Comparing YuvViewer Alternatives for Raw Video Inspection

YuvViewer Tips: Color Formats, Scaling, and Frame Navigation

Identify the format first: YUV files vary (YUV420p, YUV422, YUV444, NV12, etc.). Choosing the correct format ensures colors render properly.
Use the Format dropdown: Match width, height and chroma subsampling in the Format controls. If colors look washed or skewed, try toggling between 420/422/444 variants.
Adjust pixel stride and plane order: Some files use interleaved or planar layouts; change plane order or stride if you see noise or offset planes.
Correct color range and matrix: Toggle between full (0–255) and limited (16–235) ranges and switch color matrices (BT.601 vs BT.709) to fix brightness and hue shifts.

Nearest vs. linear filtering: Use nearest-neighbor for pixel-accurate inspection (useful for codec artifacts); use bilinear for smoother previews.
Fit vs. 1:1: Use “Fit to window” for overview and “1:1” (100%) for pixel-level analysis.
GPU acceleration: Enable hardware acceleration if available to keep playback smooth at higher resolutions.
Custom resize: When testing scaling artifacts, set explicit output resolutions rather than relying on automatic scaling.

Keyboard shortcuts: Learn Prev/Next frame and Jump-to-frame keys for efficient navigation (often arrow keys and numeric entry).
Frame stepping vs. play: Use single-frame stepping to inspect temporal artifacts; use slow playback (e.g., 1–5 fps) to study motion without losing detail.
Seek accuracy: If the file has no container timestamps, rely on calculated frame index (frame = byte_offset / frame_size). Use the program’s frame number box to jump precisely.
Compare frames: Use side-by-side or overlay (if supported) to compare two frames or different color conversions.

Wrong colors: Verify format, color matrix, and range.
Misaligned planes: Check plane order and strides.
Playback stutter: Lower resolution, enable GPU, or disable smoothing.
Unexpected aspect: Ensure width/height and chroma subsampling match the file.
Cannot open file: Confirm file size equals widthheightbytes_per_frameframe_count (or matches expected for subsampling).

If you have a raw YUV file with known resolution and format, set width/height, choose YUV420p (or correct variant), select BT.709 or BT.601 as appropriate, set range to full/limited based on source, then use 1:1 zoom and step through frames to inspect.