The interface allows computer software to offload common 2D-drawing operations (line-draw, color-fill, and block copies via a blitter) onto the hardware.

This frees the host CPU for other tasks, and greatly improves the speed of redrawing a graphics visual (such as a pie-chart or CAD-illustration).

It had a programmable PLL circuit and pixel clocks up to 90 MHz, enabling a 75 Hz refresh rate at 1024 × 768.

The VESA Group introduced a common standardized way to access features like hardware cursors, Bit Block transfers (Bit Blt), off screen sprites, hardware panning, drawing and other functions with VBE/accelerator functions (VBE/AF) in August 1996.

This, along with standardised device drivers for operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, eliminated the need for a hardware standard for graphics.