RGBA8888

RGBA8888 is a 32-bit pixel format consisting of four 8-bit channels: red, green, blue, and alpha, with each channel ranging from 0 to 255. The alpha channel encodes transparency per pixel.

The format is uncompressed and widely used in graphics pipelines, image buffers, textures, and framebuffer data. The 8-bit channels provide 256 levels per channel.

Channel order: by convention the channels are stored in RGBA order, but the in-memory layout depends on endianness and the API; thus the actual byte sequence may vary on disk or in memory. It is distinct from premultiplied-alpha variants, where color channels are already multiplied by alpha.

Compatibility and usage: Supported by major graphics APIs and image libraries; frequently used as a texture format in OpenGL, Vulkan, and DirectX, and as a generic pixel format in software rendering. Some platforms expose RGBA8888 as RGBA_8888 or 32-bit RGBA.

Variants and related concepts: RGBA8888 is part of the family of 32-bit color formats described as 8-8-8-8. Related formats include ARGB_8888, BGRA8888, and RGBA1010102 for higher precision, and premultiplied alpha variants versus straight alpha.