Computer graphics

Computer graphics is the creation and manipulation of images using computational methods. It encompasses techniques for representing, generating, displaying, and transforming visual content.

Raster graphics: Raster graphics represent images as grids of colored pixels. Pixel grids are one major image representation, distinct from geometric descriptions.
Rendering (computer graphics): Rendering produces an image from a scene description, image data, or visual effects. It is the process that converts graphics representations into displayed images.
Video game graphics: Video game graphics are the images generated to represent interactive game worlds and their actions. Games combine real-time rendering with visual responses to player input.
Sketchpad: Sketchpad was Ivan Sutherland's 1963 interactive computer drawing system, developed at MIT. Its direct manipulation of graphical objects established a landmark approach to computer drawing.
Real-time computer graphics: Real-time computer graphics generate images quickly enough to respond interactively to changing input. Interactive graphics prioritize prompt updates, often limiting rendering time per frame.
Vector graphics: Vector graphics represent images with geometric primitives such as paths, curves, and shapes. Geometric descriptions offer a resolution-independent alternative to pixel-based images.
Rasterization: Rasterization converts geometric primitives into fragments or pixels on a raster image. It is the standard route from vector geometry to screen pixels.
Computer animation: Computer animation creates the appearance of motion by generating or manipulating images over time. Graphics methods produce and transform the frames that make up digital animation.
Ivan Sutherland: Ivan Sutherland is a computer scientist whose work helped establish interactive computer graphics. His Sketchpad system and later research shaped the field's early direction.
Offline rendering: Offline rendering produces images without requiring immediate interactive response, often using extensive computation. It can spend far more time per image than interactive rendering permits.

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