Spectrum Shift is about playing around with color. We let you create 'exploding stars' of color using the Spectrum Shift Designer. Or you can import images(any 256 color .bmp file), and then completely redefine the colors in the images. And then you can shift the colors around in real time, sort of like the way musicians spin a record turntable back and forth. In addition to the Designer, we provide a screensaver program. The images that you create with the Designer can be queued up to be animated by the screensaver.
Spectrum Shift is a Windows 3.x program, and it only runs correctly if your display is configured for 256 colors. In 256 color mode, the Spectrum Shift Designer runs in new versions of Windows, including Windows XP. Note that the Designer may be configured to run with full screen animation turned on, so you can see everything that the screensaver shows from inside the Designer. However, the Spectrum Shift screensaver does not run in Windows XP. Windows XP does not support 16 bit screensavers. Because of these limitations, permanent copies of Spectrum Shift are now Free! Download instructions are at the bottom of this page.
Even though Spectrum Shift is old, it is still pretty cool. You can configure your display for 256 colors by going to the Control Panel and clicking on the Display icon. Press the Settings tab and then set the Colors to 256(aka 8 bit color). Depending on your display adapter, you may have to click on the Advanced settings button to select the 256 color setting. I know that this is a hassle, and not the color setting that you usually want, but it will give you a chance to play around with Spectrum Shift.
I am planning to upgrade Spectrum Shift so that it will run in high color modes on all versions of Windows eventually. This is on my todo list, but it is not at the top yet.
My latest screensaver is called the Silicon Mirror and Kaleidoscope. It works on all Windows machines in all display modes...
Comments: SpectrumShift@torpor.com ... - Please send us some mail with feedback.
Here are some images that work well with Spectrum Shift. These are ordinary Windows bitmap files, but they have special color palettes so that they work well with Spectrum Shift. I have given them the file extension of .bmx instead of .bmp to indicate that they have Spectrum Shift color palettes. Any program that can read .bmp files should also be able to read these .bmx files.
Because Windows bitmap files are large, I have placed each file in a .zip file. Click on a thumbnail image to download the associated .zip file. Extract the .bmx file from the zip file so that you can use it with Spectrum Shift(or MS Paint). Sorry about the hassle - when the new version of Spectrum Shift finally comes out, this won't be necessary.
Cloud2.bmx contains a cloud photo with a modified palette. Cloud2.bmx is 1024 pixels wide
and 769 pixels high. Cloud2.zip is 219,698 bytes long.
Cloud2x.bmx is the same exact image as Cloud2.bmx, except that it has a more radical
palette. It animates well with Spectrum Shift. Cloud2x.bmx is 1024 pixels wide and 769
pixels high. Cloud2x.zip is 219,805 bytes long.
Mandelx5.bmx is 1140 pixels wide and 890 pixels high. Mandelx5.zip
is 590,338 bytes long.
This
started out as a photo of an oak tree. It makes for pretty hard core psychedelia when
animated by Spectrum Shift. Tree5.bmx is 1024 pixels wide and 768 pixels high. Tree5.zip is 393,774 bytes long.
This is a
photo of the planet Venus. Venus.bmx is 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels high. Venus.zip is 95,964 bytes long.
Download spectsh.zip(792,198 bytes), placing it in the directory where you want to install. Then use WinZip or your favorite zip utility to extract the program files into the directory. Run setup.exe in that directory to complete the installation process. You need at least 5 megabytes of disk space free on your machine before installing.