CLT (Palette Data)

Palette data of the sprite editor for use with a PXL file.

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Overview

The CLT file saves the 8-bit or 4-bit palette data edited by the PlayStation sprite editor, and it is used together with a PXL file. Like PXL, it has a simple header with an ID field and a FLAG field, and the CLUT data follows the header. All values are little endian, so the bytes of a 32-bit value are stored in ascending order.¹²

ID and FLAG

The ID field is a 32-bit value whose bits 0 to 7 hold the ID 0x12 and whose bits 8 to 15 hold the version number 0x00. The upper bits are reserved and zero. In the FLAG field, bits 0 and 1 (PMODE) hold 0x2, and the other bits are reserved and zero.¹³

CLUT Section

The CLUT section begins with its byte count (bnum), followed by its position in VRAM, its size and the main data body:³

One CLUT set has 16 entries in 4-bit mode and 256 entries in 8-bit mode. However, a file output from the sprite editor in 4-bit mode holds 16 sets.³

Because CLUTs are located in VRAM, the PlayStation handles the CLUT section as a rectangular VRAM image in which one entry is one pixel. One CLUT set is therefore an image 16 wide and 1 high in 4-bit mode and 256 wide and 1 high in 8-bit mode. CLUT data output from the sprite editor in 4-bit mode is a rectangle 16 wide and 16 high. Several CLUT sets can be combined and written in the CLUT section as one piece of image data.³

CLUT Entry

A CLUT entry expresses one color with R, G and B in 5 bits each and the transparency control bit STP in bit 15. STP applies to sprite and texture data. If R, G, B and STP are all zero the color is transparent, and otherwise it is opaque. With semi-transparency processing on, a color with STP 1 is semi-transparent:⁴

References