Re:The history of the modern graphics processor
by bluedino on Wednesday May 28, 2014 @08:44AM
(#7809594)
Typically the things that previous made graphics 'good' were simply resolution and color depth. Early 8-bit home computers were often limited to just 1 or 2 colors per sprite. Machines such as the NES increased this to 3 or 4 colors per sprite, which makes a dramatic difference.
Along came something like the SNES, which although it shares the same resolution as the NES (256x220 or something along those lines), it had access to 32,000 colors instead of the 64 available to the NES, and it could use up to 16 per sprite. That's the main reason why SNES screenshots look so much better then SNES screenshots.
Once 3D came along, graphics looking 'good' became more complicated than just resolution and color depth. The original Playstation suffered from texture maps that showed artifacts, became distorted, and had edges that appeared to 'jump' around.
As the hardware became faster and fixed those issues, more techniques were added for lighting, shading, and a hundred other enhancement which got us to where we are today.
Along came something like the SNES, which although it shares the same resolution as the NES (256x220 or something along those lines), it had access to 32,000 colors instead of the 64 available to the NES, and it could use up to 16 per sprite. That's the main reason why SNES screenshots look so much better then SNES screenshots.
Once 3D came along, graphics looking 'good' became more complicated than just resolution and color depth. The original Playstation suffered from texture maps that showed artifacts, became distorted, and had edges that appeared to 'jump' around.
As the hardware became faster and fixed those issues, more techniques were added for lighting, shading, and a hundred other enhancement which got us to where we are today.