Texture2D.LoadImage png... can we load directly to RGBA32 and not ARGB32?

I am loading PNG files for image processing and using Texture2D.GetRawTextureData<Color32> to read/write the pixels efficiently. Working on many 4K maps and have identified this as the faster way of editing them.

That's great, except I ran into an issue when loading PNG files... they load as ARGB32 by default, and GetRawTextureData<Color32> has the color channels out of order due to the different format.

I can convert the texture immediately after loading it like this...

Code (CSharp):

1.                    
2. tex.LoadImage(File.ReadAllBytes(fullPath));
3.  
4. if (tex.format != TextureFormat.RGBA32)
5. {
6.     var convertedTex = new Texture2D(tex.width, tex.height, TextureFormat.RGBA32, false);
7.     convertedTex.SetPixels32(tex.GetPixels32());
8.     tex = convertedTex;
9. }
10.  

which is fine and it works, but I profiled it and the time it takes is not insignificant.

Anyhoo, is there a more efficient way of loading PNG files directly to RGBA32, or more efficient way of converting? I tried using Graphics.ConvertTexture, but it did not succeed. I assume it is because RGBA32 is not listed in as a RenderTextureFormat ( as per the documentation for Graphics.ConvertTexture ) GetRawTextureData<byte> instead, but it would be nice to get the raw texture data in a color struct.

As I write this, I realized that I can create my own ARGB32 struct and use it like such...

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.         public struct ColorARGB32
3.         {
4.             public byte a;
5.             public byte r;
6.             public byte g;
7.             public byte b;
8.         }
9. ...
10. var pixels = GetRawTextureData<ColorARGB32>();
11.  

which should do the trick. However, I'll post this anyway in case y'all have a better idea, or in case someone else can use this info.

 

I think it's worth destroying your old texture:

Code (CSharp):

1. Object.Destroy(tex);