This processor is the hearth of the PS2's graphics system, with a frequency clock of about 147.456 MHz. The VRAM consists of 4MB embedded DRAM: this could seem a small amount, but the PlayStation 2 is based on an architecture that isn't directly comparable to the one of a normal PC. The power of the PlayStation 2 is hidden in the high VRAM memory transfer speed (48GB per second). For very detailed information about this argument, read this great article from arstechnica.com, written by Jon "Hannibal" Strokes.

The PS2 uses a 64bit pixel configuration (RGB, Alpha, Z-Buffer - 24,8,32). This configuration allocates 24 bit for RGB colors, while 8 bits are used for transparency effects (for example a window or the water of a river) and 32 bits are used for the Z-buffer (which will contain all information for the 3D environment); the PS2 can draw 2,4 billion pixels per second.

The PS2 can render 75 million polygons per second, when using small polygons with no effects. This is just a theoretical number; more realistically, taking into account all the effects (for example Alpha Blending or Mip Mapping) used by new games, this number goes down to no more than 20 million polygons per second. To make a comparison, Sega's Dreamcast could handle a maximum theoretical number of 3 millions polygons and the old Psx approximately 360.000 polygons per second.

The PS2 can render 150 million particles per second; particles are used for atmospherical effects like rain, snow or fire. The PS2 has many special hardware effects, graphic procedures that should help programmers develop more realistic looking games. But it's true, too, that a lot of programmers complained about the difficulty to program games for the new PlayStation. In fact, the internal architecture of the console is very different from the one of other consoles or PCs. When they started developing for the PlayStation 2, programmers had a hard time trying to figure out the best way to exploit the possibilities offered by the console. Here is a list of PS2's main hardware effects .

Alpha Blending
Alpha Blending is used to create transparency effects for special objects like windows or water, without an excessive loss of speed for the system. For this effect, 8 of the 64 bits used for the pixel configuration are reserved.

Anti-Aliasing
These are several different procedures designed to eliminate "jaggies" evident in 3D games running at low resolutions. These jaggies create a stair stepping effect at the borders of rendered polygons (for example, take a look at Tomb Rider for PsOne). Anti-Aliasing works by inserting intermediate colors at the edges of lines that define two different surfaces: this reduces contrast along the borders and eliminates, in part or completely, the stair stepping effect. Some developers reported that the PlayStation 2's built-in anti-aliasing causes an excessive loss of speed. That is why most developers will probably have to develop new anti-aliasing procedures optimized for their games.

Bump Mapping
This makes 2D surfaces look like 3D surfaces having bumps and cavities.

Fogging
Also known as distance fog, is a technique used to enhance the peception of distance, usually in outdoor environments; objects further from the camera are progressively more obscured by haze, like it happens in reality - this should let developers "hide" some of the limits of the console, also in the final years of the console's life.

Mip Mapping
Do you remember those walls in games like Doom, Quake or Tomb Rider becoming awful as you got close to them? Forget it. PlayStation 2 games, with this technique, can use different textures for each element into their simulated 3D worlds. When you get closer to a wall you see a high definition texture; when you move away from it, you see a different, lower definition texture.

Modulation and Highlights
This will let developers use lighting effects over a preexisting texture with no need to create a different texture for each different ligthing condition. With this technique, implementation of dynamic lighting in a game becomes easier: you could see the lights and shadows of a room changing as the weather changes outside the windows; you could see the light of a sunset over a fully 3D city, and all in real time (in other words, not in a CG movie but while you are playing). New games will have nights and days, rain and clouds, like in real worlds.