Questions tagged [vram]

Video Random Access Memory

• It is memory specially dedicated to store and represent visual data.
• In the past was the same as screen buffer (Video Display)
• and accessing it means directly access video output ...

With new technologies in Graphics is VRAM more structured usually to:

1. Buffers

   • direct screen,back,secondary back,depth,... buffers
   • Alpha,stencil and effect buffers

2. Texture memory

   • store the 1/2/3D image data
   • usually with special priorities because this memory is more often accessed in 3D graphics by gfx card during rasterization

3. Geometry

   • this part holds the geometry representation of the scene
   • usually store VBO/VAO or display lists
   • store the vertexes,colors,texture coordinates and much much more
   • in vector form

4. Shaders

   • with Shading language the gfx cards need to store also shader programs
   • these are usually stored in physically separate memory so the gfx processors can execute it

Modern memory controllers incorporated into graphic chips can use single memory space for all of these structures.

some VRAM memories also have more then single interface like (DUAL interface memories)

• these allow to more then single access to memory per cycle
• so host computer can access VRAM and gfx chip too without contentions or dellays
• these are also used for storing streams from Hi-FPS camera systems where usually 3 and more streams of data are at all times to widen the bandwidth of the CCD chips ...