YUYV

YUYV is a color encoding used in digital video that represents chroma-subsampled, 8-bit YUV data in a packed 4:2:2 format. It is commonly referred to as YUYV or YUY2 in various software and hardware contexts. The defining characteristic is that two adjacent image pixels are described by four bytes: Y0, U, Y1, V. In other words, each pair of pixels shares a single U and a single V sample, while each pixel retains its own Y (luminance) sample.

In this arrangement the Y component provides the luminance information for each pixel, while the U and V components carry the chrominance information. Because U and V are subsampled horizontally, Y is stored for every pixel and chroma is stored at half the horizontal sampling rate. Each Y, U, and V value is typically an unsigned 8-bit value (0–255), with 128 representing a neutral chroma level.

Usage and compatibility: YUYV/YUY2 is widely used in video capture devices, webcams, and video pipelines due to its bandwidth efficiency and straightforward processing. It is supported by many hardware video decoders, software encoders, and media APIs, including Linux Video4Linux2 (V4L2) and DirectShow. Because many devices interchangeably use YUYV, YUY2, or related interleavings (such as UYVY or YVYU), accurate identification of the exact byte order is important when interfacing with specific hardware or APIs.

Notes: When converting to RGB or another color space, a standard Y'CbCr to RGB conversion is applied. The format itself is a data layout choice and not a color space; it represents Y, U, and V components that are later mapped to perceptual colors.