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The Video Display Processor (VDP) of a computer is a dedicated processor that takes care of the video output of the system. In older computer systems, it was an usually an integral part of the computer, often also referred to as Graphics Chip . The term was mainly in use during the 1980s and the early 90s , but was gradually replaced with Graphics Card as the IBM compatible PC gained popularity. VDPs generally provide the programmer with a number of graphics and display modes with different resolutions and colour depths, the ability to display so-called Sprite s, and some of them provide a number of Hardware Accelerated functions as well, such as blitting, filling, line drawing, drawing polygons, etc. The VDP plays a major part in defining the character and capabilities of a system. It is unique for every system (although some VDPs are used on multiple systems, such as the Texas Instruments TMS9918 ), and can not be replaced. It’s a technology on its own which programmers usually got to know inside out, and with that knowledge were able to do things that seemed impossible at first. Technically spoken, in modern-day PCs, the VDP is part of the Graphics Card of a computer system, and referred to as GPU instead. Together with that change of name however, the technology has also changed over time. Nowadays, the brand and model of the video chip don’t play as large a role to programmers as they used to anymore, as there is a large amount of interchangeability among the brands, few real differences, and they have to program for the lowest common denominator. Instead the importance of brand and model has shifted to the users, because they now have the ability to choose, and started comparing them by performance and capabilities. But the characteristics of the ‘old kind’ of VDPs can still somewhat be seen in game consoles. For users, their choice of video chip depends on their choice of console. A console’s graphical capabilities are on one hand important in defining the system as a whole, but on the other hand only part of it. For the programmers, they are able to work with a single graphics chip technology for a long time, and as time passes they get to know it thoroughly, and can achieve new heights in graphics quality and effects without upgrading the hardware. COMPUTER SYSTEMS VIDEO DISPLAY PROCESSORS
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