Word.ws English Dictionary

alpha channel

alpha channel noun: a numerical value specifying a level of translucency to be applied to a colour.

Noun

alpha channel (plural alpha channels)

  1. A numerical value specifying a level of translucency to be applied to a colour.

Forms of alpha channel

pluralalpha channels

Origin of alpha channel

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

Questions about alpha channel

What does alpha channel mean?
Alpha channel means a numerical value specifying a level of translucency to be applied to a colour.
What part of speech is alpha channel?
Alpha channel is a noun.
What is the plural of alpha channel?
The plural of alpha channel is alpha channels.

Words near alpha channel in the dictionary

  1. Alpha Centaurian
  2. Alpha Centaurians
  3. Alpha Cephei
  4. Alpha Ceti
  5. alpha chain disease
  6. alpha channel
  7. alpha channels
  8. alpha cities
  9. alpha city
  10. alpha conversion
  11. alpha conversions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alpha channel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “alpha channel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alpha_channel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.