Truevision TGA

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For other uses, see TGA (disambiguation).

Truevision TGA
File extension:	`.tga .tpic`
MIME type:	`image/x-targa image/x-tga`
Type code:	'TPIC'
Uniform Type Identifier:	com.truevision.tga-image
Developed by:	Truevision
Type of format:	Raster image file

Truevision's (now Pinnacle Systems) TGA File Format, often referred to as TARGA File Format, is a raster graphics file format. It was the native format of Truevision Inc.'s TARGA and VISTA boards, which were the first graphic cards for IBM-compatible PCs to support Highcolor/truecolor display. This family of graphic cards were intended for professional computer image synthesis and video editing with PCs; for this reason, usual resolutions of TGA image files matches those of the NTSC and PAL video formats.

TGA files commonly have the extension ".tga" on PC DOS/Windows systems, and ".tpic" on older Macintosh systems (Mac OS X uses the .tga extension). The format can store image data with 1–32 bits of precision per pixel, being the maximum 24-bits of RGB and an extra 8-bit alpha channel. Color data can be color-mapped, or in directcolor or truecolor format; optionally, a lossless RLE compression can be employed.

The TGA file format was originally defined by Truevision Inc.'s Brad Pillow in 1984. The current version (2.0) includes several enhancements such as "postage stamps" (better known as thumbnails), an alpha channel, gamma value, and textual metadata and was defined by Truevision Inc.'s David Spoelstra in 1989.

At the time of its launching, it represented the state-of-the-art in digital image processing. Even today (despite its maximum color depth it is not well suited for a high-end pre-press, intensive image processing systems) TGA is still used extensively throughout the animation and video industry because its primary intended outputs are standard TV screens, not color printed pages.

Many games create screenshot files in TGA format.

BeOS creates screenshot files in TGA format.

POV-Ray engines natively use TGA for textures and height maps.

Blender uses tga as default for exporting UV-textures.

TARGA is an acronym for Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter; TGA is an initialism for Truevision Graphics Adapter.