Extra information stored with an image to define transparent areas used for keying and superimpositions. Also called an alpha mask. Sometimes present in files prepared using a tool such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. See also key.
display: When you create 24-bit images in a 32-bit graphics world, you have eight extra bits to play with. Software developers use these bits in a variety of ways; to carry transparency information, to create masks, and the like.
Designed for creating depth in computer graphics, an alpha channel works like a key, choosing the opacity of all pixels in the image.
A view of an image that represents the presence and degree of opacity of objects. The channel associated with each pixel determines the degree of opacity of that pixel. In an alpha channel, areas that do not contain objects are black, areas that contain solid objects are white, and areas that contain partially transparent objects are a shade of gray. In video production, the alpha channel is used to determine how one video image is laid over another. When using Artisan tools, you can import image files created in other programs into Maya and if alpha channel values are available you can use them. Also known as mask channel, matte channel.
An additional image channel used to store transparency information for compositing. Alpha channels are often 8-bit, but some applications support 16-bit alpha channels. Only certain formats, such as PICT and the QuickTime Animation codec, support alpha channels.
The component of a pixel that indicates the alpha value. Pixels are usually measured in RGBA, that is red value, green value, blue value, and alpha value. AMR slot : This stands for Advanced Modem Resource. its located only on motherboards with onboard sound, so that the osundcard can interact with the modem properly.
An 8-bit, grayscale representation of an image used to create a mask for keying images.
An extra channel in a texture that allows for not only transparency but also translucency in a texture. To use an Alpha Channel one must have the texture's bAlphaTexture property set to True. For more on Alpha Channels, see the UnrealTexturing document.
CHANNEL in a computer graphic which does not contain color information. Alpha channels are usually used to store selections ( MASKS) or transparency information.
In Photoshop, stored mask and selection data in an image.
(1) The portion of each display pixel that represents the blending of video and graphical image data for a video digitizer component. (2) A color component in some color spaces whose value represents the opacity of the color defined in the other components.
portion of the image containing information about pixel transparency rather than color. Alpha channel is important for overlays, see Alpha channel in overlay.
The extra eight bits of information in a 32-bit image. 8 bits are used to store red color information, eight are used to store green information, and 8 are used for the blue color information. The remaining eight bits can be used to store masking information for compositing. It is commonly used for communicating transparency.
The opacity of an image defined by an alpha value per pixel interleaved with the color components (for example, ARGB), an alpha value per pixel stored in a separate alpha surface, or a constant alpha value for the entire surface.
Alpha channels are used to create and store masks. Masks enable you to isolate or protect parts of an image you want to apply changes to, be it color changes, filters, opacity to a certain area on an image etc.
An alpha channel describes an area of transparency in a picture. This area of transparency allows a background to show through. An alpha channel allows more than 64,000 levels of transparency, which makes it possible to use semitransparent effects and blended effects.
a color channel that represents the transparency of that color
a file that can create transparencies in certain spots of another image
a fourth channel in an RGB image that defines what parts of the image are transparent or semi-transparent
a grayscale channel that is the same size and resolution as the paint object in which it is stored
a grayscale representation of a selection that can be saved with an image
a grey scale image where the information controls the transparency of the image
a mask layer over an image in order to render part of the image transparent
an additional channel in your image
an array with the same number of pixels as are in the image, which indicates the transparency status of each corresponding pixel in the image (transparent or nontransparent)
a special type of channel used in graphics software for saving selections
An alpha channel is the part of an image that describes transparency. Image data can contain four channels -- three 8-bit channels for red, green, and blue ( RGB) and one 8-bit alpha channel. The alpha channel is really a mask -- it specifies how the pixel's colors should be merged with another pixel when the two are overlaid, one on top of the other. Typically, you wouldn't define the alpha channel on a pixel-by-pixel basis, but rather per image. Different parts of the image would have different levels of transparency depending on how much you wanted the background to show through.
carries transparency information. If your alpha channel has only one bit (i.e. the 16th bit in a 16-bit file), it can only tell if transparency is on or off. If your alpha channel has more than one bit (i.e. the last 8 bits in a 32-bit file), it can designate various levels of transparency. Alpha channels are used in many of the Materials features, such as all mapping and matting. Typically, a high value represents opacity, and a low value represents transparency.
Information attached to each pixel that represents how that pixel is to be blended with background.
An 8-bit color channel (see channels) which is used to specify the transparency of each pixel in an image. An alpha channel works like a sophisticated stencil, and is the digital equivalent of a matte (see matte).
A layer in an image that can be set to be transparent. Often used to blend images into backgrounds.
A texture map filter that controls the transparency of another texture map by the brightness in the Alpha Channel map: the whiter the map, the more solid the other texture map appears.
