Dithering is a technique that graphics displays use to produce colors that are not in the display color palette. They mix colors in adjacent pixels to give a blend that approximates the desired color. For instance, to produce a darker gray, a graphics display might sprinkle a few black pixels onto a gray background. These sprinkled-in pixels catch the eye, and produce less pleasing results than solid colors.

Check out The 256 Colors of Netscape for an excellent discussion on the subject of dithering.

You can avoid the problem of dithering colors by selecting non-dithering colors for your images. Just use the non-dithering colors that Lynda Weinman has cataloged. Note that there is a difference in the ways Macs and PCs dither colors, but all of these colors are non-dithering on both machines.

Don't dither on this issue - choose the right colors!

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