Selecting a format of swapchain images

The format defines the number of color components, the number of bits for each component, and the used data type. During swapchain creation, we must specify whether we want to use red, green, and blue channels with or without an alpha component, whether the color values should be encoded using unsigned integer or floating-point data types, and what their precision is. We must also choose whether we are encoding color values using linear or nonlinear color space. But as with other swapchain parameters, we can use only values that are supported by the presentation surface.

Getting ready

In this recipe, we use several terms that may seem identical, but in fact they specify different parameters:

• Image format is used to describe...