Yamaha · 1985 · Yamaha V9938 MSX-Video (VDP)
The MSX2's video chip: the successor to the TMS9918, with a 512-colour palette, a 256-colour mode, 128 KB of video RAM and hardware drawing commands — the graphics behind the MSX2 versions of Metal Gear and many other Konami games.
The V9938, also known as MSX-Video, was Yamaha's video display processor for the MSX2 standard. It succeeded the Texas Instruments TMS9918 used in the original MSX, keeping compatibility with its modes while greatly extending what the machines could show. Besides the MSX2, it appeared in computers such as the Geneve 9640 and the Tatung Einstein 256. The chip offers resolutions of 512 by 212 and 256 by 212, with 16 colours chosen from a palette of 512, and a 256 by 212 mode with 256 fixed colours. Most MSX2 machines gave it 128 KB of dedicated video RAM. Its sprites were a major improvement on the TMS9918: 32 sprites, up to eight on a single line rather than four, and with colour that could change on each line of a sprite, allowing several colours per sprite. The V9938 also included hardware acceleration for copying, line drawing, filling and logical operations — effectively a simple blitter — and supported superimposing and digitising video. It was succeeded by the V9958 used in the MSX2+, which added new colour modes and hardware horizontal scrolling.
| Resolutions | 512×212 and 256×212 (16 of 512 colours); 256×212 with 256 colours |
|---|---|
| Palette | 512 colours (9-bit RGB) |
| Video RAM | 128 KB in most configurations |
| Sprites | 32, up to 8 per line, colour changeable per line |
| Acceleration | Hardware copy, line, fill and logical operations |
| Successor | Yamaha V9958 (MSX2+) |