Pro WPF in C# 2010: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 4

14.3. The WriteableBitmap Class

WPF allows you to show bitmaps with the Image element. However, displaying a picture this way is a strictly one-way affair. Your application takes a ready-made bitmap, reads it, and displays it in the window. On its own, the Image element doesn't give you a way to create or edit bitmap information.

This is where WriteableBitmap fits in. It derives fromBitmapSource, which is the class you use when setting the Image.Source property (either directly, when you set the image in code, or implicitly, when you set it in XAML). But whereas BitmapSource is a read-only reflection of bitmap data, WriteableBitmap is a modifiable array of pixels that opens up many interesting possibilities.

NOTE

It's important to realize that ...