from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
video memory
<storage> The memory in a computer's {graphics adaptor}, used
to store the image displayed on a {bitmap display}. Often
this is built using {VRAM} chips. There is normally a simple
correspondence between groups of {bits} in video memory and
the dots or "{pixels}" on the screen, such that writing to a
given group of bits will alter the appearance of a single dot.
If each pixel corresponds to eight bits then it can have any
of 256 colours (or shades of grey on a monochrome display).
The video display electronics is responsible for reading the
data from video memory and converting it into the necessary
signals to drive the display. Often this includes a {colour
palette} which converts pixel values into {RGB} triplets.
(1996-11-01)