<title>Image Formats</title> <para>The V4L2 API was primarily designed for devices exchanging image data with applications. The <structname>v4l2_pix_format</structname> and <structname>v4l2_pix_format_mplane </structname> structures define the format and layout of an image in memory. The former is used with the single-planar API, while the latter is used with the multi-planar version (see <xref linkend="planar-apis"/>). Image formats are negotiated with the &VIDIOC-S-FMT; ioctl. (The explanations here focus on video capturing and output, for overlay frame buffer formats see also &VIDIOC-G-FBUF;.)</para> <section> <title>Single-planar format structure</title> <table pgwide="1" frame="none" id="v4l2-pix-format"> <title>struct <structname>v4l2_pix_format</structname></title> <tgroup cols="3"> &cs-str; <tbody valign="top"> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>width</structfield></entry> <entry>Image width in pixels.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>height</structfield></entry> <entry>Image height in pixels. If <structfield>field</structfield> is one of <constant>V4L2_FIELD_TOP</constant>, <constant>V4L2_FIELD_BOTTOM</constant> or <constant>V4L2_FIELD_ALTERNATE</constant> then height refers to the number of lines in the field, otherwise it refers to the number of lines in the frame (which is twice the field height for interlaced formats).</entry> </row> <row> <entry spanname="hspan">Applications set these fields to request an image size, drivers return the closest possible values. In case of planar formats the <structfield>width</structfield> and <structfield>height</structfield> applies to the largest plane. To avoid ambiguities drivers must return values rounded up to a multiple of the scale factor of any smaller planes. For example when the image format is YUV 4:2:0, <structfield>width</structfield> and <structfield>height</structfield> must be multiples of two.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>pixelformat</structfield></entry> <entry>The pixel format or type of compression, set by the application. This is a little endian <link linkend="v4l2-fourcc">four character code</link>. V4L2 defines standard RGB formats in <xref linkend="rgb-formats" />, YUV formats in <xref linkend="yuv-formats" />, and reserved codes in <xref linkend="reserved-formats" /></entry> </row> <row> <entry>&v4l2-field;</entry> <entry><structfield>field</structfield></entry> <entry>Video images are typically interlaced. Applications can request to capture or output only the top or bottom field, or both fields interlaced or sequentially stored in one buffer or alternating in separate buffers. Drivers return the actual field order selected. For more details on fields see <xref linkend="field-order" />.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>bytesperline</structfield></entry> <entry>Distance in bytes between the leftmost pixels in two adjacent lines.</entry> </row> <row> <entry spanname="hspan"><para>Both applications and drivers can set this field to request padding bytes at the end of each line. Drivers however may ignore the value requested by the application, returning <structfield>width</structfield> times bytes per pixel or a larger value required by the hardware. That implies applications can just set this field to zero to get a reasonable default.</para><para>Video hardware may access padding bytes, therefore they must reside in accessible memory. Consider cases where padding bytes after the last line of an image cross a system page boundary. Input devices may write padding bytes, the value is undefined. Output devices ignore the contents of padding bytes.</para><para>When the image format is planar the <structfield>bytesperline</structfield> value applies to the largest plane and is divided by the same factor as the <structfield>width</structfield> field for any smaller planes. For example the Cb and Cr planes of a YUV 4:2:0 image have half as many padding bytes following each line as the Y plane. To avoid ambiguities drivers must return a <structfield>bytesperline</structfield> value rounded up to a multiple of the scale factor.</para> <para>For compressed formats the <structfield>bytesperline</structfield> value makes no sense. Applications and drivers must set this to 0 in that case.</para></entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>sizeimage</structfield></entry> <entry>Size in bytes of the buffer to hold a complete image, set by the driver. Usually this is <structfield>bytesperline</structfield> times <structfield>height</structfield>. When the image consists of variable length compressed data this is the maximum number of bytes required to hold an image.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>&v4l2-colorspace;</entry> <entry><structfield>colorspace</structfield></entry> <entry>This information supplements the <structfield>pixelformat</structfield> and must be set by the driver for capture streams and by the application for output streams, see <xref linkend="colorspaces" />.