Interesting. No sign of it in our documentation (-200GE, -200RR and -300GE). Looks like a customer option then.
Trying to answer the original question, having looked up the FPA, V/B and V/S indications, I think the V/B and V/S are referenced DIRECT to the waypoint and constraints displayed at 1R, so if you are on a STAR which takes you close to the reference point then further away again, it will show a high V/B and V/S required for a while.
It appears to be similar to the clean/drag circles - they take no account of the magenta line, just are based on the distance direct to the fix in question.