IFRAME - background color

[jansoft]

I try to set the background color in an IFRAME where the src is not a html page but an image but it seems that it only works in firefox.
For example
<iframe bgcolor="#FF6600" style="background-color: #FF6600" name="image" src="img/1.jpg" width=400 height=600 scrolling="NO" marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 frameborder="NO" border=0 framespacing=0></iframe>
It is used as a photo album, where the user can click on a thumbnail and view it in large in the iframe place holder

Here is the problem: If the image selected is smaller that the dimensions of the iframe, then the background of the iframe is white (#FFFFFF)
Both style="background-color: #FF6600" and bgcolor="#FF6600" work fine in firefox, but not in ie

I also tried background-image: url(someimage.gif) where someimage.gif is a single color #FF6600 image, without any luck.
allowTransparency also does not work in this case.

As a further test I made, the only thing tha ie understands is, when a filter with opacity is applied. In this case if you set opacity - alpha at 50%, then you can see #FF6600 at half brightness and the same applies to the image of course. Another question is, why ie understands the backgound color in this case (only when the filter is applied)?

Some help please?