今天跟一位译者讨论起来，感觉大家还是对一些基本概念并不清楚，Sprite被最初进入这一领域的译者译成“精灵”，只是欠缺斟酌、牵强附会的译法，现在我整理了一些内容发出来论证一下我的观点：
| In computer graphics, a sprite (also known by other names; see Synonyms below) is a two-dimensional/three-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene.
Sprites were originally invented as a method of quickly compositing several images together in two-dimensional video games using special hardware. As computer performance improved, this optimization became unnecessary and the term evolved to refer specifically to the two dimensional images themselves that were integrated into a scene. That is, figures generated by either custom hardware or by software alone were all referred to as sprites. As three-dimensional graphics became more prevalent, the term was used to describe a technique whereby flat images are seamlessly integrated into complicated three-dimensional scenes. |
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译文：
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在计算机图形学中，sprite(也有其它叫法，详见下面的同义词)指一个2D/3D的图形或动画的集合到一个大的图片(场景)中去。
Sprite 最初产生于2D视频游戏，使用特殊的硬件快速处理很多图片的一种方法。随着硬件性能的提高，这种优化方法不再使用，这个词发展成为将两个2D图像集合输出 到一个场景中。也就是说，由用户硬件或软件产生图像集合都可以单独的称为sprites。随着3D图形的普及，这个词用来描述将平面图片(纹理)无缝集成 到复杂三维场景中的技术。
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MSDN对Sprite类使用说明
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.NET Framework 类库
Sprite 类
提供的方法和属性用于简化使用 Direct3D 绘制子画面的过程。  备注子画面是一种映射到二维图面的纹理，通常用于动画和公告板，因为多个子画面可以在一个较大的图像内移动。
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该词应用于CSS领域的解释
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What is an image sprite?
Image sprite originated from old nintendo games – what developers had to do to keep the game from having to load a new image each time a different character entered the screen was store all of the images into a grid – once they had this grid they could call different sections of it and tell it to display it on the screen. The same big image was loaded one time, from then on different sections were called and displayed on the page.
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译文：
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什么是图片 sprite?
这个名称起源于早期任天堂游戏：每当一个新的角色进入屏幕时，每次都要载入一张新的图片。因此开发者将所有图片放到一张网格图片中，当需要不同的部分时，把相应的区域显示在屏幕上。这张大的图片将只被载入一次，以后不同的部分被页面调用并显示出来。
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总结
Sprite其实是一种技术，在XNA中使用时，它可以将游戏所需所有资源一次调入内存以便在游戏中快速重复存取，而不需要再调用磁盘数据，以加快游戏速度。这些资源文件被称为：图片Sprite，字体Sprite等。
与.NET技术中的Resource不同，Resource数据一直存放在磁盘中，直到使用时才获取，而且不会长期驻留内存。
因此Sprite一词被一些文章译为“精灵”并不妥当，而且和精灵语义行为没有任何关系。谷歌金山词霸上也可以找到“子画面”的语义。虽然译为”子画面“也可以理解，但是个人以为译作”图元“更能表达其实际意图。
也请广大译者可以将XNA设计者的真实意图准确的传达给初学者。