Use of computers to produce visual images, or the images so produced. Creating computer graphics requires a digital computer to store and manipulate images, a display screen, input/output devices, and specialized software that enables the computer to draw, colour, and manipulate images held in memory. Common computer graphic formats include GIF and JPEG, for single images, and MPEG and Quicktime, for multiframe images. The field has widespread use in business, scientific research, and entertainment. Monitors attached to CAD/CAM systems have replaced drafting boards. Computer simulation using graphically displayed quantities permits scientific study and testing of such phenomena as nuclear and chemical reactions, gravitational interactions, and physiological systems. See also computer animation; computer art
Generation of (possibly realistic) images of virtual scenes using computer hardware In this context it refers to the algorithms, conceptual constructions and mathematical background needed to render virtual scenes either 2D or 3D
A graphics metafile is a file that contains encoded vector graphics elements such as lines, colors, dash patterns, markers, and so forth The Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) is a precisely-defined formatting for a graphics metafile as defined and standardized by ANSI NCAR Graphics produces a version of the CGM that is called a conforming private encoding that can easily be converted to and from standard CGM by using the filters ncgm2cgm and cgm2ncgm The NCAR private encoding is also called NCAR CGM, or NCGM