palette
Editing slot 0. Click any color to assign it to that slot. The slot's current color is outlined in green; the 16 CGA-compatible defaults are outlined in amber.
The road not taken. Nearly all EGA software just used the 16 CGA-compatible defaults and never reprogrammed these registers — which is why EGA games tend to look so alike. The hardware could draw from the full 64 the whole time. This remapper is that unused capability, made interactive.
Frequently asked
- Why did EGA games all look similar if 64 colors were available?
- Because the 16 default palette entries matched CGA for backward compatibility, and most developers used them as-is rather than reprogramming the 16 registers to pull other colors from the 64-color set.
- Is 16-of-64 the same as VGA's palette?
- No. EGA chooses 16 from a 64-color (6-bit) master. VGA chooses 256 from a much larger 18-bit space (262,144 colors). See the VGA palette page.
- Can I use my custom palette on an image?
- The image converter renders to the EGA/VGA default 16 today; custom-palette conversion is a planned addition.