Graphics, ImageIO, and 32-bit PNG images with alpha-channels

Question

I have a series of 32-bit PNG images, all with alpha channels. I'm using ImageIO.read(File) : BufferedImage to read the PNG image into memory.
When I call graphics.drawImage( image, 0, 0, null ); I see the image drawn, however all semi-transparent pixels have a black background, only 100% transparent pixels in the source image are transparent in the drawn image.
The Graphics2D instance I'm drawing to is obtained from a BufferStrategy instance (I'm painting onto an AWT Canvas).
Here's my code:
Loading the image:
public static BufferedImage getEntityImage(String nom, String state) {
          if( _entityImages.containsKey(nom) ) return _entityImages.get( nom );
          String path = "Entities\\" + nom + "_" + state + ".png";
          try {
               BufferedImage image = read( path );
               if( image != null ) _entityImages.put( nom, image );
               return image;
          } catch(IOException iex) {
               iex.printStackTrace();
               return null;
     private static BufferedImage read(String fileName) throws IOException {
          fileName = Program.contentPath + fileName;
          File file = new File( fileName );
          if( !file.exists() ) return null;
          return ImageIO.read( new File( fileName ) );
     }Using the image:
Graphics2D g = (Graphics2D)_bs.getDrawGraphics();
g.setRenderingHint( RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING , RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
public @Override void render(RenderContext r) {
          Point p = r.v.translateWorldPointToViewportPoint( getLoc() );
          int rad = getRadius();
          int x = (int) p.x - (rad / 2);
          int y = (int) p.y - (rad / 2);
          BufferedImage image = Images.getEntityImage( getCls(), "F" );
          r.g.drawImage( image, x, y, null );
     }

Answer 1

You may want to check on you system and see what ImageReaders are available, it could be ImageIO is just not picking the best one, if not, then you can use getImageReaders to get an iterator of image readers, then choose the more appropriate one.