Wok Down Memory Lane - The PC Video Processor

Many of us who use the modern computer don't realize how far video has progressed in the span of 30 years.  Even the lowest common denominator in today's desktop and laptop computers have some form of 3D capability.  Portable devices like the Nintendo DS and Apple iPhone now feature graphics capability equivalent to the Nintendo 64.  These are exciting times to be a 21st century gamer as technology leaps to that ever elusive virtual reality that is talked about so much.

My first computer was an Epson 8086 (or 8088? I can't remember) that had a CGA video card that could display up to 4 colors at once from a 16 color palette.  Needless to say, the limited choice of colors made games look very interesting.  Characters from the Sierra games such as Leisure Suit Larry would feature colors that would do anime hair color proud.

Like most kids, I was at the mercy of my parents when it came to buying anything in general.  Money was tight so a new computer was out of the question.  For many years, I stuck with the trusty Epson enviously eying my friends as they were enjoying the latest games in VGA graphics.   In fact, I wasn't able to play many new games as many required VGA.  It wasn't until I inherited a hand-me-down 386 computer from my dad's business that I was finally able to play modern (at that time) games too.  VGA was a huge step.  Able to display 256 colors at once from a palette of 262,144 colors, the era of displaying games with "life-like" (using this term loosely) colors was fast approaching.

By the time I reached 16 years of age, I owned a multitude of computers each with better and better graphics cards.  Not only were video cards adept at displaying a higher number of colors, resolution also improved.  In the days of CGA, 320 x 200 was the norm.  By the SVGA generation, computers were now displaying 800 x 600 and beyond.  The kicker here is that computers reached HD resolutions well ahead of HD televisions - apparently the 21st century way of viewing shows, movies and playing games!

While both are important, ramping color and resolution would eventually reach a point of intangible difference.  What was next?  Gamers needed to be kept interested in playing games.  The solution?  Add the Z-axis to the video processor.  Keep in mind that 3D rendering at this time wasn't new.  However, developing a consumer-level 3D  processor for desktop computers was.  By the mid 1990s, ATI, Matrox, S3 and others released a handful of 2D/3D display adapters into the market.

It wasn't until 3dfx entered the market with the Voodoo graphics chip that progression in 3D was finally taken seriously.  The Voodoo included features such as mipmapping,  Z-buffering and anti-aliasing that continue to exist in the foundation of modern video cards.

Much like their 2D cousins, the 3D graphics core continued to evolve over the years with the next milestone to be achieved by Nvidia and the GeForce 256 GPU in the summer of 1999.  The GPU was designed to be a dedicated processor for calculating 3D algorithms.  Additional improvements included increasing the clock rate and using DDR memory for improved data rates.  For the first time, consumers had access to hardware transform, lighting and shading - features that normally would be processed at the CPU level.

ATI wasn't going to sit still and let Nvidia steal the spotlight.  To compete with the GeForce, ATI branded their own version of the GPU called Radeon.  From 2002 onwards, the only major players to provide discrete PC video cards are ATI and Nvidia.  While Intel did produce the short lived i740 in 1998, their success in the video market is based on the Graphics Media Accelerator line.  More commonly known as integrated graphics, the GMA processor is built directly into the motherboard chipset thereby reducing cost, power consumption and noise.  While the GMA graphics is more than sufficient for a business or mom's computer, the GMA is unsuitable for graphics intensive games.

Where are we today?  As with any technology, modern GPUs have become progressively more complex.  Programmable pixel shaders, improved anti-aliasing capabilities, Crossfire/SLI multi-GPU rendering and physics processing are just a few features in a large list.  Photo realistic games such as Crysis is now showcasing the importance of these features.  Do we still have a long ways to go?  You bet. People often mention they want real-time rendering that rivals Pixar movies.  It may be wishful thinking at the moment but there's no harm in dreaming.  In the meantime, we should be thankful that we are able to pop headshots in our favorite first person shooter with decent realism.

For those looking to update to the latest and greatest, we are on the cusp of another GPU release.  AMD is set to release the Radeon HD5850 and 5870 in the next couple weeks to coincide with the Windows 7 and DX11 launch.  As for Nvidia, not much is known about the GT300 GPU other than it's coming.