unity panel opacity is affected by Background Color opacity

[Doug McMahon]

In the past the Background Color opacity setting only affected the Dash as both the panel & launcher have their own opacity settings.
Now the Background color opacity does alter the panel's opacity & actually is the only way to get a fully transparent panel.
To see:
Lower the panel opacity to 0.0000, panel does not go transparent
Now set a very low value for Background Color opacity (1-3 will do
Panel will now go transparent.
Raise the Background Color opacity from the above low value & the panel will become darker (more opaque

This also affects using no blur with a high Background Color opacity for readability & having a panel that's not opaque

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: compiz 1:0.9.9~daily13.04.18.1~13.04-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-19.29-generic 3.8.8
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-19-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
Date: Mon Apr 22 19:38:04 2013
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: raring
DistroVariant: ubuntu
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation G86M [GeForce 8400M GS] [10de:0427] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0209]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-04-21 (1 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Alpha amd64 (20130418)
MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS M1330
MarkForUpload: True
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.8.0-19-generic root=UUID=3e94c135-77e1-4935-b850-0ece6b279b02 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: compiz
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/26/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A15
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA15:bd12/26/2008:svnDellInc.:pnXPSM1330:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: XPS M1330
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.9~daily13.04.18.1~13.04-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.43-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 9.1.1-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 9.1.1-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu2b2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.1.0-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.21.6-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.7-0ubuntu1

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu Package testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://packages.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1171658

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[thom (tsk)]

this bug also appears in "ubuntu trusty" (14.04)

[Andrea Azzarone (azzar1)]

Is sthis still a problem?

[Doug McMahon (mc3man)]

Still a problem? -
Well yes & no, noting this bug was 1st filed on 13.04
There is currently no way to get a fully transparent panel so the fact that opacity of the Background color affects how the panel looks is less relevant.
But yes, altering the Background color opacity does alter the appearance of the panel though in current compiz/unity that may be expected behavior
So in that vein & with a fully transparent panel not possible maybe this bug should be invalid.