CG - technical definition

(1) (Computer Graphics) See graphics.

(2) (Cg) (C for Graphics) A high-level 3D graphics programming language developed by NVIDIA and Microsoft. It was designed to provide a standard for writing applications for programmable display adapters that allow gaming developers to perform their own vertex and pixel shading. Microsoft's implementation of Cg is High-Level Shading Language (HLSL), and both versions are identical. Cg is based on C++ and uses C++ syntax, but is specialized for programming graphics processing units (GPUs) and is thus very limited in scope.

Cg uses the CgFX interchange format (.FX extension), which is a text file that augments the Cg program by specifying the number of passes and stages required for each effect and which Cg program is used to accomplish it. The file also describes algorithms that the CPU can use for non-programmable functions as well as how to implement functions on non-programmable display adapters.