ARGB4444

ARGB4444 is a 16-bit pixel format used in digital graphics where each component—alpha, red, green, and blue—is stored with 4 bits. This arrangement yields 16 levels per channel and 65,536 distinct RGBA values overall.

Typically the pixel is arranged as A4 R4 G4 B4 within a 16-bit word, though the exact byte order depends on endianness and API, and some systems expose the components as RGBA4444 or ABGR4444 in memory.

ARGB4444 provides a memory footprint of 2 bytes per pixel, about half of the 32-bit ARGB8888 format, reducing texture and framebuffer memory bandwidth. However, the reduced per-channel precision causes color quantization and banding, especially in gradients or high-contrast images.

It has been used in older GPUs, embedded systems, and some mobile devices where memory is at a premium. Modern hardware often favors 32-bit formats, but 16-bit formats such as ARGB4444, ARGB1555, or ARGB565 may still appear in legacy content and certain graphics pipelines. OpenGL ES exposes a 4-4-4-4 variant (RGBA4) or similar formats; Direct3D has had equivalent 4-bit-per-channel formats in older versions.