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Format

Truevision TGA Bitmap

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Summary

Name
Truevision TGA Bitmap
Version
1.0
Identifiers
  • Apple Uniform Type Identifier: com.truevision.tga-image
  • Library of Congress Format Description Identifier: fdd000179
  • PUID: x-fmt/367
Format type
Image (Raster)
Description
TGA (often referred to as TARGA) is a simple raster format for individual images first established by Truevision, Inc. in 1984. Designed for use on systems that used MS-DOS color applications, TGA is the native format of Truevision's TARGA (Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter) boards, which were some of the first graphic cards for IBM-compatible PCs to support truecolor display (most often defined as 24-bit RGB color encoding). Truevision defined the first version of its TGA file format in 1984 for use with its first videographics products, including video boards for PC displays. In 1989, Truevision introduced TGA version 2.0. TGA supports mapped/indexed color and RGB color, with additional support for transparency information (sometimes referred to as alpha channel, as in RGBA color space). Transparency information permits images to be superimposed over other data, e.g., additional images, text layouts, or video, and permits effects like cross-fading between graphic images and video, etc. TGA images may be encoded at 8, 16, 24, or 32 bits per pixel (as mapped/indexed color, RGB, or RGBA). TGA supported 24-bit color before such support was available in the TIFF format, and this helped establish the format's popularity during the 1980s. The file signature is a FourCC code: TPIC. Also a variety of extensions were permissable in TGA version 1 (including .VDA”, “.ICB”, “.TGA”, and “.VST) but these were deprecated in TGA version 2.0 specification and only TGA was permitted).
Note
https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000179.shtml; Only incomplete versions of the TGA version 1 are available but https://www.dca.fee.unicamp.br/~martino/disciplinas/ea978/tgaffs.pdf explains some of the differences between the versions in that version 2 added specification of pixel aspect ratio (providing more explicit support for square and non-square pixels), color correction tables, an embedded thumbnail image (termed postage-stamp in the standard), and some very basic metadata elements (such as author, software, date/timestamp, job number, comments). A developer area provided a mechanism for including additional information.
File extensions
tga, icb, vda, vst, afi, bpx
Source
Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives

Relationships

Has lower priority than

Internal signatures

Truevision TGA Bitmap 1 (BOF 1)

Note
offset 1: 0x01 colormap included; offset 2: Imagetype 0x01, 0x09 (color-mapped); offset 3, 4 bytes Color map specification (ignore); offset 7 Color map entry size (byte) decimal 15, 16, 24, 32; offset 8 (2 bytes) X origin of image (ignore); offset 10 (2 bytes) Y origin of image (ignore); offset 12 (2 bytes) width of image (not zero), offset 14 (bytes) height of image (not zero), Image pixel size - 1 byte (0x08, 0x15, 0x16, )x24, 0x32)

Byte sequences

Min Frag Length
Absolute from BOF
Offset
1
Max offset
None
Byte Sequence
01(01|09){4}(0F|10|18|20){8}(08|0F|10|18|20)
Endianness
None

Truevision TGA Bitmap 1 (BOF 2)

Note
offset 1: 0x00 no color map included; offset 2: Imagetype 0x02. 0x0A (RGB), 0x03 0x0B (Monochrome); offset 3, 5 bytes Color map specification 0x0000000000; offset 8 (2 bytes) X origin of image (ignore); offset 10 (2 bytes) Y origin of image (ignore); offset 12 (2 bytes) width of image, offset 14 (bytes) height of image. Image pixel size - 1 byte (0x08, 0x15, 0x16, )x24, 0x32)

Byte sequences

Min Frag Length
Absolute from BOF
Offset
1
Max offset
None
Byte Sequence
00(02|03|0A|0B)0000000000{8}(08|0F|10|18|20)
Endianness
None

Changelog

  • Updated in V120

    Release date
    25 February 2025

    Truevision TGA Bitmap 1.0: New description created, additional notes and fdd identifier added as part of PRONOM Research Week 2024. Submitted by Library of Congress.

  • Added in V58

    Release date
    21 March 2012

    Truevision TGA Bitmap 1: Format name changed for greater accuracy and consistency.

    Truevision TGA Bitmap 1: Signature submitted by Georgia Tech Research Institute, USA.