Difference between revisions of "Palette"

Latest revision as of 18:32, 12 June 2018

A palette is selection of colors which is used in an image. Rather than defining a color for each individual pixel (such as in 24-bit color images), palettes are used to link pixels to color data by way of an index reference. Graphics in Sega Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear and Game Boy Advance games all use palettes.

Mega Drive palette

Main article: Sega Mega Drive/Palettes and CRAM.

Master System palette

Consists of 16 colors, each represented by eight bits (a single byte) in the format 00BBGGRR, where BB = blue; GG = green; and RR = red. The BB, GG and RR can be any of the following values:

00 = 0
01 = 85
10 = 170
11 = 255

As such, the highest palette value is 00111111, which is 3F when converted to a byte.

Game Gear palette

Consists of 16 colors, each represented by two bytes (four nybbles) in the format GR 0B, where G = green; R = red and B = blue. The G, R and B can be any of the following values:

0/1 = 0
2/3 = 36
4/5 = 72
6/7 = 109
8/9 = 145
A/B = 182
C/D = 218
E/F = 255

Game Boy Advance palette

With 256 color indices for 4 backgrounds and 256 color indices for sprites, the Game Boy Advance uses the BGR555 format (15 bit colors). One color index contains two bytes (5 bits per component): 0BBBBBGGGGGRRRRR. The Game Boy Advance also has support for RGB mode where one pixel on the screen is represented by the RGB value and not by an index, so you can use images with up to 32768 colors.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+A '''palette''' is selection of colors which is used in an image. Rather than defining a color for each individual [[pixel]] (such as in 24-bit color images), palettes are used to link pixels to color data by way of an index reference. Graphics in [[Sega Mega Drive]], [[Master System]], [[Game Gear]] and [[Game Boy Advance]] games all use palettes.
-A '''palette''' is selection of colours which is used in an image. Rather than defining a colour for each individual [[pixel]] (such as in 24-bit colour images), palettes are used to link pixels to colour data by way of an index reference. Graphics in [[Sega Genesis|Megadrive]], [[Master System]], [[Game Gear]] and [[GameBoy Advance]] games all use palettes.
+==Mega Drive palette==
+{{mainArticle|Sega Mega Drive/Palettes and CRAM}}
-According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "palette" didn't appear until the 19th century. "Pallet" is the original, correct spelling. However, both are correct today, and "palette" is more commonly used.
+==Master System palette==
+Consists of 16 colors, each represented by eight [[bit]]s (a single byte) in the format '''00BBGGRR''', where BB = blue; GG = green; and RR = red. The BB, GG and RR can be any of the following values:[[File:Master System Palette.png|right]]
-===Megadrive Palette===
-Consists of 16 colours, each represented by two bytes (four [[Nybble]]s) in the format '''0B GR''', where B = blue; G = green; and R = red. The B, G and R can be any of the following values:
-*0 = 0
-*2 = 32
-*4 = 64
-*6 = 96
-*8 = 128
-*A = 160
-*C = 192
-*E = 224
-*(and in rare cases, F = 224)
-Pixels reference these 16 colours using a single nybble. '''0''' refers to the 1st palette entry (which is normally transparent), '''1''' refers to the second entry, and so on.
-===Master System Palette===
-Consists of 16 colours, each represented by eight [[Bit|bits]] (a single byte) in the format '''00BBGGRR''', where BB = blue; GG = green; and RR = red. The BB, GG and RR can be any of the following values:
 *00 = 0
 *01 = 85
@@ Line 26: / Line 12: @@
 As such, the highest palette value is '''00111111''', which is '''3F''' when converted to a byte.
-===Game Gear Palette===
+==Game Gear palette==
-Consists of 16 colours, each represented by two bytes (four [[Nybble]]s) in the format '''GR 0B''', where G = green; R = red and B = blue. The G, R and B can be any of the following values:
+Consists of 16 colors, each represented by two bytes (four [[nybble]]s) in the format '''GR 0B''', where G = green; R = red and B = blue. The G, R and B can be any of the following values:[[File:Game Gear Palette.png|right]]
 *0/1 = 0
 *2/3 = 36
@@ Line 37: / Line 23: @@
 *E/F = 255
-===Gameboy Advance Palette===
+==Game Boy Advance palette==
-With 256 colour indices for 4 backgrounds and 256 colour indices for sprites, the [[Gameboy Advance]] uses the BGR555 format (15 bit colors). One colour index contains two bytes (5 bits per component): '''0BBBBBGGGGGRRRRR'''. The Gameboy Advance also has support for RGB mode where one pixel on the screen is represented by the RGB value and not by an index, so you can use images with up to 32768 colours.
+With 256 color indices for 4 backgrounds and 256 color indices for sprites, the [[Game Boy Advance]] uses the BGR555 format (15 bit colors). One color index contains two bytes (5 bits per component): '''0BBBBBGGGGGRRRRR'''. The Game Boy Advance also has support for RGB mode where one pixel on the screen is represented by the RGB value and not by an index, so you can use images with up to 32768 colors.
-[[Category:Hacking Information]]
+[[Category:Technical information]]