Interactive TIA Color Charts and Tools

Based on Glenn Saunder's color charts. Colors provided by Trebor.

By Random Terrain (using free scripts found online)

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Page Table of Contents

Interactive Color Charts

NTSC Color Compatibility Tool

PAL Color Compatibility Tool

NTSC/PAL Color Conversion Tool

The color charts below are interactive. Click on a color and the hexadecimal color value will be displayed.

The NTSC and PAL Atari 2600 color compatibility tools can help you quickly find colors that go great together (possibly saving you a lot of time and energy). Just click on the colors to see the results displayed in the test area. Notice the hexadecimal color values that appear above the charts. Once you find the right colors, simply copy and paste the hexadecimal color values into your Atari 2600 program. You might also want to check out the Color Compatibility Tool that works on a real Atari 2600.

The NTSC/PAL color conversion tool works in a similar way to the others. Click on a color in either chart and the equivalent hexadecimal color values will be displayed. When there is no equivalent PAL color value, the next best thing is substituted. (Based on the conversion table posted by SeaGtGruff.)

JavaScript must be enabled for the tools on this page to work properly.

Interactive Color Charts

NTSC (128 unique colors)

Color Value:

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

PAL (104 unique colors)

Color Value:

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

SECAM (8 unique colors)

Color Value:

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

Click on a color in one of the charts above and the hexadecimal color value will be displayed above it.

NTSC Atari 2600 Color Compatibility Tool

Saturated: cold cool warm hot Desaturated: cold cool warm hot

Test Area:

Foreground:

Background:

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

Click on the colors to see the results displayed in the test area. Copy and paste the hexadecimal color values into your Atari 2600 program once you've found colors that look good together.

There are saturated and desaturated color charts for the four major phases (cold, cool, warm and hot). If you switch to a new chart, you'll need to select colors from those charts before the test area will be updated. The colors in these charts were provided by Trebor.

You might also want to check out the Color Compatibility Tool that works on a real Atari 2600.

PAL Atari 2600 Color Compatibility Tool

Saturated: cold cool warm hot Desaturated: cold cool warm hot

Test Area:

Foreground:

Background:

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

Click on the colors to see the results displayed in the test area. Copy and paste the hexadecimal color values into your Atari 2600 program once you've found colors that look good together.

NTSC/PAL Color Conversion Tool

Normal PAL Chart

Rearranged PAL Chart

NTSC (128 unique colors)

PAL (104 unique colors)

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

	0	2	4	6	8	A	C	E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

Click on a color in either chart and the equivalent hexadecimal color values will be displayed. On the left side are buttons that let you switch between two versions of the PAL chart.

Note: There are unique colors in each palette. The values displayed are just suggestions. The values are pretty accurate for the most part, but when there is no equivalent PAL color value, the next best thing is substituted. (This conversion tool is based on the triple-up conversion table posted by SeaGtGruff at AtariAge.)

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