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>priv</structfield></entry> <entry><para>This field indicates whether the remaining fields of the <structname>v4l2_pix_format</structname> structure, also called the extended fields, are valid. When set to <constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PRIV_MAGIC</constant>, it indicates that the extended fields have been correctly initialized. When set to any other value it indicates that the extended fields contain undefined values. </para> <para>Applications that wish to use the pixel format extended fields must first ensure that the feature is supported by querying the device for the <link linkend="querycap"><constant>V4L2_CAP_EXT_PIX_FORMAT</constant></link> capability. If the capability isn't set the pixel format extended fields are not supported and using the extended fields will lead to undefined results.</para> <para>To use the extended fields, applications must set the <structfield>priv</structfield> field to <constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PRIV_MAGIC</constant>, initialize all the extended fields and zero the unused bytes of the <structname>v4l2_format</structname> <structfield>raw_data</structfield> field.</para> <para>When the <structfield>priv</structfield> field isn't set to <constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PRIV_MAGIC</constant> drivers must act as if all the extended fields were set to zero. On return drivers must set the <structfield>priv</structfield> field to <constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PRIV_MAGIC</constant> and all the extended fields to applicable values.</para></entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>flags</structfield></entry> <entry>Flags set by the application or driver, see <xref linkend="format-flags" />.</entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </section> <section> <title>Multi-planar format structures</title> <para>The <structname>v4l2_plane_pix_format</structname> structures define size and layout for each of the planes in a multi-planar format. The <structname>v4l2_pix_format_mplane</structname> structure contains information common to all planes (such as image width and height) and an array of <structname>v4l2_plane_pix_format</structname> structures, describing all planes of that format.</para> <table pgwide="1" frame="none" id="v4l2-plane-pix-format"> <title>struct <structname>v4l2_plane_pix_format</structname></title> <tgroup cols="3"> &cs-str; <tbody valign="top"> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>sizeimage</structfield></entry> <entry>Maximum size in bytes required for image data in this plane. </entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u16</entry> <entry><structfield>bytesperline</structfield></entry> <entry>Distance in bytes between the leftmost pixels in two adjacent lines. See &v4l2-pix-format;.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u16</entry> <entry><structfield>reserved[7]</structfield></entry> <entry>Reserved for future extensions. Should be zeroed by the application.</entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <table pgwide="1" frame="none" id="v4l2-pix-format-mplane"> <title>struct <structname>v4l2_pix_format_mplane</structname></title> <tgroup cols="3"> &cs-str; <tbody valign="top"> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>width</structfield></entry> <entry>Image width in pixels. See &v4l2-pix-format;.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>height</structfield></entry> <entry>Image height in pixels. See &v4l2-pix-format;.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u32</entry> <entry><structfield>pixelformat</structfield></entry> <entry>The pixel format. Both single- and multi-planar four character codes can be used.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>&v4l2-field;</entry> <entry><structfield>field</structfield></entry> <entry>See &v4l2-pix-format;.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>&v4l2-colorspace;</entry> <entry><structfield>colorspace</structfield></entry> <entry>See &v4l2-pix-format;.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>&v4l2-plane-pix-format;</entry> <entry><structfield>plane_fmt[VIDEO_MAX_PLANES]</structfield></entry> <entry>An array of structures describing format of each plane this pixel format consists of. The number of valid entries in this array has to be put in the <structfield>num_planes</structfield> field.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u8</entry> <entry><structfield>num_planes</structfield></entry> <entry>Number of planes (i.e. separate memory buffers) for this format and the number of valid entries in the <structfield>plane_fmt</structfield> array.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u8</entry> <entry><structfield>flags</structfield></entry> <entry>Flags set by the application or driver, see <xref linkend="format-flags" />.</entry> </row> <row> <entry>__u8</entry> <entry><structfield>reserved[10]</structfield></entry> <entry>Reserved for future extensions. Should be zeroed by the application.</entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </section> <section> <title>Standard Image Formats</title> <para>In order to exchange images between drivers and applications, it is necessary to have standard image data formats which both sides will interpret the same way. V4L2 includes several such formats, and this section is intended to be an unambiguous specification of the standard image data formats in V4L2.