Behind the Lens

1.10Digital Cameras and Color: The 411 on 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:2:0

Many people get confused when it comes to discussing how digital cameras capture and record color information—as the two are mutually exclusive. Color information can be captured via three discreet sensors in the camera (one sensitive to red, one blue, and one green light) or it can be captured via a single sensor with a color filter array. This color information is then processed and, quite often, compressed or altered before recording.

Before we go further, let’s recap a little bit about data rates. In a theoretical “perfect” HD signal, we have 1,920 × 1,080 pixels in the final image and in a 10-bit system that gives us 20,723,000 bits of information. We multiply that by three ...