Editing Framebuffer (section)

==Comparisons==
With a framebuffer, the electron beam (if the display technology uses one) is commanded to perform a [[raster scan]], the way a [[television]] renders a broadcast signal. The color information for each point thus displayed on the screen is pulled directly from the framebuffer during the scan, creating a set of discrete picture elements, i.e. pixels.

Framebuffers differ significantly from the [[vector display]]s that were common prior to the advent of raster graphics (and, consequently, to the concept of a framebuffer). With a vector display, only the [[vertex (geometry)|vertices]] of the graphics primitives are stored. The [[electron beam]] of the output display is then commanded to move from vertex to vertex, tracing a line across the area between these points.

Likewise, framebuffers differ from the technology used in early [[text mode]] displays, where a buffer holds codes for characters, not individual pixels.  The video display device performs the same raster scan as with a framebuffer but generates the pixels of each character in the buffer as it directs the beam.