</para> <para>V4L2 drivers are not limited to these formats, however. Driver-specific formats are possible. In that case the application may depend on a codec to convert images to one of the standard formats when needed. But the data can still be stored and retrieved in the proprietary format. For example, a device may support a proprietary compressed format. Applications can still capture and save the data in the compressed format, saving much disk space, and later use a codec to convert the images to the X Windows screen format when the video is to be displayed.</para> <para>Even so, ultimately, some standard formats are needed, so the V4L2 specification would not be complete without well-defined standard formats.</para> <para>The V4L2 standard formats are mainly uncompressed formats. The pixels are always arranged in memory from left to right, and from top to bottom. The first byte of data in the image buffer is always for the leftmost pixel of the topmost row. Following that is the pixel immediately to its right, and so on until the end of the top row of pixels. Following the rightmost pixel of the row there may be zero or more bytes of padding to guarantee that each row of pixel data has a certain alignment. Following the pad bytes, if any, is data for the leftmost pixel of the second row from the top, and so on. The last row has just as many pad bytes after it as the other rows.</para> <para>In V4L2 each format has an identifier which looks like <constant>PIX_FMT_XXX</constant>, defined in the <link linkend="videodev">videodev2.h</link> header file. These identifiers represent <link linkend="v4l2-fourcc">four character (FourCC) codes</link> which are also listed below, however they are not the same as those used in the Windows world.</para> <para>For some formats, data is stored in separate, discontiguous memory buffers. Those formats are identified by a separate set of FourCC codes and are referred to as "multi-planar formats". For example, a YUV422 frame is normally stored in one memory buffer, but it can also be placed in two or three separate buffers, with Y component in one buffer and CbCr components in another in the 2-planar version or with each component in its own buffer in the 3-planar case. Those sub-buffers are referred to as "planes".</para> </section> <section id="colorspaces"> <title>Colorspaces</title> <para>[intro]</para> <!-- See proposal by Billy Biggs, video4linux-list@redhat.com on 11 Oct 2002, subject: "Re: [V4L] Re: v4l2 api", and http://vektor.theorem.ca/graphics/ycbcr/ and http://www.poynton.com/notes/colour_and_gamma/ColorFAQ.html --> <para> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term>Gamma Correction</term> <listitem> <para>[to do]</para> <para>E'<subscript>R</subscript> = f(R)</para> <para>E'<subscript>G</subscript> = f(G)</para> <para>E'<subscript>B</subscript> = f(B)</para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Construction of luminance and color-difference signals</term> <listitem> <para>[to do]</para> <para>E'<subscript>Y</subscript> = Coeff<subscript>R</subscript> E'<subscript>R</subscript> + Coeff<subscript>G</subscript> E'<subscript>G</subscript> + Coeff<subscript>B</subscript> E'<subscript>B</subscript></para> <para>(E'<subscript>R</subscript> - E'<subscript>Y</subscript>) = E'<subscript>R</subscript> - Coeff<subscript>R</subscript> E'<subscript>R</subscript> - Coeff<subscript>G</subscript> E'<subscript>G</subscript> - Coeff<subscript>B</subscript> E'<subscript>B</subscript></para> <para>(E'<subscript>B</subscript> - E'<subscript>Y</subscript>) = E'<subscript>B</subscript> - Coeff<subscript>R</subscript> E'<subscript>R</subscript> - Coeff<subscript>G</subscript> E'<subscript>G</subscript> - Coeff<subscript>B</subscript> E'<subscript>B</subscript></para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Re-normalized color-difference signals</term> <listitem> <para>The color-difference signals are scaled back to unity range [-0.5;+0.5]:</para> <para>K<subscript>B</subscript> = 0.5 / (1 - Coeff<subscript>B</subscript>)</para> <para>K<subscript>R</subscript> = 0.5 / (1 - Coeff<subscript>R</subscript>)</para> <para>P<subscript>B</subscript> = K<subscript>B</subscript> (E'<subscript>B</subscript> - E'<subscript>Y</subscript>) = 0.5 (Coeff<subscript>R</subscript> / Coeff<subscript>B</subscript>) E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.5 (Coeff<subscript>G</subscript> / Coeff<subscript>B</subscript>) E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.5 E'<subscript>B</subscript></para> <para>P<subscript>R</subscript> = K<subscript>R</subscript> (E'<subscript>R</subscript> - E'<subscript>Y</subscript>) = 0.5 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.5 (Coeff<subscript>G</subscript> / Coeff<subscript>R</subscript>) E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.5 (Coeff<subscript>B</subscript> / Coeff<subscript>R</subscript>) E'<subscript>B</subscript></para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Quantization</term> <listitem> <para>[to do]</para> <para>Y' = (Lum. Levels - 1) · E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + Lum. Offset</para> <para>C<subscript>B</subscript> = (Chrom. Levels - 1) · P<subscript>B</subscript> + Chrom. Offset</para> <para>C<subscript>R</subscript> = (Chrom. Levels - 1) · P<subscript>R</subscript> + Chrom. Offset</para> <para>Rounding to the nearest integer and clamping to the range [0;255] finally yields the digital color components Y'CbCr stored in YUV images.