Chroma 4:4:4 / 4:2:2 – HDfury Vertex glossary
Chroma subsampling describes how much color-resolution data is carried alongside luminance detail. 4:4:4 retains full chroma sampling; 4:2:2 reduces chroma data to save bandwidth.
A video picture has two parts: brightness (how light or dark each dot is) and colour.
Our eyes notice brightness detail much more than colour detail, so video often stores less colour detail to save space. This is chroma subsampling.
4:4:4 keeps all colour detail. 4:2:2 keeps half of it across the picture. 4:2:0 keeps a quarter.
How does the HDfury Vertex handle chroma 4:2:0 / 4:2:2 / 4:4:4?
HOW IT WORKSThe Vertex passes 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 and can convert between them per output. At 4K60 it takes 4:4:4 only at 8-bit; 4:2:2 goes up to 12-bit. 4K120 and 8K30 are possible only as 4:2:0 8-bit.
How to use it with the Vertex:
- See the chroma of each signal on the OLED or GUI, for example '422 BT2020' (p.19, p.27).
- SCALE slide to No Scaling/Passthru to leave the chroma untouched (p.12).
- SCALER > Custom Scaling: pick a 4:4:4, 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 colour space per output (p.30).
- For a 300MHz display, Auto Scaling converts 4K60 to 4:2:0 8-bit (p.14, p.30); Automix 'no YCbCr' forces RGB (p.28).
What it is
Chroma subsampling describes how much color-resolution data is carried alongside luminance detail. 4:4:4 retains full chroma sampling; 4:2:2 reduces chroma data to save bandwidth.
Why it matters
HDMI behaviour is determined by the complete signal chain. Vertex exposes and manages these technical layers so mixed sources, displays, projectors and AV processors can be configured more deliberately instead of relying only on automatic handshakes.
Common questions
Is 4:2:0 bad for movies?
No. UHD Blu-ray and streaming video are stored as 4:2:0, so sending 4:4:4 adds no real detail to films. 4:4:4 matters most for small text, for example from a PC.