Chips › Graphics & video › Console graphics › Sega Saturn VDP1/VDP2
Sega Saturn VDP1/VDP2
1994
Sega Saturn's pair of video display processors, VDP1 drawing sprites and polygons while VDP2 handled backgrounds and scrolling planes.
Machines
Emulators
| Emulator | Type | License | Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kronos | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| Mednafen | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| SSF | downloadable | Freeware | Website ↗ |
| Yabause | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
Reference & documentation
External technical references for programming Sega Saturn VDP1/VDP2 and for writing emulators.
| Resource | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| VDP1 User's Manual 5.4 Command Table ↗ | Format | 32-byte command table fields CMDCTRL, CMDPMOD, CMDSRCA |
| VDP1 - Yabause Wiki ↗ | Memory map | VDP1 address map, registers, command tables for emulators |
| VDP2 User's Manual 1.2 Address Map ↗ | Memory map | VDP2 VRAM, Color RAM, register address layout |
| Rebuilding VDP2 (Yaba Sanshiro) ↗ | Programming | Per-pixel hardware-order composite pipeline implementation writeup |
| Antime Saturn Docs, Libs & Files ↗ | Programming | Archive of official Sega manuals, SDKs, bulletins |
| Mednafen Saturn Documentation ↗ | ROMs | BIOS hashes, VDP1 quirks, per-game hacks database |
| VDP1 User's Manual (Sega official) ↗ | Reference | Official VDP1 sprite/polygon manual, full register index |
| VDP2 User's Manual (Sega official) ↗ | Reference | Official VDP2 scroll/priority manual, 16 chapters |
| Sega Saturn Architecture (Copetti) ↗ | Reference | Deep VDP1/VDP2 architecture analysis and limitations |
| Jo Engine sega_saturn.h Reference ↗ | Source | C header with VDP1/VDP2 register and VRAM addresses |
| Ymir Saturn Emulator (StrikerX3) ↗ | Source | Modern accurate C++ Saturn emulator, VDP1/VDP2 code |