Screen pixel format types

Types of supported pixel formats

Synopsis:

#include <screen/screen.h>

enum {
    SCREEN_FORMAT_BYTE = 1,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA4444 = 2,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX4444 = 3,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA5551 = 4,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX5551 = 5,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGB565 = 6,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGB888 = 7,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA8888 = 8,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX8888 = 9,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_YVU9 = 10,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_YUV420 = 11,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_NV12 = 12,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_YV12 = 13,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_UYVY = 14,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_YUY2 = 15,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_YVYU = 16,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_V422 = 17,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_AYUV = 18,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_NV16 = 19,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_P010 = 20,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRA8888 = 21,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRX8888 = 22,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA1010102 = 23,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX1010102 = 24,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRA1010102 = 25,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRX1010102 = 26,
    SCREEN_FORMAT_NFORMATS
};

Data:

SCREEN_FORMAT_BYTE: This is a multipurpose byte-based array of data.; It does not represent any actual pixel format.
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA4444: 16 bits per pixel (4 bits per channel) RGB with alpha channel
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX4444: 16 bits per pixel (4 bits per channel) RGB with alpha channel disregarded
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA5551: 16 bits per pixel, 2 bytes containing R, G, and B values (5 bits per channel with single-bit alpha channel)
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX5551: 16 bits per pixel, 2 bytes containing R, G, and B values (5 bits per channel with single-bit alpha channel disregarded)
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGB565: 16 bits per pixel; uses five bits for red, six bits for green and five bits for blue.; This pixel format represents each pixel in the following order (high byte to low byte): RRRR RGGG GGGB BBBB
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGB888: 24 bits per pixel (8 bits per channel) RGB
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA8888: 32 bits per pixel (8 bits per channel) RGB with alpha channel
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX8888: 32 bits per pixel (8 bits per channel) RGB with alpha channel disregarded
SCREEN_FORMAT_YVU9: 9 bits per pixel planar YUV format.; 8-bit Y plane and 8-bit 4x4 subsampled U and V planes. Registered by Intel.
SCREEN_FORMAT_YUV420: 12 bits per pixel planar YUV format.; 8-bit Y plane followed by 8-bit 2x2 subsampled U then V planes. Alias names are YU12, I420.
SCREEN_FORMAT_NV12: 12 bits per pixel planar YUV format.; 8-bit Y plane followed by an 8-bit 2x2 subsampled plane of interleaved U and V planes.
SCREEN_FORMAT_YV12: 12 bits per pixel planar YUV format.; 8-bit Y plane followed by 8-bit 2x2 subsampled V then U planes.
SCREEN_FORMAT_UYVY: 16 bits per pixel packed YUV format.; YUV 4:2:2 - Y sampled at every pixel, U and V sampled at every second pixel horizontally on each line. A macropixel contains 2 pixels in 1 uint32.
SCREEN_FORMAT_YUY2: 16 bits per pixel packed YUV format.; YUV 4:2:2 - as in UYVY, but with different component ordering within the uint32 macropixel.
SCREEN_FORMAT_YVYU: 16 bits per pixel packed YUV format.; YUV 4:2:2 - as in UYVY, but with different component ordering within the uint32 macropixel.
SCREEN_FORMAT_V422: Packed YUV format.; Inverted version of UYVY.
SCREEN_FORMAT_AYUV: Packed YUV format.; Combined YUV and alpha
SCREEN_FORMAT_NV16: 8-bit Y plane; 2x1-subsampled, interleaved U and V planes (Like NV12 but with chroma for each row); this format is associated with the preprocessor definition SCREEN_FORMAT_NV16.
SCREEN_FORMAT_P010: 24 bits per macro pixel planar YUV 4:2:0 format.; 16-bit Y plane with effective 10 most significant bits and 2x2 subsampled. Interleaved 16-bit with effective 10 most significant bits U and V planes. It's fully identical to NV12, but every component occupies 16 bits instead of 8 bits.
SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRA8888: 32 bits per pixel (8 bits per channel) BGR with alpha channel.
SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRX8888: 32 bits per pixel (8 bits per channel) BGR with alpha channel disregarded.
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBA1010102: A four-component, 32-bit unsigned integer format that supports 10 bits for each color and 2 bits for alpha.; The alpha channel is located at bits position 30-31, the red channel is defined in the most significant bits (bits position 20-29).
SCREEN_FORMAT_RGBX1010102: A four-component, 32-bit unsigned integer format that supports 10 bits for each color and 2 unused MSB bits.; The red channel is defined in the most significant bits (bits position 20-29).
SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRA1010102: A four-component, 32-bit unsigned integer format that supports 10 bits for each color and 2 bits for alpha.; The alpha channel is located at bits position 30-31, the red channel is defined in the least significant bits (bits position 0-9).
SCREEN_FORMAT_BGRX1010102: A four-component, 32-bit unsigned integer format that supports 10 bits for each color and 2 unused MSB bits.; The red channel is defined in the least significant bits (bits position 0-9).
SCREEN_FORMAT_NFORMATS: Number of pixel formats plus 1 (0 is not a valid format).

Library:

libscreen

Description:

Formats with an alpha channel will have source alpha enabled automatically. Applications that want the Screen API to disregard the alpha channel can choose a pixel format with an X.

Page updated: August 11, 2025