Browse: Windows Mobile 5 > Registry Tweaks > Display > Colors
Various UI colors on Windows Mobile 5 are configured as follows:
For Windows Mobile 200x UI colors, see PocketPCTodayColors
[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Color]
Known Colors
| value name |
meaning |
| BaseHue |
Base Hue value (DWORD) upon which many UI elements are based when not overridden. See bottom of page for a detailed explanation with examples and chart. This value can be changed interactively, thus making it possible to use in applications for e.g. notification purposes. |
| SHColor |
BLOB (Binary Large OBject) of color values. A reference of which binvalue set belongs to what UI element has not yet been spotted, but several internet articles mention tweaking bits of it to change colors that can be changed through the below keys as well |
| 4 |
Today screen items text color. This, and the other numeric values, can be changed interactively, thus making it possible to use in applications for e.g. notification purposes. |
| 5 |
Navigation bar color aka starticon (e.g. 'Start menu background color'). Include also bottom navigation bar. |
| 6 |
Today screen horizontal separator color |
| 34 |
Today Screen items background highlight color (defaults to value defined by BaseHue) |
| 35 |
Today Screen items text highlight color |
| 39 |
Start menu text |
| 9 |
Taskbar text color (e.g. 'Start' and clock display) |
| 13 |
Pop-up balloon (e.g. date/time), left-hand side of titlebar gradient |
| 14 |
Pop-up balloon (e.g. date/time), right-hand side of titlebar gradient |
| 27 |
Pop-up balloon (e.g. date/time), titlebar text |
| 25 |
Pop-up alert (e.g. missed call, password incorrect), left-hand side of titlebar gradient |
| 26 |
Pop-up alert (e.g. missed call, password incorrect), left-hand side of titlebar gradient |
| 28 |
Pop-up alert (e.g. missed call, password incorrect), titlebar text |
| 15 |
'List Page' (e.g. Contacts main screen background), left-hand side of ODD lines gradient |
| 16 |
'List Page' (e.g. Contacts main screen background), right-hand side of ODD lines gradient |
| 36 |
'List Page' (e.g. Contacts main screen background), left-hand side of EVEN lines gradient |
| 37 |
'List Page' (e.g. Contacts main screen background), right-hand side of EVEN lines gradient |
| 8 |
Color of Password screen digits background, and maybe other elements. Old WM200x "color of status bar background" |
| 19 |
Color of text on phone SIM card PIN code entry screen's buttons, and maybe other elements |
| 40 |
Tap-and-hold dots |
| 11 |
Secondary alert tray (tray shown when not enough space for all notifications) |
For all numerical value names, the datatype is Binary. The binary itself is composed of HEX values using the combination "RR GG BB AA" for Red, Green, Blue and Alpha (typically goes ignored). If your device is 'missing' one of the value names, you can add it manually.
Colors defined in PocketPCTodayColors which have not been confirmed in WM5
| value name |
meaning |
| 1 |
"color of 'status' in activesync connect msg." - what is the ActiveSync Connect Msg? |
| 5 |
"background of starticon" Color behind cross when Mbutton (or other) launch himself after reset. Usually, it's a little square on right top of screen. This item work on WM5. |
| 7 |
"color of command bar background". The command bar background is the old bar at the bottom of the screen on Mobile 2003 device. It was usually grey. |
| 10 |
"navigation bar highlite color" - what is the navigation bar? |
| 11 |
"tray background" - WM5 'Tray' uses Today screen background image for background |
| 12 |
"tray highlight" - WM5 'Tray' highlight color is Today Screen selected item background highlight color (34) |
Value names stored in registry without associated UI element found (device is Qtek 9100, ROM 1.1.7.5)
| value name |
value |
meaning |
| 38 |
C2 06 06 00 (medium red) |
??? |
| 42 |
6D 73 66 74 (greenish grey, with alpha) |
 BenThon figured this one out - in ASCII it spells "msft", which stands for "Microsoft". And, of course, the answer to life, the universe, and everything is "42". Cute - but thus unlikely to be an actually used color. This value is generated by Microsoft's ThemeGenerator |
Other value names without associated UI element found
| value name |
meaning |
| 2 |
|
| 3 |
|
| 17 |
|
| 18 |
|
| 20 |
|
| 21 |
|
| 22 |
|
| 23 |
|
| 24 |
|
| 29 |
|
| 30 |
|
| 31 |
|
| 32 |
|
| 33 |
|
| 41 |
|
| >42 |
42 is the last value name stored on device Qtek 9100, ROM 1.1.7.5. It is conceivable that there are other value names possible. |
Color values defined through theme file registry settings
These values will only become apparent if loaded from a theme file, or after a soft reset
[HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\ThemeName.tsk]
(Where ThemeName should match the currently active .tsk file)
| value name |
meaning |
| UseDefaultTitleColor |
Default value is 1. Seem to suppress several changes while at 1. Set to 0, and you will notice several changes kick in. I will edit this when I have a proper list. PM me for an incomplete one. -ideologist |
| Color_CaptionFlat |
Color of dialogs which use a single title background color (such as the Pocket PC Networking message dialog) |
| Color_CommandBar |
Color of 'flat' bottom command bar as seen in e.g. Help. Also background color of SIP icon when SIP is active in gradiented command bar, and color in the two lower (2px high) gradients on many screens such as the Today screen. |
| Color_CommandBarText |
Color of the text in the command bar |
| Color_CommandBarText_Highlight |
Color of the text in the command bar when highlighted (tapped) |
| Color_CommandBarSip_Highlight |
Background color of the SIP icon when SIP is active in flat command bar (e.g. Help, but not Notes) |
| Color_Highlight |
Background color of selected items in lists (Start menu, Explorer, Contacts, etc.) |
| Color_HighlightText |
Text color of selected items in lists (Start menu, Explorer, Contacts, etc.) |
| Color_MenuText |
Color of text in pop-up menus (e.g. Calendar > Menu). |
| Color_NavBarText_Highlight |
Color of task bar text when highlighted (e.g. "Start" when opening the Start menu) |
| Color_SoftkeyFlat |
? |
| Color_SoftkeyFlatCenter |
Color of soft keys bar background |
| Color_SoftkeyBtnFace |
? |
| Color_TitleFlat |
? |
| Color_TitleFlatCenter |
Color of task bar background |
| Color_TitleFlatDoneBtn |
Color of OK/Close button in task bar |
| Color_TitleFlatDoneBtn_Highlight |
Color of OK/Close button in task bar when highlighted (clicked/depressed) |
| others? |
There may be others - this is difficult to determine without having real world examples |
Additional color changes may be done through the BLOB:
HKLM\SYSTEM\GWE\SysColor
For details, see: MSDN Windows CE5 : 'Customizing System Colors'
BaseHue
In Windows Mobile 5, many of the UI colors are governed by a single registry value, the BaseHue. This value defines a basic 'tint' (Hsv) (e.g. color in colors of the rainbow) from which the actual colors used are then derived by varying brightness (hsV) and vividness (hSv).
This BaseHue value is normally derived from the settings used in a Theme.
By changing this single color manually, the Windows Mobile 5 user interface can be quickly customized for 'theming' purposes, but also as part of applications taking advantage of this behavior to perform visual effects. For example, in SPB Backup the main list view has a background gradient that matches the theme or in ThemeGenCE you can set this value.
( Note that changing themes will also, likely, re-set your BaseHue value )
The value defined can be roughly specified as correlating as follows to tints:
| value |
tint |
| 0-255 |
greyscales - the brightness of the greyscale values varies - however, neither black or white are incorporated. Please see the WM5 ?BaseHue Gradient for an overview |
| 256-495 |
color tints clockwise (red > yellow > green > cyan > blue > magenta > red) along a hue wheel (rainbow) |
| 496-511 |
color starts at magenta and tints back towards red |
| 512+ |
as 256-511 - there appears to be no measurable difference |
Typical values are:
| value |
angle on hue wheel |
tint |
| 0 |
n/a |
greyscale |
| 257 |
0 |
red |
| 277 |
30 |
orange |
| 296 |
60 |
yellow |
| 317 |
90 |
neon green |
| 337 |
120 |
green |
| 357 |
150 |
mint |
| 376 |
180 |
cyan |
| 397 |
210 |
sky blue |
| 417 |
240 |
blue |
| 437 |
270 |
royal purple |
| 457 |
300 |
magenta |
| 476 |
330 |
hot pink |
| 396 |
359 |
'red' |
Microsofts ?BaseHue Secret
The Microsoft Default value is: '65929'
This value does not appear to differ from the value '393'. The reason for that is:
('65929' as hex is '0x010189')
The usage of the first byte ('01') is unknown (change it to whatever you want and nothing will change).
The second byte ('01') defines whether to use grayscale ( == 0x00 ) or not ( > 0x00 ).
The third byte states the gray value or the hue value (0-255).
So. Taking '393' as hex makes 0x000189. Except for the first byte its the same as '65929'.
The below package contains a large image which shows the relationship visually along with example screenshots.
It also includes an 'interactive' color explorer using HTML, CSS and javascript
Lastly, it contains example shortcuts for Vijay555's VJBaseHue application
BaseHue ColorScheme chart
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/uploads/wm5ui_basehue_tweak.zip - 560k
WM5 BaseHue Gradient
