diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/field/fieldOverrides.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/field/fieldOverrides.ts
index c81a991fbe4..202a2c164c2 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/field/fieldOverrides.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/field/fieldOverrides.ts
@@ -205,11 +205,17 @@ export function applyFieldOverrides(options: ApplyFieldOverrideOptions): DataFra
   });
 }
 
+// this is a significant optimization for streaming, where we currently re-process all values in the buffer on ech update
+// via field.display(value). this can potentially be removed once we...
+// 1. process data packets incrementally and/if cache the results in the streaming datafame (maybe by buffer index)
+// 2. have the ability to selectively get display color or text (but not always both, which are each quite expensive)
+// 3. sufficently optimize text formating and threshold color determinitation
 function cachingDisplayProcessor(disp: DisplayProcessor, maxCacheSize = 2500): DisplayProcessor {
   const cache = new Map<any, DisplayValue>();
 
   return (value: any) => {
     let v = cache.get(value);
+
     if (!v) {
       // Don't grow too big
       if (cache.size === maxCacheSize) {
@@ -226,6 +232,7 @@ function cachingDisplayProcessor(disp: DisplayProcessor, maxCacheSize = 2500): D
 
       cache.set(value, v);
     }
+
     return v;
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.test.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.test.ts
index b591658b092..16a25e78a68 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.test.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.test.ts
@@ -279,6 +279,10 @@ describe('utils/colorManipulator', () => {
       expect(alpha('hsla(0, 100%, 50%, 0.2)', 0.5)).toEqual('hsla(0, 100%, 50%, 0.5)');
     });
 
+    it('converts an rgb hex color with the alpha value provided', () => {
+      expect(alpha('#FFFFFF', 0)).toEqual('#FFFFFF00');
+    });
+
     it('throw on invalid colors', () => {
       expect(() => {
         alpha('white', 0.4);
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.ts
index 2f1bc881e53..b76552ed0c1 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/themes/colorManipulator.ts
@@ -263,7 +263,12 @@ export function alpha(color: string, value: number) {
       color = color.substring(0, 7);
     }
 
-    return color + Math.round(value * 255).toString(16);
+    return (
+      color +
+      Math.round(value * 255)
+        .toString(16)
+        .padStart(2, '0')
+    );
   }
   // rgb(, hsl(
   else if (color[3] === '(') {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/state-timeline/timeline.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/state-timeline/timeline.ts
index 78fd73b8c1b..975d485f084 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/state-timeline/timeline.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/state-timeline/timeline.ts
@@ -547,6 +547,12 @@ export function getConfig(opts: TimelineCoreOptions) {
 }
 
 function getFillColor(fieldConfig: TimelineFieldConfig, color: string) {
+  // if #rgba with pre-existing alpha. ignore fieldConfig.fillOpacity
+  // e.g. thresholds with opacity
+  if (color[0] === '#' && color.length === 9) {
+    return color;
+  }
+
   const opacityPercent = (fieldConfig.fillOpacity ?? 100) / 100;
   return alpha(color, opacityPercent);
 }