alpha channel

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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Coined by Alvy Ray Smith and Ed Catmull in the 1970s. Smith writes: "We called it that because of the classic linear interpolation formula that uses the Greek letter (alpha) to control the amount of interpolation between, in this case, two images A and B".[1] That is, when compositing image A atop image B, the value of in the formula is A's alpha channel.

Noun

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alpha channel (plural alpha channels)

  1. (computer graphics) A numerical value specifying a level of translucency to be applied to a colour.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Alvy Ray Smith (1995 August 15) “Alpha and the History of Digital Compositing”, in alvyray.com[1], archived from the original on 25 October 2021, page 6