Detecting Colour and Monochrome Monitors

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Detecting whether a user has a colour or monochrome video card is a trivial task. The BIOS data segment has a value in it for this information. Below is a function (in ISO C) to retrieve this:

The Function

#include <stdint.h>
 
enum video_type
{
    VIDEO_TYPE_NONE = 0x00,
    VIDEO_TYPE_COLOUR = 0x20,
    VIDEO_TYPE_MONOCHROME = 0x30,
};
 
uint16_t detect_bios_area_hardware(void)
{
    const uint16_t* bda_detected_hardware_ptr = (const uint16_t*) 0x410;
    return *bda_detected_hardware_ptr;
}
 
enum video_type get_bios_area_video_type(void)
{
    return (enum video_type) (detect_bios_area_hardware() & 0x30);
}
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