Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene.
Description
Originally sprites referred to independent objects that are composited together, by hardware, with other elements such as a background.
This occurs as each scan line is prepared for the video output device, such as a CRT, without involvement of the main CPU and without the need for a full-screen frame buffer.
Sprites can be positioned or altered by setting attributes used during the hardware composition process. Examples of systems with hardware sprites include the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and many coin-operated arcade machines of the 1980s.
Use of the term "sprite" has expanded to refer to any two-dimensional bitmap used as part of a graphics display, even if drawn into a frame buffer (by either software or a GPU) instead of being composited on-the-fly at display time.
CSS sprite
In web design, a CSS sprite uses Cascading Style Sheets to display a rectangular area within a larger image.
See also
- 2.5D
- Computer graphics
- Sprite (CSS)
- Spriting
- Tilemap
- Texture mapping
- Video games with isometric graphics
External links
- Sprite (computer graphics) @ Wikipedia
