The acronym "CGA" is commonly used in various fields such as technology, science, and healthcare to refer to different things. The spelling of CGA is pronounced as /siːdʒiːeɪ/ using the IPA phonetic transcription. The first two letters, "C" and "G," represent the words "color" and "graphics," respectively, hence "CG" together represents "Color Graphics." Finally, the letter "A" stands for "adapter," which means that this acronym is often used to describe an adapter that can enhance the display quality of a computer or monitor.
CGA stands for Color Graphics Adapter, and it refers to an early standard for computer graphics. Developed by IBM in 1981, CGA was one of the first widely used graphics standards for IBM-compatible personal computers.
From a technical standpoint, CGA had a display resolution of 320x200 pixels, with a limited color palette of 16 colors. It could display two colors simultaneously in any graphic mode, and four colors in text mode. CGA connected to computer systems via a 9-pin D-subminiature connector, and featured both composite and digital RGB video outputs. The composite output was commonly used for connecting the computer to a TV set, while the digital output was intended for connecting to an RGB monitor.
One of CGA's notable features was its ability to display graphics and text modes simultaneously, allowing users to interact with graphical elements while still having text displayed on the screen. The CGA standard also offered enhanced monochrome capability, allowing for a resolution of 640x200 pixels in monochrome mode.
CGA remained popular throughout the 1980s, and although later graphics standards like EGA and VGA surpassed its capabilities, CGA compatibility was maintained in many software applications to ensure backward compatibility. Today, CGA is considered a relic of early computer graphics, with limited resolution and color capabilities compared to modern standards.