Overview: Color and pixel formats
Color representation describes how picture components, sample precision and memory layouts carry a video signal.
A decoded frame needs an interpretation as well as a pixel count. RGB or YCbCr components, chroma sampling, range and bit depth shape that interpretation; a memory layout determines how software and devices exchange the samples. This branch connects those properties to common color errors and to the formats used within a media pipeline.
How video color is represented
Video color is represented by component samples together with information that gives those samples their spatial and colorimetric meaning.RGB video
RGB video represents picture positions using red, green, and blue component values interpreted through specified primaries, range, and transfer characteristics.YCbCr video
YCbCr represents video using luma and two color-difference components that can be coded and sampled separately.Chroma subsampling
Chroma subsampling reduces the spatial density of color-difference samples while retaining a denser luma grid.Chroma sample location
Chroma sample location specifies the position of color-difference samples relative to the luma grid so reconstruction can align color with the picture.Precision and banding
Sample precision, banding and dithering explain how smooth color or luminance changes become discrete signal values.Limited and full range
Video range defines the numerical scaling and offsets that connect stored component codes to their intended signal values.Pixel layouts
Pixel layouts define how picture components are arranged in memory and exchanged between processing stages.Video color tags and signaling
Color signaling describes how a playback or conversion stage should interpret the component values of a video picture.