Java 2D API --- the rendereds

The Rendered layer is designed to work in concert with the Renderable layer. The Rendered layer is comprised of sources and operations for device-specific representations of images or renderings. The Rendered layer is primarily defined by the RenderedImage interface. Sources such as BufferedImage implement this interface.

Operators in this layer are simply RenderedImages that take other RenderedImages as sources. Chains, therefore, can be constructed in much the same manner as those of the Renderable layer. A sequence of RenderedImages is instantiated, each taking the last RenderedImage as a source.

Interface: RenderedImage

Class: BufferedImage
Extends: Image
Implements: WritableRenderedImage

Class: WritableRenderedImage
Extends: RenderedImage

A rendered image represents a virtual image with a coordinate system that maps directly to pixels. A Rendered image does not have to have image data associated with it, only that it be able to produce image data when requested. The BufferedImage class, which is the Java 2D API's implementation of RenderedImage, however, maintains a full page buffer that can be accessed and written to. Data can be accessed in a variety of ways, each with different properties.