alpha blending
Alphablending is a technique for image processing in which the image or parts of it can be displayed transparently. In this type of graphic display, objects that appear transparent are simulated.
To create alpha blending, a fourth color information for transparency is transferred in addition to the three primary colors. For this additional color information, which is added in additive color mixing, a separate channel, the alpha channel, is available. Alpha values of each pixel are transmitted via the alpha channel. The height of the value indicates how transparent or opaque the representation is. High alpha values represent high transparency, low ones represent low transparency.
For a color representation in True Color with 24 bits for red, green, blue( RGB), an additional 8 bits are transmitted for the transparency information. This information is generated from the individual color separations and the textures in the color chip during alpha blending. Alpha blending can be used to make representations transparent and objects translucent. Examples are fog, smoke, glass, frosted glass, liquids.