A
ROM image, or
ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a
read-only memory chip, often from a
video game cartridge, a computer's
firmware, or from an
arcade game's
main board. The term is frequently used in the context of
emulation, whereby older games or computer firmware are copied to ROM files on modern computers and can, using a piece of software known as an
emulator, be run on a computer.