Convert RGB values to YUV — or YUV back to RGB — using the BT.601 or BT.709 standard, with the exact formula shown for each conversion.
How It Works
YUV separates an image into one luma channel (Y, brightness) and two chroma channels (U and V, color) instead of storing red, green, and blue separately. This converter uses the standard analog YUV formulas, with a toggle between the two color standards that produce different coefficients: BT.601 (the older standard-definition standard) and BT.709 (the HD/web standard).
BT.601 (SD):
Y = 0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B
U = 0.492 × (B − Y)
V = 0.877 × (R − Y)BT.709 (HD):
Y = 0.2126R + 0.7152G + 0.0722B
U = 0.4699 × (B − Y)
V = 0.7811 × (R − Y)The tool runs the same math in reverse for YUV-to-RGB, solving for R, G, and B from Y, U, and V using the inverse of the coefficients above. Because BT.601 and BT.709 weight red, green, and blue differently, the same RGB color produces slightly different Y, U, and V values under each standard — this is why the standard selector matters, not just cosmetic.
RGB vs YUV: What’s the Difference?
RGB and YUV both describe the same colors, but they organize the data differently. RGB stores three equal channels — red, green, and blue — while YUV stores one brightness channel (Y) and two color-difference channels (U, V).
This split exists because human eyes are far more sensitive to changes in brightness than to changes in color. Video and broadcast systems exploit that by keeping the Y channel at full resolution and compressing U and V more aggressively (a technique called chroma subsampling), cutting file size and bandwidth without a visible quality loss. That’s why YUV — and its digital sibling YCbCr — underlies video codecs, broadcast television, and formats like JPEG and MPEG, while RGB remains the standard for screens, image editing, and web design.
When You’d Use This
- Video encoding and codec work — checking or debugging the luma/chroma values a codec (H.264, MPEG, etc.) will actually store, rather than the RGB values a design tool shows
- Broadcast and video graphics — converting brand or design colors to YUV to confirm how they’ll render once passed through broadcast-standard color processing
- Image processing pipelines — verifying YUV/YCbCr intermediate values when building or debugging compression, filtering, or color-space conversion code
FAQ
What is the formula to convert RGB to YUV?
The standard formula is Y = 0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B, U = 0.492 × (B − Y), V = 0.877 × (R − Y) under BT.601 — the coefficients change slightly under BT.709, which this tool also supports.
What’s the difference between RGB and YUV?
RGB stores three equal color channels (red, green, blue), while YUV stores one brightness channel (Y) and two color-difference channels (U, V) — a split that lets video formats compress color detail more than brightness detail without a visible quality loss.
How do I convert YUV back to RGB?
Switch this tool to “YUV → RGB” mode, enter your Y, U, and V values, and it applies the inverse of the standard’s coefficients to solve for R, G, and B — the exact formula used is shown below the converter.