</para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> </para> <example> <title>ITU-R Rec. BT.601 color conversion</title> <para>Forward Transformation</para> <programlisting> int ER, EG, EB; /* gamma corrected RGB input [0;255] */ int Y1, Cb, Cr; /* output [0;255] */ double r, g, b; /* temporaries */ double y1, pb, pr; int clamp (double x) { int r = x; /* round to nearest */ if (r < 0) return 0; else if (r > 255) return 255; else return r; } r = ER / 255.0; g = EG / 255.0; b = EB / 255.0; y1 = 0.299 * r + 0.587 * g + 0.114 * b; pb = -0.169 * r - 0.331 * g + 0.5 * b; pr = 0.5 * r - 0.419 * g - 0.081 * b; Y1 = clamp (219 * y1 + 16); Cb = clamp (224 * pb + 128); Cr = clamp (224 * pr + 128); /* or shorter */ y1 = 0.299 * ER + 0.587 * EG + 0.114 * EB; Y1 = clamp ( (219 / 255.0) * y1 + 16); Cb = clamp (((224 / 255.0) / (2 - 2 * 0.114)) * (EB - y1) + 128); Cr = clamp (((224 / 255.0) / (2 - 2 * 0.299)) * (ER - y1) + 128); </programlisting> <para>Inverse Transformation</para> <programlisting> int Y1, Cb, Cr; /* gamma pre-corrected input [0;255] */ int ER, EG, EB; /* output [0;255] */ double r, g, b; /* temporaries */ double y1, pb, pr; int clamp (double x) { int r = x; /* round to nearest */ if (r < 0) return 0; else if (r > 255) return 255; else return r; } y1 = (Y1 - 16) / 219.0; pb = (Cb - 128) / 224.0; pr = (Cr - 128) / 224.0; r = 1.0 * y1 + 0 * pb + 1.402 * pr; g = 1.0 * y1 - 0.344 * pb - 0.714 * pr; b = 1.0 * y1 + 1.772 * pb + 0 * pr; ER = clamp (r * 255); /* [ok? one should prob. limit y1,pb,pr] */ EG = clamp (g * 255); EB = clamp (b * 255); </programlisting> </example> <table pgwide="1" id="v4l2-colorspace" orient="land"> <title>enum v4l2_colorspace</title> <tgroup cols="11" align="center"> <colspec align="left" /> <colspec align="center" /> <colspec align="left" /> <colspec colname="cr" /> <colspec colname="cg" /> <colspec colname="cb" /> <colspec colname="wp" /> <colspec colname="gc" /> <colspec colname="lum" /> <colspec colname="qy" /> <colspec colname="qc" /> <spanspec namest="cr" nameend="cb" spanname="chrom" /> <spanspec namest="qy" nameend="qc" spanname="quant" /> <spanspec namest="lum" nameend="qc" spanname="spam" /> <thead> <row> <entry morerows="1">Identifier</entry> <entry morerows="1">Value</entry> <entry morerows="1">Description</entry> <entry spanname="chrom">Chromaticities<footnote> <para>The coordinates of the color primaries are given in the CIE system (1931)</para> </footnote></entry> <entry morerows="1">White Point</entry> <entry morerows="1">Gamma Correction</entry> <entry morerows="1">Luminance E'<subscript>Y</subscript></entry> <entry spanname="quant">Quantization</entry> </row> <row> <entry>Red</entry> <entry>Green</entry> <entry>Blue</entry> <entry>Y'</entry> <entry>Cb, Cr</entry> </row> </thead> <tbody valign="top"> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_SMPTE170M</constant></entry> <entry>1</entry> <entry>NTSC/PAL according to <xref linkend="smpte170m" />, <xref linkend="itu601" /></entry> <entry>x = 0.630, y = 0.340</entry> <entry>x = 0.310, y = 0.595</entry> <entry>x = 0.155, y = 0.070</entry> <entry>x = 0.3127, y = 0.3290, Illuminant D<subscript>65</subscript></entry> <entry>E' = 4.5 I for I ≤0.018, 1.099 I<superscript>0.45</superscript> - 0.099 for 0.018 < I</entry> <entry>0.299 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.587 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.114 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry>219 E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16</entry> <entry>224 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_SMPTE240M</constant></entry> <entry>2</entry> <entry>1125-Line (US) HDTV, see <xref linkend="smpte240m" /></entry> <entry>x = 0.630, y = 0.340</entry> <entry>x = 0.310, y = 0.595</entry> <entry>x = 0.155, y = 0.070</entry> <entry>x = 0.3127, y = 0.3290, Illuminant D<subscript>65</subscript></entry> <entry>E' = 4 I for I ≤0.0228, 1.1115 I<superscript>0.45</superscript> - 0.1115 for 0.0228 < I</entry> <entry>0.212 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.701 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.087 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry>219 E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16</entry> <entry>224 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_REC709</constant></entry> <entry>3</entry> <entry>HDTV and modern devices, see <xref linkend="itu709" /></entry> <entry>x = 0.640, y = 0.330</entry> <entry>x = 0.300, y = 0.600</entry> <entry>x = 0.150, y = 0.060</entry> <entry>x = 0.3127, y = 0.3290, Illuminant D<subscript>65</subscript></entry> <entry>E' = 4.5 I for I ≤0.018, 1.099 I<superscript>0.45</superscript> - 0.099 for 0.018 < I</entry> <entry>0.2125 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.7154 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.0721 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry>219 E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16</entry> <entry>224 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_BT878</constant></entry> <entry>4</entry> <entry>Broken Bt878 extents<footnote> <para>The ubiquitous Bt878 video capture chip quantizes E'<subscript>Y</subscript> to 238 levels, yielding a range of Y' = 16 … 253, unlike Rec. 601 Y' = 16 … 235. This is not a typo in the Bt878 documentation, it has been implemented in silicon. The chroma extents are unclear.