Is it possible to change the X environment bpp “on the fly” ?
Nope, it’s one of the limitations of the current X Window System.
However, some displays support multiple visuals of different depths,
and SDL advertises and uses them correctly. I don’t know of any PC
hardware that has both 16 and 32 bpp visuals on the same screen though…
If you use the DGA driver, you’re limited to fullscreen mode, but you
can safely change the hardware video depth.
See ya,
-Sam Lantinga, Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainment
Nope, it’s one of the limitations of the current X Window System.
However, some displays support multiple visuals of different depths,
and SDL advertises and uses them correctly. I don’t know of any PC
hardware that has both 16 and 32 bpp visuals on the same screen though…
I haven’t heard of any such hardware. However, it’s often possible
(under Linux) to start another X server in a different virtual
console. I’ve often used it to debug X clients in different depths
I don’t think it’s a good idea having SDL start a new server in a different
resolution though. It would add a quite complex machinery for a questionable
gain (and it’s far from stable on all hardware/X server combinations)