Mandelbrot 3 x 133 chars##chars
The first thing that popped into my mind was "Mandelbrot!".
Yes, I know there already is a mandelbrot submission. After confirming that I'm able to get it below 140 characters myself, I have taken the tricks and optimizations from that solution into mine (thanks Martin and Todd). That left space to choose an interesting location and zoom, as well as a nice color theme:
unsigned char RD(int i,int j){
double a=0,b=0,c,d,n=0;
while((c=a*a)+(d=b*b)<4&&n++<880)
{b=2*a*b+j*8e-9-.645411;a=c-d+i*8e-9+.356888;}
return 255*pow((n-80)/800,3.);
}
unsigned char GR(int i,int j){
double a=0,b=0,c,d,n=0;
while((c=a*a)+(d=b*b)<4&&n++<880)
{b=2*a*b+j*8e-9-.645411;a=c-d+i*8e-9+.356888;}
return 255*pow((n-80)/800,.7);
}
unsigned char BL(int i,int j){
double a=0,b=0,c,d,n=0;
while((c=a*a)+(d=b*b)<4&&n++<880)
{b=2*a*b+j*8e-9-.645411;a=c-d+i*8e-9+.356888;}
return 255*pow((n-80)/800,.5);
}
132 chars total
I tried to get it down to 140 for all 3 channels. There is a bit of color noise near the edge, and the location is not as interesting as the first one, but: 132 chars
unsigned char RD(int i,int j){
double a=0,b=0,d,n=0;
for(;a*a+(d=b*b)<4&&n++<8192;b=2*a*b+j/5e4+.06,a=a*a-d+i/5e4+.34);
return n/4;
}
unsigned char GR(int i,int j){
return 2*RD(i,j);
}
unsigned char BL(int i,int j){
return 4*RD(i,j);
}