</para> </footnote>, <xref linkend="itu601" /></entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>0.299 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.587 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.114 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry><emphasis>237</emphasis> E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16</entry> <entry>224 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128 (probably)</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_470_SYSTEM_M</constant></entry> <entry>5</entry> <entry>M/NTSC<footnote> <para>No identifier exists for M/PAL which uses the chromaticities of M/NTSC, the remaining parameters are equal to B and G/PAL.</para> </footnote> according to <xref linkend="itu470" />, <xref linkend="itu601" /></entry> <entry>x = 0.67, y = 0.33</entry> <entry>x = 0.21, y = 0.71</entry> <entry>x = 0.14, y = 0.08</entry> <entry>x = 0.310, y = 0.316, Illuminant C</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>0.299 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.587 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.114 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry>219 E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16</entry> <entry>224 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_470_SYSTEM_BG</constant></entry> <entry>6</entry> <entry>625-line PAL and SECAM systems according to <xref linkend="itu470" />, <xref linkend="itu601" /></entry> <entry>x = 0.64, y = 0.33</entry> <entry>x = 0.29, y = 0.60</entry> <entry>x = 0.15, y = 0.06</entry> <entry>x = 0.313, y = 0.329, Illuminant D<subscript>65</subscript></entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>0.299 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.587 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.114 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry>219 E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16</entry> <entry>224 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_JPEG</constant></entry> <entry>7</entry> <entry>JPEG Y'CbCr, see <xref linkend="jfif" />, <xref linkend="itu601" /></entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>?</entry> <entry>0.299 E'<subscript>R</subscript> + 0.587 E'<subscript>G</subscript> + 0.114 E'<subscript>B</subscript></entry> <entry>256 E'<subscript>Y</subscript> + 16<footnote> <para>Note JFIF quantizes Y'P<subscript>B</subscript>P<subscript>R</subscript> in range [0;+1] and [-0.5;+0.5] to <emphasis>257</emphasis> levels, however Y'CbCr signals are still clamped to [0;255].</para> </footnote></entry> <entry>256 P<subscript>B,R</subscript> + 128</entry> </row> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_COLORSPACE_SRGB</constant></entry> <entry>8</entry> <entry>[?]</entry> <entry>x = 0.640, y = 0.330</entry> <entry>x = 0.300, y = 0.600</entry> <entry>x = 0.150, y = 0.060</entry> <entry>x = 0.3127, y = 0.3290, Illuminant D<subscript>65</subscript></entry> <entry>E' = 4.5 I for I ≤0.018, 1.099 I<superscript>0.45</superscript> - 0.099 for 0.018 < I</entry> <entry spanname="spam">n/a</entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </section> <section id="pixfmt-indexed"> <title>Indexed Format</title> <para>In this format each pixel is represented by an 8 bit index into a 256 entry ARGB palette. It is intended for <link linkend="osd">Video Output Overlays</link> only. There are no ioctls to access the palette, this must be done with ioctls of the Linux framebuffer API.</para> <table pgwide="0" frame="none"> <title>Indexed Image Format</title> <tgroup cols="37" align="center"> <colspec colname="id" align="left" /> <colspec colname="fourcc" /> <colspec colname="bit" /> <colspec colnum="4" colname="b07" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="5" colname="b06" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="6" colname="b05" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="7" colname="b04" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="8" colname="b03" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="9" colname="b02" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="10" colname="b01" align="center" /> <colspec colnum="11" colname="b00" align="center" /> <spanspec namest="b07" nameend="b00" spanname="b0" /> <spanspec namest="b17" nameend="b10" spanname="b1" /> <spanspec namest="b27" nameend="b20" spanname="b2" /> <spanspec namest="b37" nameend="b30" spanname="b3" /> <thead> <row> <entry>Identifier</entry> <entry>Code</entry> <entry> </entry> <entry spanname="b0">Byte 0</entry> </row> <row> <entry> </entry> <entry> </entry> <entry>Bit</entry> <entry>7</entry> <entry>6</entry> <entry>5</entry> <entry>4</entry> <entry>3</entry> <entry>2</entry> <entry>1</entry> <entry>0</entry> </row> </thead> <tbody