using a constructor of type PImage(pixels[], width, height, format)
frame = new PImage( framePixels, frameWidth,frameHeight, RGBA );

resulted in following error:
Semantic Error: No accessible field named "RGBA" was found..

found out that RGB was 1 and tried 2 which works fine:
frame = new PImage( framePixels, frameWidth,frameHeight, 2 ); // RGBA = 2


tried on Windows 2000 and Linux 2.4.29

RGBA has become ARGB in beta as noted here:
http://processing.org/faq/changes.html

it's just an error in the documentation:
http://processing.org/discourse/yabb_beta/YaBB.cgi?board=WebsiteBugs;action=display;num=1125161637;start=2#2

sorry 'bout that.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 240 ***