What is a .YUV file?
YUV files hold raw uncompressed video frames.
- Did you know
- Raw YUV keeps every pixel, making it ideal for testing but huge on disk.
- The YUV colour model comes from analogue PAL television, splitting video into a brightness (luma) channel and two colour-difference (chroma) channels.
- Raw YUV files often use 4:2:0 subsampling, storing colour at half resolution in each direction because the human eye is far less sensitive to colour detail than to brightness.
- What Analyser reads
- Inspect streaming manifests and video containers: HLS/DASH/Smooth Streaming/HDS manifests and playlists; pro/broadcast MXF/GXF/LXF/DV; ASF/.dvr-ms and RealMedia; DivX/F4V/Insta360/GoPro proxies/GIFV; raw elementary streams (IVF, Y4M, MPEG-1/2, H.264/H.265 SPS, AV1 OBU); MPEG program/transport and PVR/DVB recordings; Windows Recorded TV, Ogg Media, NUT; DPX/Cineon/Dahua/.yuv identified.
- Depth of analysis
- .YUV is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .YUV file
- Drag a .YUV file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.