valign="top"> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-PAL8"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PAL8</constant></entry> <entry>'PAL8'</entry> <entry></entry> <entry>i<subscript>7</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>6</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>5</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>4</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>3</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>2</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>1</subscript></entry> <entry>i<subscript>0</subscript></entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </section> <section id="pixfmt-rgb"> <title>RGB Formats</title> &sub-packed-rgb; &sub-sbggr8; &sub-sgbrg8; &sub-sgrbg8; &sub-srggb8; &sub-sbggr16; &sub-srggb10; &sub-srggb10alaw8; &sub-srggb10dpcm8; &sub-srggb12; </section> <section id="yuv-formats"> <title>YUV Formats</title> <para>YUV is the format native to TV broadcast and composite video signals. It separates the brightness information (Y) from the color information (U and V or Cb and Cr). The color information consists of red and blue <emphasis>color difference</emphasis> signals, this way the green component can be reconstructed by subtracting from the brightness component. See <xref linkend="colorspaces" /> for conversion examples. YUV was chosen because early television would only transmit brightness information. To add color in a way compatible with existing receivers a new signal carrier was added to transmit the color difference signals. Secondary in the YUV format the U and V components usually have lower resolution than the Y component. This is an analog video compression technique taking advantage of a property of the human visual system, being more sensitive to brightness information.</para> &sub-packed-yuv; &sub-grey; &sub-y10; &sub-y12; &sub-y10b; &sub-y16; &sub-uv8; &sub-yuyv; &sub-uyvy; &sub-yvyu; &sub-vyuy; &sub-y41p; &sub-yuv420; &sub-yuv420m; &sub-yvu420m; &sub-yuv410; &sub-yuv422p; &sub-yuv411p; &sub-nv12; &sub-nv12m; &sub-nv12mt; &sub-nv16; &sub-nv16m; &sub-nv24; &sub-m420; </section> <section> <title>Compressed Formats</title> <table pgwide="1" frame="none" id="compressed-formats"> <title>Compressed Image Formats</title> <tgroup cols="3" align="left"> &cs-def; <thead> <row> <entry>Identifier</entry> <entry>Code</entry> <entry>Details</entry> </row> </thead> <tbody valign="top"> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-JPEG"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_JPEG</constant></entry> <entry>'JPEG'</entry> <entry>TBD. See also &VIDIOC-G-JPEGCOMP;, &VIDIOC-S-JPEGCOMP;.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-MPEG"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_MPEG</constant></entry> <entry>'MPEG'</entry> <entry>MPEG multiplexed stream. The actual format is determined by extended control <constant>V4L2_CID_MPEG_STREAM_TYPE</constant>, see <xref linkend="mpeg-control-id" />.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-H264"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_H264</constant></entry> <entry>'H264'</entry> <entry>H264 video elementary stream with start codes.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-H264-NO-SC"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_H264_NO_SC</constant></entry> <entry>'AVC1'</entry> <entry>H264 video elementary stream without start codes.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-H264-MVC"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_H264_MVC</constant></entry> <entry>'M264'</entry> <entry>H264 MVC video elementary stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-H263"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_H263</constant></entry> <entry>'H263'</entry> <entry>H263 video elementary stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-MPEG1"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_MPEG1</constant></entry> <entry>'MPG1'</entry> <entry>MPEG1 video elementary stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-MPEG2"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_MPEG2</constant></entry> <entry>'MPG2'</entry> <entry>MPEG2 video elementary stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-MPEG4"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_MPEG4</constant></entry> <entry>'MPG4'</entry> <entry>MPEG4 video elementary stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-XVID"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_XVID</constant></entry> <entry>'XVID'</entry> <entry>Xvid video elementary stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-VC1-ANNEX-G"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_VC1_ANNEX_G</constant></entry> <entry>'VC1G'</entry> <entry>VC1, SMPTE 421M Annex G compliant stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-VC1-ANNEX-L"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_VC1_ANNEX_L</constant></entry> <entry>'VC1L'</entry> <entry>VC1, SMPTE 421M Annex L compliant stream.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-VP8"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_VP8</constant></entry> <entry>'VP80'</entry> <entry>VP8 video elementary stream.</entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </section> <section id="sdr-formats"> <title>SDR Formats</title> <para>These formats are used for <link linkend="sdr">SDR Capture</link> interface only.