Re: HARDWARE: Open-Source-Friendly Graphics Cards -- Viable?

[David Greaves]

Helge Hafting wrote:

> Or one could go the other way - if we use 32 bits, then
> consider 10 bits per color.  I've always wondered about the purpose
> of a 8-bit alpha channel.  what exactly is supposed to show
> in "transparent" places?  Transparency makes sense when talking about 
> windows - you see the underlying window through a transparent spot.
> But this is the frame buffer we're talking about - what is
> supposed to be behind that?  Another frame buffer?
>  
Well, The Hauppage 350 via the ivtv driver provides a framebuffer 'OSD' 
(On Screen Display) that overlays the hardware video (as in TV) layer.
Transparency determines how much of the video shows through.

It's good having a framebuffer that can run X (or whatever) overlayed 
onto the video stream.

David
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