YUV Video Subtypes

YUV formats are divided into packed formats and planar formats. In a packed format, the Y, U, and V components are stored in a single array. Pixels are organized into groups of macropixels, whose layout depends on the format. In a planar format, the Y, U, and V components are stored separately, as three planes.

Packed YUV Formats

The following subtype GUIDs identify packed YUV formats.

• AYUV is a 4:4:4 YUV format with the following byte order:

  A0 Y0 U0 V0

  where A0 contains the alpha value.

• UYVY format uses 2:1 horizontal downsampling and no vertical downsampling. Y is sampled at every pixel; U and V are sampled every 2 pixels horizontally. Each macropixel is 4 bytes and contains 2 pixels. It uses the following byte order:

  U0 Y0 V0 Y1

  Y41P format uses 4:1 horizontal downsampling and no vertical downsampling. Y is sampled at every pixel; U and V are sampled every 4 pixels horizontally. Each macropixel is 12 bytes and contains 8 pixels. It uses the following byte order:

  U0 Y0 V0 Y1   U4 Y2 V4 Y3   Y4 Y5 Y6 Y8

• YUY2 is similar to UYVY but the byte order is different:

  Y0 U0 Y1 V0

• YVYU is also similar to UYVY with a different byte order:

  Y0 V0 Y1 U0

• In Y211 format, Y is sampled every 2 pixels horizontally, and U and V are sampled every 4 pixels horizontally. Each macropixel is 4 bytes and contains 4 pixels. It uses the following byte order:

  Y0 U0 Y2 V0

Planar YUV Formats

The following subtype GUIDs identify planar YUV formats.

• YVU9 format consists of an 8-bpp Y plane, followed by 8-bpp 4×4 U and V planes.

  Sampling Frequency	Horizontal	Vertical
  Y	1	1
  U	4	4
  V	4	4

  
  
• The Indeo YVU9 format (MEDIASUBTYPE_IF09) is a variation of YVU9 with additional delta-frame information after the U plane.
• IYUV format consists of an 8-bpp Y plane, followed by 8-bpp 2×2 U and V planes.

  Sampling Frequency	Horizontal	Vertical
  Y	1	1
  U	2	2
  V	2	2

  
  
• YV12 format is identical to IYUV but the order of the U and V planes is switched, so the V plane comes before the U plane.

See Also

• Video Subtypes