Fields

Computer Graphics

Also Known As CG

Field of Study

Citation Formats

General Reference

Computing Atlas. "Computer Graphics." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/fields/computer-graphics.

APA Style

Computing Atlas. (n.d.). Computer Graphics. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/fields/computer-graphics

BibTeX

@misc{computingatlas-computer-graphics,
  author = {Computing Atlas},
  title = {Computer Graphics},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/fields/computer-graphics},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Computer graphics is the field of computing concerned with generating images with computers, from line drawings and user interfaces to photorealistic rendering and animation. The phrase is credited to William Fetter, a graphic designer at Boeing, in 1960, and the field's founding demonstration was Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad system, which let a person draw shapes on a screen with a light pen, save them and recall them.

Facts

Origin Year

1960 1

The year the phrase computer graphics is credited to William Fetter at Boeing.

Core Concern

How pictures are represented, generated and displayed by computation, and how people interact with what is drawn. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Computer Vision

Source Wikipedia: Computer Vision

Human Computer Interaction

Source Wikipedia: Human Computer Interaction

Ivan Sutherland

Ivan Sutherland's 1963 Sketchpad program, built for his MIT PhD thesis, is widely credited as the origin of interactive computer graphics and demonstrated the first graphical user interface.

Source Wikipedia: Ivan Sutherland