sprite file format?

[zaphodikus]

I am not an Atari owner, just looking for internal details into the sprite file format, as far I can figure it's 4-bit? Anyone got a pointer to the structure documentation.

I am actually searching for 8x8 and 16x16 monochrome inspiration for an electronics project.

[+SpiceWare]

The 2 sprites in the Atari 2600 are 8x1 as the TIA is a scan line based video chip.

 

The section of code known as the Display Kernel updates the sprite register every scan line (or every other in older games) . The only limit on how many times you can update it is how many lines are visible, typically 192 though it can be more/less depending on the game. As such, what can be displayed is 8x192. On the lines above/below the graphic image, the sprite is updated with a value of 0.