diff --git a/include/osg/BoundingSphere b/include/osg/BoundingSphere
index 239476cbf..b24a011ff 100644
--- a/include/osg/BoundingSphere
+++ b/include/osg/BoundingSphere
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class BoundingSphereImpl
 {
     public:
         typedef VT vec_type;
-        typedef typename vec_type::value_type value_type;        
+        typedef typename VT::value_type value_type;        
 
         vec_type    _center;
         value_type  _radius;
diff --git a/include/osg/Vec2b b/include/osg/Vec2b
index ad7251fc8..489273b73 100644
--- a/include/osg/Vec2b
+++ b/include/osg/Vec2b
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class Vec2b
         // Methods are defined here so that they are implicitly inlined
 
         /** Type of Vec class.*/
-        typedef char value_type;
+        typedef signed char value_type;
 
         /** Number of vector components. */
         enum { num_components = 2 };
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class Vec2b
 
         Vec2b() { _v[0]=0; _v[1]=0; }
         
-        Vec2b(char r, char g)
+        Vec2b(value_type r, value_type g)
         {
             _v[0]=r; _v[1]=g;
         }
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ class Vec2b
         /** Unary multiply by scalar. */
         inline Vec2b& operator *= (float rhs)
         {
-            _v[0]=(char)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
-            _v[1]=(char)((float)_v[1]*rhs);            
+            _v[0]=(value_type)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
+            _v[1]=(value_type)((float)_v[1]*rhs);            
             return *this;
         }
 
diff --git a/include/osg/Vec3b b/include/osg/Vec3b
index d54332ca8..64fb53ba0 100644
--- a/include/osg/Vec3b
+++ b/include/osg/Vec3b
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class Vec3b
     public:
 
         /** Type of Vec class.*/
-        typedef char value_type;
+        typedef signed char value_type;
 
         /** Number of vector components. */
         enum { num_components = 3 };
@@ -94,9 +94,9 @@ class Vec3b
         /** Unary multiply by scalar. */
         inline Vec3b& operator *= (float rhs)
         {
-            _v[0]=(char)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
-            _v[1]=(char)((float)_v[1]*rhs);
-            _v[2]=(char)((float)_v[2]*rhs);
+            _v[0]=(value_type)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
+            _v[1]=(value_type)((float)_v[1]*rhs);
+            _v[2]=(value_type)((float)_v[2]*rhs);
             return *this;
         }
 
diff --git a/include/osg/Vec4b b/include/osg/Vec4b
index e7afb3258..2c8a9fffd 100644
--- a/include/osg/Vec4b
+++ b/include/osg/Vec4b
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class Vec4b
     public:
 
         /** Type of Vec class.*/
-        typedef char value_type;
+        typedef signed char value_type;
 
         /** Number of vector components. */
         enum { num_components = 4 };
@@ -101,10 +101,10 @@ class Vec4b
         /** Unary multiply by scalar. */
         inline Vec4b& operator *= (float rhs)
         {
-            _v[0]=(char)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
-            _v[1]=(char)((float)_v[1]*rhs);
-            _v[2]=(char)((float)_v[2]*rhs);
-            _v[3]=(char)((float)_v[3]*rhs);
+            _v[0]=(value_type)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
+            _v[1]=(value_type)((float)_v[1]*rhs);
+            _v[2]=(value_type)((float)_v[2]*rhs);
+            _v[3]=(value_type)((float)_v[3]*rhs);
             return *this;
         }
 
diff --git a/include/osg/Vec4ub b/include/osg/Vec4ub
index a6ef9bcc6..9d6467a80 100644
--- a/include/osg/Vec4ub
+++ b/include/osg/Vec4ub
@@ -62,26 +62,26 @@ class Vec4ub
             else return (_v[3]<v._v[3]);
         }
 
-        inline unsigned char* ptr() { return _v; }
-        inline const unsigned char* ptr() const { return _v; }
+        inline value_type* ptr() { return _v; }
+        inline const value_type* ptr() const { return _v; }
 
-        inline void set(unsigned char r, unsigned char g, unsigned char b, unsigned char a)
+        inline void set(value_type r, value_type g, value_type b, value_type a)
         {
             _v[0]=r; _v[1]=g; _v[2]=b; _v[3]=a;
         }
 
-        inline unsigned char& operator [] (unsigned int i) { return _v[i]; }
-        inline unsigned char operator [] (unsigned int i) const { return _v[i]; }
+        inline value_type& operator [] (unsigned int i) { return _v[i]; }
+        inline value_type operator [] (unsigned int i) const { return _v[i]; }
 
-        inline unsigned char& r() { return _v[0]; }
-        inline unsigned char& g() { return _v[1]; }
-        inline unsigned char& b() { return _v[2]; }
-        inline unsigned char& a() { return _v[3]; }
+        inline value_type& r() { return _v[0]; }
+        inline value_type& g() { return _v[1]; }
+        inline value_type& b() { return _v[2]; }
+        inline value_type& a() { return _v[3]; }
 
-        inline unsigned char r() const { return _v[0]; }
-        inline unsigned char g() const { return _v[1]; }
-        inline unsigned char b() const { return _v[2]; }
-        inline unsigned char a() const { return _v[3]; }
+        inline value_type r() const { return _v[0]; }
+        inline value_type g() const { return _v[1]; }
+        inline value_type b() const { return _v[2]; }
+        inline value_type a() const { return _v[3]; }
 
         /** Multiply by scalar. */
         inline Vec4ub operator * (float rhs) const
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ class Vec4ub
         /** Unary multiply by scalar. */
         inline Vec4ub& operator *= (float rhs)
         {
-            _v[0]=(unsigned char)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
-            _v[1]=(unsigned char)((float)_v[1]*rhs);
-            _v[2]=(unsigned char)((float)_v[2]*rhs);
-            _v[3]=(unsigned char)((float)_v[3]*rhs);
+            _v[0]=(value_type)((float)_v[0]*rhs);
+            _v[1]=(value_type)((float)_v[1]*rhs);
+            _v[2]=(value_type)((float)_v[2]*rhs);
+            _v[3]=(value_type)((float)_v[3]*rhs);
             return *this;
         }