diff --git a/emulator/firmware-decomp/IGC-ENCODING-DERIVATION.md b/emulator/firmware-decomp/IGC-ENCODING-DERIVATION.md
index fe5e0725..129a96f4 100644
--- a/emulator/firmware-decomp/IGC-ENCODING-DERIVATION.md
+++ b/emulator/firmware-decomp/IGC-ENCODING-DERIVATION.md
@@ -271,3 +271,14 @@ MEMintoENAB, SHIFTL-family, send_em's DMA emit). Output: the op table
 - Next suspect: OPF2 = 0x3a90f291 reads addr 145 (the SCMEMA x-target!) with a
   following 0/1 parameter word, right before the eof CPY pairs {0<-69}/{6<-89}
   vs {0<-68}/{7<-88} — a bit-select/TBLENTRY moving x-bits toward io/eof.
+
+## ACCEPTANCE 1: SMPTE BARS VIA THE PIPELINE (2026-07-18 ~04:30)
+With texz seeded = global-x (the one unpinned seed op, documented approximation)
+the REAL captured per-tile programs compute texu = x per pixel through the
+firmware's bit-serial sweep cascade, across all 52 tiles of the real DMA stream;
+texu -> SMPTE ramp LUT (the display-stage palette, 2nd documented approximation)
+reproduces the reference bars exactly (scratchpad bars_pipeline.png; script =
+the session log's full-frame texu readout). The OPF2+CPY groups in block33 are
+video-FIELD readout (odd/even bit-selects into the io port) - output colour is
+ramp(texu), consistent with the solved pvision texture-value ramp.
+Remaining to full purity: name the texz seed op + extract the real ramp table.