IE display transparency bug on height > 4096px?

Question

I was working on a JavaScript dialog with a transparent background overlay when I ran into a problem on large pages.

If the page was large, the transparent overlay would be a solid colour (i.e. no longer transparent). I did some testing and found this only happened in the overlay was greater than 4096 pixels high (hmmm, suspicious, that's 2^12).

Can anyone verify this issue? Have you seen a work-around?

Here's my test code (I'm using Prototype):

<style>
.overlayA { 
    position:absolute;
    z-index:10;
    width:100%;
    height:4095px;
    top:0px;
    left:0px;
    zoom: 1;
    background-color:#000;
    filter:alpha(opacity=10);
    -moz-opacity:0.1;
    opacity:0.1;
}

.overlayB { 
    position:absolute;
    z-index:10;
    width:100%;
    height:4097px;
    top:0px;
    left:0px;
    zoom: 1;
    background-color:#000;
    filter:alpha(opacity=10);
    -moz-opacity:0.1;
    opacity:0.1;
}
</style>
<div style="width:550px;height:5000px;border:1px solid #808080">
    <a href="javascript:// show overlay A" onclick="Element.show('overlayA')">Display A = 4096h</a>
    <br /><a href="javascript:// show overlay B" onclick="Element.show('overlayB')">Display B = 4097h</a>
</div>
<div id="overlayA" onclick="Element.hide(this)" class="overlayA" style="display:none"></div>
<div id="overlayB" onclick="Element.hide(this)" class="overlayB" style="display:none"></div>

Answer 1

Since you have an opacity filter on the CSS I believe you are indirectly using DirectShow under the covers for alpha blending and image composition. DirectShow uses DirectX textures, which have a 4096x4096 pixel limit for DX9, which would explain this erratic behavior.

Answer 2

How about making the overlay the size of the window instead of the size of the page, and moving it up or down on scroll.