Pixel and Pixel Format Specifications

Table of Contents

• Pixel
• Pixel Format
  • Key Elements of a Pixel Format
  • Monochrome Formats
  • RAW Bayer Formats
  • Color Formats
  • Confidence Formats
  • Coord3D Formats
  • YUV Formats

Pixel

A pixel (short for picture element) is the smallest addressable spatial unit in a digital image. Each pixel corresponds to a specific point in the image grid and contains one or more channels, depending on the image type and format. These channels store data such as color components (e.g., red, green, and blue), intensity, depth, confidence, or alpha transparency. The combination of these channel values defines the full content of a pixel. How these values are encoded is determined by the pixel format.

Pixel Format

A pixel format defines how the data within each pixel is structured, stored, and interpreted. It specifies:

• What kind of information each pixel contains (e.g., color, intensity, depth, confidence)
• How many bits are used to represent that information (bit depth)
• How the data is laid out in memory (e.g., packed or unpacked)
• The order and meaning of channels (e.g., RGB, BGR, Mono, BayerRG)

The pixel format ensures that software and hardware components interpret image data consistently and correctly. It is essential for image acquisition, processing, compression, and display pipelines.

Key Elements of a Pixel Format

Pixel Data Type
Specifies the type of data each pixel contains. This can include color images (e.g., RGB), intensity (Mono), raw data (Bayer), spatial coordinates (Coord3D), confidence values (Confidence), or other information types.

Bit Depth and Data Type
Indicates the number of bits used per channel (e.g., 8, 10, 32). Higher bit depths provide greater precision or dynamic range. Additionally, the suffix f indicates a floating-point data type rather than an integer.

Packing Method
Describes how pixel data is stored in memory:

• Unpacked: Each channel or value is aligned to a full byte or word.
• Packed: Data is compressed into fewer bits, reducing memory or bandwidth usage, indicated by suffix p
• Grouped: Bits from multiple pixels are combined in a custom arrangement (e.g., g12 for 12-bit grouping).

Channel Order
Defines the sequence of channel values within a pixel (e.g., RGB vs. BGR).

Pixel Order
Specifies the arrangement of color filters in a Bayer pattern (e.g, BayerRG).

Monochrome Formats

Monochrome pixel formats begin with the prefix Mono, followed by the bit depth (e.g., 8, 10, 12), and optionally include an indicator: p for packed or g for grouped formats.

Pixel format	Bit depth	Data size per pixel
Mono8	8	1 byte = 8 bit
Mono10	10	2 byte = 16 bit
Mono12	12	2 byte = 16 bit
Mono16	16	2 byte = 16 bit
Mono10p	10	1.25 byte = 10 bit
Mono12p	12	1.5 byte = 12 bit
Mono10g40*	10	1.25 byte = 10 bit
Mono12g24*	12	1.5 byte = 12 bit

RAW Bayer Formats

RAW Bayer pixel format names begin with the Bayer color filter pattern (e.g., BayerRG), followed by the bit depth (8, 10, 12), and optionally include an indicator: p for packed or g for grouped formats.

Pixel format	Bit depth	Pixel Color Filter	Data size per pixel
BayerRG8	8	BayerRG	1 byte = 8 bit
BayerRG10	10	BayerRG	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerRG12	12	BayerRG	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerRG10p	10	BayerRG	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerRG12p	12	BayerRG	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerRG10g40*	10	BayerRG	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerRG12g24*	12	BayerRG	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerGR8	8	BayerGR	1 byte = 8 bit
BayerGR10	10	BayerGR	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerGR12	12	BayerGR	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerGR10p	10	BayerGR	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerGR12p	12	BayerGR	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerGR10g40*	10	BayerGR	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerGR12g24*	12	BayerGR	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerGB8	8	BayerGB	1 byte = 8 bit
BayerGB10	10	BayerGB	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerGB12	12	BayerGB	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerGB10p	10	BayerGB	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerGB12p	12	BayerGB	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerGB10g40*	10	BayerGB	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerGB12g24*	12	BayerGB	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerBG8	8	BayerBG	1 byte = 8 bit
BayerBG10	10	BayerBG	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerBG12	12	BayerBG	2 byte = 16 bit
BayerBG10p	10	BayerBG	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerBG12p	12	BayerBG	1.5 byte = 12 bit
BayerBG10g40*	10	BayerBG	1.25 byte = 10 bit
BayerBG12g24*	12	BayerBG	1.5 byte = 12 bit

Color Formats

Color pixel format names start with either RGB or BGR, indicating the order of the color channels. This is optionally followed by an a to denote the presence of an alpha channel (opacity). After that comes the bit depth (8, 10, 12), optionally followed by the indicator p for packed formats.

Pixel format	Bit depth	Channels	Data size per pixel
RGB8	8	Red, Green, Blue	3 byte = 24 bit
RGB10	10	Red, Green, Blue	6 byte = 48 bit
RGB12	12	Red, Green, Blue	6 byte = 48 bit
RGB10p32	12	Red, Green, Blue	4 byte = 32 bit
BGR8	8	Blue, Green, Red	3 byte = 24 bit
BGR10	10	Blue, Green, Red	6 byte = 48 bit
BGR12	12	Blue, Green, Red	6 byte = 48 bit
BGR10p32	12	Blue, Green, Red	4 byte = 32 bit
RGBa8	8	Red, Green, Blue, Alpha	4 byte = 32 bit
RGBa10	10	Red, Green, Blue, Alpha	8 byte = 64 bit
RGBa12	12	Red, Green, Blue, Alpha	8 byte = 64 bit
BGRa8	8	Blue, Green, Red, Alpha	4 byte = 32 bit
BGRa10	10	Blue, Green, Red, Alpha	8 byte = 64 bit
BGRa12	12	Blue, Green, Red, Alpha	8 byte = 64 bit

Confidence Formats

Confidence pixel formats begin with the prefix Confidence, followed by the bit depth (8, 16).

Pixel format	Bit depth	Data size per pixel
Confidence8	8	1 byte = 8 bit
Confidence16	16	2 byte = 16 bit

Coord3D Formats

These pixel formats represent 3D data. Their names start with Coord3D_, followed by the coordinate components included (ABC, C), and the bit depth (8, 16, 32f). The suffix f indicates a floating-point data type.

Pixel format	Bit depth	Data type	Coordinates	Data size per pixel
Coord3D_C8	8	8 bit int	C	1 byte = 8 bit
Coord3D_C16	16	16 bit int	C	2 byte = 16 bit
Coord3D_C32f	32	32 bit float	C	4 byte = 32 bit
Coord3D_ABC32f	32	32 bit float	ABC	12 byte = 96 bit

YUV Formats

YUV pixel formats start with the prefix YUV, followed by the pixel encoding (420, 422), the bit depth (8), and the data layout type (YY_UV*, YY_VU*, UYVY).

Pixel format	Bit depth	Data size per pixel
YUV420_8_YY_UV_Semiplanar*	8	1.5 byte = 12 bit
YUV420_8_YY_VU_Semiplanar*	8	1.5 byte = 12 bit
YUV422_8_UYVY	8	2 byte = 16 bit