This is a separate image channel that is added to the traditional red, green, and blue channels and contains a value that indicates the amount of transparency for each pixel.
An 8-Bit colour channel that is used to specify the transparency of each pixel of an image. An Alpha Channel is the digital equivalent of a matte.
An eight bit grayscale channel within some image processing software programs which is used for masking objects, making them transparent or adding specific color instructions.
An alpha channel describes an area of transparency in a picture, which allows a background to show through. An alpha channel allows over 64,000 levels of transparency, which makes semi-transparent and blended effects possible.
(n.) In computer graphics, memory that is associated with each pixel which is used to store the fractional coverage of the pixel. An alpha channel is typically used to assign the opacity of an object.
The channel in bitmap files which determines the transparency.
An 8-bit channel reserved by some image-processing applications for masking or additional color information.
A special 8-bit grayscale channel that is used for saving a selection in graphics programs.
alpha channel / opacity value Detailed description
A special channel that associates transparency (or opacity) with an image. An image without an alpha channel is considered to be completely opaque; an image with an alpha channel may be opaque in some areas, fully transparent in other areas, and partially transparent in still others. There are two types of alpha, associated and unassociated. Associated (or premultiplied) alpha replaces all of the nonalpha (color or grayscale) information in the image with the values it would have if the image were displayed against a black background; for example, in an RGB image with a premultiplied alpha channel, all RGB values in completely transparent regions are replaced by black pixels. This form can be rendered faster (especially against black backgrounds, where the alpha channel can be completely ignored), but it amounts to a lossy transformation of the image data. Unassociated alpha leaves the nonalpha values untouched; this is the kind supported by PNG.
An additional eight-bit channel used by some image editing software applications for masking or additional image information. Many popular image editing programs use these channels for saving selections and masks.
alpha mask. Information included in a graphics file (for example, PNG files) about the transparency level of each pixel in an image. Alpha channels are often used to display images with faded edges.
An image editing software channel containing information used to mask or partially reveal areas of a bitmap image. Useful to remove backgrounds from objects.
That part of an image file where selection and layer mask information are stored. Both selection and layer mask information are stored in an alpha channel as a grayscale mask. There can be many alpha channels for a single image. Alpha channels are also used to store layer opacity information. However, that is not discussed in detail in this web site. Alpha channels used for selections and layer masks can be seen in the Photoshop Channels palette. However, a layer mask alpha channel cannot be seen in the Channels palette unless the layer is the active layer. For more about using alpha channels for storing selections, click here.
Alpha Channel, in the case of computer-based systems, is the function known as key channel or key level in conventional video technology. Masks can be superimposed on a picture signal, thus enabling different keying tricks such as inserting image signals or executing of Chroma keying. The alpha channel includes transparency information of a picture file by means of which the transparency between front and background of a picture can be controlled.
The extra layer of 8-bit greyscale carried by a 32-bit graphic. This extra information is used to determine the transparency or edge characteristics of the image.
The high-order 8 bits of a 32-bit graphics pixel used to manipulate the remaining 24 bits for purposes of coloring or masking.
A fourth channel in a 32-bit image that allows for transparency. Alpha masks can be created in another program such as Adobe Photoshop and then used by Sorenson Video to mask out an area of a video clip.
In some graphic files a layer of pixels the same height and width as the image is used to store information about transparency for each corresponding pixel. Typically each pixel in the alpha channel is stored in one byte, which allows 256 possible levels of transparency at each pixel.
In electronic production and post-production, there is increasing application of 4:4:4:4 encoding ---- which provides full-bandwidth R', G', and B' plus the additional alpha channel to carry processing information. An adaptation from computer graphics, the alpha channel may contain information for linear key, for luminance and/or chroma transparency, for variable edge enhancement, and similar image-processing information
is a mask channel in addition to the three Red Green & Blue image channels that can be used to isolate a particular area of an image in order for the computer to perform operations on that particular area. Alpha channels are used to describe silhouettes that have soft edges. (see: Clipping Path)
An eight-bit storage segment reserved for masks in an image processing software program; a feature incorporated into image processing software programs and image data formats for storing processing routines and an image's special properties (for example, background transparency).
An additional image channel used to store transparency info for composition.
An extra 8-bit grayscale channel in an image. Mostly used for creating masks to isolate object in a photo.
In graphics, a portion of each pixel's data that is reserved for transparency information. 32-bit graphics systems contain four channels three 8-bit channels for red, green, and blue (RGB) and one 8-bit alpha channel. The alpha channel is really a mask that specifies how the pixel's colors should be merged with another pixel when the two are overlaid, one on top of the other. An alpha channel is necessary for overlaying a graphic on top of another video or graphic source.
In 32-bit color, 24-bits are used for the color, and the extra 8-bits represent an alpha value, or alpha channel. This value is used to determine the pixel's translucency level.