Version 4.0 provides significantly increased drawing speeds over version 3.2 (see the VSA256 Revision Comparison Table). In addition, real functionality improvements are introduced into the library as a result of user feedback.

MAJOR SPEED-UP . . .

The VSA256 drawing functions have been sped up by up to 600 percent ! (see the table below)

Added page flipping . . .

Here's a really powerful addition to the library. Double buffered drawing lets you draw in one page while updating the other(s). Swap displayed page at will.

Expandable user definable FONT array . . .

Many international users asked for this. Now you can decide how many characters to support in the VSA Font array. Great for foreign languages!

Use off screen memory . . .

We changed vsa_set_viewport so that 'BOTTOM' can be set beyond bottom of displayable video memory. Now the user can use off screen memory to store bitmaps for BitBLTs

Added vsa_get... functions . . .

Greatly simplifies keeping track of what you have set. Now there is a "vsa_get_..." for every "vsa_set_...".

Autodetect ATI cards . . .

You no longer need user interaction for ATI cards. VSA256 automatically senses an ATI card and sets VSA_ATI_COLOR parameter appropriately.

The following table shows the evolution of the VSA256 Graphics Library functions as the library progressed from Revision 1.0 to the current Revision 4.0. (An asteriks (*) means the function is supported. A number followed by an x indicates the speed up factor over the original version 1.0. For example in version 4.0, the function 'vsa_line_to' is 6x faster than in the original version 1.0.)

                        VSA256 Revision Comparison Table

Drawing Functions        V1 V2 V3 V4      Control Functions         V1 V2 V3 V4
------------------------------------      -------------------------------------
vsa_move_to               *  *  *  *      vsa_set_svga_mode          *  *  *  *
vsa_set_pixel             *  *  *  *      vsa_get_svga_mode          *  *  *  *
vsa_get_pixel                   *  *      vsa_init                   *  *  *  *
vsa_line_to               * 3x 3x 6x      vsa_set_display_start      *  *  *  *
vsa_gouraud_line             *  * 2x      vsa_get_display_start      *  *  *  *
vsa_rect                  * 3x 3x 6x      vsa_set_draw_page                   *
vsa_rect_fill             *  *  * 4x      vsa_get_draw_page                   *
vsa_triangle                       *      vsa_set_view_page                   *
vsa_triangle_fill            *  * 2x      vsa_get_view_page                   *
vsa_shaded_triangle          *  * 2x      vsa_wait_vsync                   *  *
vsa_h_line                * 3x 3x 4x      vsa_set_color              *  *  *  *
vsa_v_line                *  *  * 2x      vsa_get_color                       *
vsa_raster_line           * 2x 2x 3x      vsa_set_text_color         *  *  *  *
vsa_get_raster_line          *  * 3x      vsa_get_text_color                  *
vsa_image_size                  *  *      vsa_set_clip_mode                *  *
vsa_get_image                   * 3x      vsa_get_clip_mode                   *
vsa_put_image                   * 3x      vsa_set_triangle_clip_mode          *
                                          vsa_get_triangle_clip_mode          *
                                          vsa_set_viewport                 *  *
                                          vsa_get_viewport                    *

Text Functions           V1 V2 V3 V4      Color Functions           V1 V2 V3 V4
-------------------------------------     -------------------------------------
vsa_set_text_cursor       *  *  *  *      vsa_read_color_register    *  *  *  *
vsa_get_text_cursor             *  *      vsa_write_color_register   *  *  *  *
vsa_set_text_scale              *  *      vsa_read_color_block       *  *  *  *
vsa_get_text_scale                 *      vsa_write_color_block      *  *  *  *
vsa_set_text_cursor_mode  *  *  *  *
vsa_get_text_cursor_mode           *
vsa_write_string          *  *  *  *
vsa_write_string_alt      *  *  *  *