YCbCr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Link]
org/wiki/YCbCr
YCbCr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
YCbCr or Y'CbCr is a family of color spaces used in video systems. Y' is
the luma component and Cb and Cr are the blue and red chroma
components. The prime on the Y is to distinguish the luma from
luminance. Y'CbCr is often confused with the YUV color space, and
A color image and the Y, Cb
and Cr elements of it. Note
that the Y image is essentially
a greyscale copy of the main
image; that the white snow is
represented as a middle value
in both Cr and Cb; that the
brown barn is represented by
weak Cb and strong Cr; that
the green grass is represented
by weak Cb and weak Cr; and
that the blue sky is represented
by strong Cb and weak Cr.
typically the terms YCbCr and YUV are used interchangeably, leading to some confusion; when referring to
signals in video or digital form, the term "YUV" probably really means "Y'CbCr" more often than not.
YCbCr is sometimes abbreviated to YCC. When used for analog component video, Y'CbCr is often called
YPbPr, although the term Y'CbCr is commonly used for both systems, with or without the prime.
Y'CbCr is not an absolute color space. It is a way of encoding RGB information, and the actual color
displayed depends on the actual RGB colorants used to display the signal. Therefore a value expressed as
1 of 4 29/6/2007 15:25
YCbCr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Link]
Y'CbCr is only predictable if standard RGB colorants are used, or if an ICC profile is attached or implied
which is used to translate value for the colorants in use.
Y'CbCr signals (prior to scaling and offsets to place the signals into digital form) are called YPbPr, and are
created from the corresponding gamma-adjusted RGB (red, green and blue) source using two defined
constants Kb and Kr as follows:
YPbPr (analog version of Y'CbCr) from R'G'B'
====================================================
Y' = Kr * R' + (1 - Kr - Kb) * G' + Kb * B'
Pb = 0.5 * (B' - Y') / (1 - Kb)
Pr = 0.5 * (R' - Y') / (1 - Kr)
....................................................
R', G', B' in [0; 1]
Y' in [0; 1]
Pb in [-0.5; 0.5]
Pr in [-0.5; 0.5]
where Kb and Kr are ordinarily derived from the definition of the corresponding RGB space. Here, the
prime (') symbols mean gamma correction
is being used; thus R', G' and B' and to nominally range from 0 to 1, with 0 representing the minimum
intensity (e.g., for display of the color black) and 1 the maximum (e.g., for display of the color white). The
resulting luma (Y) value will then have a nominal range from 0 to 1, and the chroma (Cb and Cr) values will
have a nominal range from -0.5 to +0.5. The reverse conversion process can be readily derived by inverting
the above equations.
When representing the signals in digital form, the results are scaled and rounded, and offsets are typically
added. For example, the scaling and offset applied to the Y' component per specification results in the value
of 16 for black and the value of 235 for white when using an 8-bit representation. The standard has 8 bit
digitized versions of Cb and Cr scaled to a different range of 16 to 240. This arbitrary "footprint" forces
rescaling by the fraction (235-16)/(240-16) = 219/224 when doing color matrixing or processing in Y Cb Cr
space. This results in unnecessary quantization distortions which a choice of identical ranges would have
rationalized.
The scaling that results in the use of a smaller range of digital values than what might appear to be desirable
for representation of the nominal range of the input data allows for some "overshoot" and "undershoot"
during processing without necessitating undesirable clipping. The term "head-room" and "toe-room" has
also been proposed to be used for extension of the nominal color gamut.
The form of Y'CbCr that was defined for standard-definition television use in the ITU-R BT.601 (formerly
CCIR 601) standard for use with digital component video is derived from the corresponding RGB space as
follows:
Kb = 0.114
Kr = 0.299
From the above constants and formulas, the following can be derived for ITU-R BT.601: Firstly analog
2 of 4 29/6/2007 15:25
YCbCr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Link]
YPbPr:
YPbPr (ITU-R BT.601)
========================================================
Y' = + 0.299 * R' + 0.587 * G' + 0.114 * B'
Pb = - 0.168736 * R' - 0.331264 * G' + 0.5 * B'
Pr = + 0.5 * R' - 0.418688 * G' - 0.081312 * B'
........................................................
