Sorry not really sure what pixel and vertex shaders are. My guess is shaders which can be applied to pixels or vertexs Shrugs no clue.

the specs mean.

V.S. version of vertex shader which could be used
P.S. version of pixel shader which could be used
T&L T&L is available with your card
tex number of textures supported

last is pretty self explanatory

for your beach not really sure prehaps look into detail mapping as well hopefully one of the shader gurus can step in and clear things up further since i dont know much if anything about them

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