</para> &sub-sdr-cu08; &sub-sdr-cu16le; &sub-sdr-cs08; &sub-sdr-cs14le; &sub-sdr-ru12le; </section> <section id="pixfmt-reserved"> <title>Reserved Format Identifiers</title> <para>These formats are not defined by this specification, they are just listed for reference and to avoid naming conflicts. If you want to register your own format, send an e-mail to the linux-media mailing list &v4l-ml; for inclusion in the <filename>videodev2.h</filename> file. If you want to share your format with other developers add a link to your documentation and send a copy to the linux-media mailing list for inclusion in this section. If you think your format should be listed in a standard format section please make a proposal on the linux-media mailing list.</para> <table pgwide="1" frame="none" id="reserved-formats"> <title>Reserved Image Formats</title> <tgroup cols="3" align="left"> &cs-def; <thead> <row> <entry>Identifier</entry> <entry>Code</entry> <entry>Details</entry> </row> </thead> <tbody valign="top"> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-DV"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_DV</constant></entry> <entry>'dvsd'</entry> <entry>unknown</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-ET61X251"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_ET61X251</constant></entry> <entry>'E625'</entry> <entry>Compressed format of the ET61X251 driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-HI240"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_HI240</constant></entry> <entry>'HI24'</entry> <entry><para>8 bit RGB format used by the BTTV driver.</para></entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-HM12"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_HM12</constant></entry> <entry>'HM12'</entry> <entry><para>YUV 4:2:0 format used by the IVTV driver, <ulink url="http://www.ivtvdriver.org/"> http://www.ivtvdriver.org/</ulink></para><para>The format is documented in the kernel sources in the file <filename>Documentation/video4linux/cx2341x/README.hm12</filename> </para></entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-CPIA1"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_CPIA1</constant></entry> <entry>'CPIA'</entry> <entry>YUV format used by the gspca cpia1 driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-JPGL"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_JPGL</constant></entry> <entry>'JPGL'</entry> <entry>JPEG-Light format (Pegasus Lossless JPEG) used in Divio webcams NW 80x.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SPCA501"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA501</constant></entry> <entry>'S501'</entry> <entry>YUYV per line used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SPCA505"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA505</constant></entry> <entry>'S505'</entry> <entry>YYUV per line used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SPCA508"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA508</constant></entry> <entry>'S508'</entry> <entry>YUVY per line used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SPCA561"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA561</constant></entry> <entry>'S561'</entry> <entry>Compressed GBRG Bayer format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-PAC207"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PAC207</constant></entry> <entry>'P207'</entry> <entry>Compressed BGGR Bayer format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-MR97310A"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_MR97310A</constant></entry> <entry>'M310'</entry> <entry>Compressed BGGR Bayer format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-JL2005BCD"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_JL2005BCD</constant></entry> <entry>'JL20'</entry> <entry>JPEG compressed RGGB Bayer format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-OV511"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_OV511</constant></entry> <entry>'O511'</entry> <entry>OV511 JPEG format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-OV518"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_OV518</constant></entry> <entry>'O518'</entry> <entry>OV518 JPEG format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-PJPG"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PJPG</constant></entry> <entry>'PJPG'</entry> <entry>Pixart 73xx JPEG format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SE401"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SE401</constant></entry> <entry>'S401'</entry> <entry>Compressed RGB format used by the gspca se401 driver</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SQ905C"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SQ905C</constant></entry> <entry>'905C'</entry> <entry>Compressed RGGB bayer format used by the gspca driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-MJPEG"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_MJPEG</constant></entry> <entry>'MJPG'</entry> <entry>Compressed format used by the Zoran driver</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-PWC1"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PWC1</constant></entry> <entry>'PWC1'</entry> <entry>Compressed format of the PWC driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-PWC2"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_PWC2</constant></entry> <entry>'PWC2'</entry> <entry>Compressed format of the PWC driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SN9C10X"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SN9C10X</constant></entry> <entry>'S910'</entry> <entry>Compressed format of the SN9C102 driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SN9C20X-I420"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SN9C20X_I420</constant></entry> <entry>'S920'</entry> <entry>YUV 4:2:0 format of the gspca sn9c20x driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-SN9C2028"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_SN9C2028</constant></entry> <entry>'SONX'</entry> <entry>Compressed GBRG bayer format of the gspca sn9c2028 driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-STV0680"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_STV0680</constant></entry> <entry>'S680'</entry> <entry>Bayer format of the gspca stv0680 driver.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-WNVA"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_WNVA</constant></entry> <entry>'WNVA'</entry> <entry><para>Used by the Winnov Videum driver, <ulink url="http://www.thedirks.org/winnov/"> http://www.thedirks.org/winnov/</ulink></para></entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-TM6000"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_TM6000</constant></entry> <entry>'TM60'</entry> <entry><para>Used by Trident tm6000</para></entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-CIT-YYVYUY"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_CIT_YYVYUY</constant></entry> <entry>'CITV'</entry> <entry><para>Used by xirlink CIT, found at IBM webcams.</para> <para>Uses one line of Y then 1 line of VYUY</para> </entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-KONICA420"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_KONICA420</constant></entry> <entry>'KONI'</entry> <entry><para>Used by Konica webcams.</para> <para>YUV420 planar in blocks of 256 pixels.</para> </entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-YYUV"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_YYUV</constant></entry> <entry>'YYUV'</entry> <entry>unknown</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-Y4"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_Y4</constant></entry> <entry>'Y04 '</entry> <entry>Old 4-bit greyscale format. Only the most significant 4 bits of each byte are used, the other bits are set to 0.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-Y6"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_Y6</constant></entry> <entry>'Y06 '</entry> <entry>Old 6-bit greyscale format. Only the most significant 6 bits of each byte are used, the other bits are set to 0.</entry> </row> <row id="V4L2-PIX-FMT-S5C-UYVY-JPG"> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_S5C_UYVY_JPG</constant></entry> <entry>'S5CI'</entry> <entry>Two-planar format used by Samsung S5C73MX cameras. The first plane contains interleaved JPEG and UYVY image data, followed by meta data in form of an array of offsets to the UYVY data blocks. The actual pointer array follows immediately the interleaved JPEG/UYVY data, the number of entries in this array equals the height of the UYVY image. Each entry is a 4-byte unsigned integer in big endian order and it's an offset to a single pixel line of the UYVY image. The first plane can start either with JPEG or UYVY data chunk. The size of a single UYVY block equals the UYVY image's width multiplied by 2. The size of a JPEG chunk depends on the image and can vary with each line. <para>The second plane, at an offset of 4084 bytes, contains a 4-byte offset to the pointer array in the first plane. This offset is followed by a 4-byte value indicating size of the pointer array. All numbers in the second plane are also in big endian order. Remaining data in the second plane is undefined. The information in the second plane allows to easily find location of the pointer array, which can be different for each frame. The size of the pointer array is constant for given UYVY image height.</para> <para>In order to extract UYVY and JPEG frames an application can initially set a data pointer to the start of first plane and then add an offset from the first entry of the pointers table. Such a pointer indicates start of an UYVY image pixel line. Whole UYVY line can be copied to a separate buffer. These steps should be repeated for each line, i.e. the number of entries in the pointer array. Anything what's in between the UYVY lines is JPEG data and should be concatenated to form the JPEG stream. </para> </entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <table frame="none" pgwide="1" id="format-flags"> <title>Format Flags</title> <tgroup cols="3"> &cs-def; <tbody valign="top"> <row> <entry><constant>V4L2_PIX_FMT_FLAG_PREMUL_ALPHA</constant></entry> <entry>0x00000001</entry> <entry>The color values are premultiplied by the alpha channel value. For example, if a light blue pixel with 50% transparency was described by RGBA values (128, 192, 255, 128), the same pixel described with premultiplied colors would be described by RGBA values (64, 96, 128, 128) </entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </section>