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Collaboration, Voice & AV · Intermediate

Chroma Subsampling

Reducing color resolution relative to brightness to save bandwidth, written as 4:4:4, 4:2:2 or 4:2:0.

Definition

Because human vision is more sensitive to luminance detail than color detail, video systems often store color at lower resolution. 4:4:4 keeps full color; 4:2:2 halves horizontal color resolution; 4:2:0 halves both horizontal and vertical color resolution. Computer text and fine graphics look best at 4:4:4, while streaming typically uses 4:2:0.

Example

A 4K60 signal at 4:2:0 fits through an 18 Gbps HDMI 2.0 link where 4:4:4 at 10-bit would not.

Exam tip

Text with colored edges may look blurry at 4:2:0; choose 4:4:4 for computer content.

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