R', G', B' in [0; 1]
Y' in [0; 1]
Pb in [-0.5; 0.5]
Pr in [-0.5; 0.5]
Then this is digitized for Y'CbCr:
Y'CbCr (601) from R'G'B'
========================================================
Y' = 16 + 65.481 * R' + 128.553 * G' + 24.966 * B'
Cb = 128 - 37.797 * R' - 74.203 * G' + 112.0 * B'
Cr = 128 + 112.0 * R' - 93.786 * G' - 18.214 * B'
........................................................
R', G', B' in [0; 1]
Y' in {16, 17, ..., 235}
with footroom in {1, 2, ..., 15}
headroom in {236, 237, ..., 254}
sync. in {0, 255}
Cb, Cr in {16, 17, ..., 240}
If R', G' and B' are given with 8 bit digital precision, then
YCbCr (601) from "digital 8-bit R'G'B' "
========================================================================
Y' = 16 + 1/256 * ( 65.738 * R'd + 129.057 * G'd + 25.064 * B'd)
Cb = 128 + 1/256 * ( - 37.945 * R'd - 74.494 * G'd + 112.439 * B'd)
Cr = 128 + 1/256 * ( 112.439 * R'd - 94.154 * G'd - 18.285 * B'd)
........................................................................
R'd, G'd, B'd in {0, 1, 2, ..., 255}
Y' in {16, 17, ..., 235}
with footroom in {1, 2, ..., 15}
headroom in {236, 237, ..., 254}
sync. in {0, 255}
Cb, Cr in {16, 17, ..., 240}
This form of Y'CbCr is used primarily for older standard-definition television systems, as it uses an RGB
model that fits the phosphor emission characteristics of older CRTs.
A different form of Y'CbCr is specified in the ITU-R BT.709 standard, primarily for HDTV use. The newer
form is also used in some computer-display oriented applications. In this case, the values of Kb and Kr
differ, but the formulas for using them are the same. For ITU-R BT.709, the constants are:
Kb = 0.0722
Kr = 0.2126
This form of Y'CbCr is based on an RGB model that more closely fits the phosphor emission characteristics
of newer CRTs and other modern display equipment.
Note that the definitions of the R', G', and B' color primary signals also differ between BT.601 and BT.709.
So proper conversion of YCbCr from one form to the other is not just a matter of inverting one matrix and
applying the other. In fact, when YCbCr is used correctly, the values of Kb and Kr are derived from the
precise specification of the RGB color primary signals, so that the luma (Y') signal corresponds as closely as
possible to a gamma-adjusted measurement of luminance (typically based on the CIE 1931 measurements of
the response of the human visual system to color stimuli).
3 of 4 29/6/2007 15:25
YCbCr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Link]
Although the above two forms of Y'CbCr are the dominant ones, some other variants exist. For example, the
SMPTE 240M standard specifies YCbCr using Kb = 0.087 and Kr = 0.212.
Since the equations defining YCbCr are formed in a way that rotates the entire nominal RGB color cube and
scales it to fit within a (larger) YCbCr color cube, there are some points within the YCbCr color cube that
cannot be represented in the corresponding RGB domain (at least not within the nominal RGB range). This
causes some difficulty in determining how to correctly interpret and display some YCbCr signals.
JPEG allows Y'CbCr where Y', Cb and Cr have the full 256 values[1]:
JPEG-Y'CbCr (601) from "digital 8-bit R'G'B' "
========================================================================
Y' = + 0.299 * R'd + 0.587 * G'd + 0.114 * B'd
Cb = 128 - 0.168736 * R'd - 0.331264 * G'd + 0.5 * B'd
Cr = 128 + 0.5 * R'd - 0.418688 * G'd - 0.081312 * B'd
........................................................................
R'd, G'd, B'd in {0, 1, 2, ..., 255}
Y', Cb, Cr in {0, 1, 2, ..., 255}
References
1. ^ JPEG File Interchange Format Version 1.02 ([Link]
External links
Charles Poynton - Color FAQ ([Link]
Charles Poynton - Video engineering ([Link]
Retrieved from "[Link]
Category: Color space
This page was last modified 11:44, 28 June 2007.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for
details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a US-registered 501(c)(3)
tax-deductible nonprofit charity.
4 of 4 29/6/2007 15:25
