<s>
UniVBE	B-Application
(	O
short	O
for	O
Universal	B-Application
VESA	I-Application
BIOS	I-Application
Extensions	I-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
driver	I-Application
that	O
allows	O
DOS	B-Device
applications	O
written	O
to	O
the	O
VESA	B-Device
BIOS	I-Device
standard	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
almost	O
any	O
display	O
device	O
made	O
in	O
the	O
last	O
15	O
years	O
or	O
so	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UniVBE	B-Application
driver	O
was	O
written	O
by	O
SciTech	O
Software	O
and	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
in	O
their	O
product	O
called	O
SciTech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
benefit	O
is	O
increased	O
compatibility	O
and	O
performance	O
with	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UNIVBE	B-Application
replaces	O
the	O
card	O
's	O
built-in	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
include	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
UNIVBE	B-Application
because	O
VESA	O
issues	O
were	O
so	O
widespread	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
SciTech	O
Software	O
Inc	O
,	O
SciTech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
is	O
licensed	O
by	O
IBM	O
as	O
the	O
native	O
graphics	O
driver	O
solution	O
for	O
OS/2	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
started	O
out	O
as	O
The	O
Universal	B-Application
VESA	I-Application
TSR	I-Application
(	O
UNIVESA	B-Application
)	O
,	O
written	O
by	O
Kendall	O
Bennett	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
renamed	O
to	O
Universal	B-Application
VESA	I-Application
BIOS	I-Application
Extensions	I-Application
(	O
UniVBE	B-Application
)	O
in	O
version	O
4.2	O
at	O
the	O
request	O
of	O
VESA	O
organisation	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
freeware	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
version	O
5.1	O
,	O
VBE/Core	B-Application
2.0	I-Application
support	O
was	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
version	O
5.2	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
renamed	O
to	O
Scitech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
UniVBE	B-Application
continued	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
name	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
actual	O
driver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
6	O
included	O
support	O
of	O
VBE/Core	B-Application
3.0	I-Application
,	O
VBE/SCI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
6.5	O
introduced	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
use	O
Scitech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
as	O
wrapper	O
video	O
driver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
7	O
supports	O
VESA/MCCS	O
and	O
included	O
Scitech	O
GLDirect	O
,	O
an	O
OpenGL	B-Application
emulator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
was	O
also	O
ported	O
to	O
OS/2	B-Application
and	O
Linux	B-Application
(	O
as	O
version	O
1.0	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Windows	O
SDD	O
prerelease	O
,	O
it	O
included	O
DOS	B-Device
UniVBE	B-Application
driver	O
7.20	O
beta	O
,	O
the	O
Scitech	O
Nucleus	O
Graphics	O
driver	O
,	O
GLDirect	O
2.0	O
and	O
3.0	O
beta	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SDD	O
7	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
on	O
OS/2	B-Application
on	O
February	O
28	O
,	O
2002	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
Windows	O
beta	O
on	O
March	O
1	O
,	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SciTech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
7.1	O
marked	O
the	O
final	O
release	O
of	O
SDD	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
available	O
on	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
among	O
other	O
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
Scitech	O
Nucleus	O
Graphics	O
engine	O
lived	O
on	O
as	O
SciTech	B-Application
SNAP	I-Application
(	O
System	B-Application
Neutral	I-Application
Access	I-Application
Protocol	I-Application
)	O
Graphics	O
,	O
SciTech	B-Application
SNAP	I-Application
DDC	I-Application
,	O
and	O
SciTech	B-Application
VBE	I-Application
Test	I-Application
Suite	I-Application
8.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
UniVBE	B-Application
,	O
SciTech	B-Application
SNAP	I-Application
Graphics	I-Application
is	O
designed	O
as	O
fully	O
accelerated	O
binary	O
compatible	O
graphic	O
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
,	O
rather	O
than	O
patching	O
a	O
GPU	B-Architecture
BIOS	B-Operating_System
to	O
be	O
VESA-compliant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SciTech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
5.3a	O
,	O
SciTech	B-Application
Display	I-Application
Doctor	I-Application
6.53	O
,	O
and	O
UniVBE	B-Application
6.7	O
were	O
available	O
on	O
their	O
FTP	O
site	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
of	O
4	O
October	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
FTP	O
site	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
available	O
;	O
this	O
seems	O
to	O
be	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
SciTech	O
Software	O
by	O
Alt	O
Richmond	O
Inc	O
.	O
in	O
December	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UniVBE	B-Application
requires	O
a	O
video	O
card	O
with	O
at	O
least	O
512KB	O
of	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
UniVBE	B-Application
has	O
supported	O
many	O
controllers	O
,	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
VESA	O
support	O
decayed	O
in	O
newer	O
incarnations	O
,	O
especially	O
for	O
owners	O
with	O
older	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
newer	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
,	O
the	O
video	O
cards	O
that	O
use	O
them	O
have	O
begun	O
to	O
incorporate	O
rewritable	O
firmware	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
video	O
card	O
manufacturers	O
to	O
offer	O
better	O
VBE	B-Device
patches	O
than	O
SciTech	O
can	O
supply	O
,	O
especially	O
for	O
cards	O
using	O
Matrox	B-Application
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UniVBE	B-Application
does	O
not	O
add	O
16-colour	O
screen	B-Device
modes	I-Device
or	O
text	O
modes	O
,	O
but	O
offers	O
an	O
option	O
to	O
reuse	O
those	O
modes	O
with	O
a	O
"	O
pass	O
through	O
feature	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
G-series	O
video	O
cards	O
can	O
only	O
use	O
video	O
modes	O
that	O
utilize	O
at	O
most	O
half	O
of	O
its	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
different	O
from	O
the	O
Matrox	B-Application
Millennium	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
documented	O
by	O
SciTech	O
as	O
a	O
hardware	O
flaw	O
.	O
</s>
