This mipmap storage scheme implies that textures don't have an alpha channel. Is this always the case?
motoole2
The original mipmap storage scheme referenced here does assume textures have only RGB channels, ignoring the existence of an alpha channel. If a texture includes an alpha channel, then you do want to include the alpha channel in the mipmap.
How is this mipmap stored in memory for either RGB and RGBA? It might be more efficient to encode all three R, G, B, and A values associated with any particular pixel as one 32-bit integer, as opposed to storing each 8-bit value to separate memory blocks (which may make it slower to access color values).
Short answer---mipmap storage schemes do include alpha channels in practice.
This mipmap storage scheme implies that textures don't have an alpha channel. Is this always the case?
The original mipmap storage scheme referenced here does assume textures have only RGB channels, ignoring the existence of an alpha channel. If a texture includes an alpha channel, then you do want to include the alpha channel in the mipmap.
How is this mipmap stored in memory for either RGB and RGBA? It might be more efficient to encode all three R, G, B, and A values associated with any particular pixel as one 32-bit integer, as opposed to storing each 8-bit value to separate memory blocks (which may make it slower to access color values).
Short answer---mipmap storage schemes do include alpha channels in practice.