Computer graphics Computer graphics are pictures and movies created using computers - usually referring to image data created by a computer specifically with help from specialized graphic hardware and software. It is a subset of computer science and a recent field. The phrase was coined by computer graphics researcher William Fetter of Boeing in 1960. Another name for the field is computer-generated imagery , or simply CGI . Important topics in computer graphics include sprite graphics , vector graphics , 3D modeling , shaders , GPU design, and computer vision , among others. The overall methodology depends heavily on the underlying sciences of geometry , optics , and physics . Computer graphics is responsible for displaying art and image data effectively and beautifully to the user, and processing image data received ...