Four-Character Codes (FOURCC)
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4/8/2010
Microsoft® multimedia technologies use a special set of codes that are four characters in length. These codes, called four-character codes or FOURCCs, are stored in file headers of files that contain multimedia data, such as bitmap images, sound, or video. FOURCCs describe the software technology that was used to produce multimedia data. By implication, they also describe the format of the data itself.
DirectDraw and Direct3D Mobile applications use FOURCCs for image color and format conversion.
FOURCCs are registered with Microsoft by the vendors of the respective multimedia software technologies. Some common FOURCCs appear in the following table.
| FOURCC | Company | Technology |
|---|---|---|
AUR2 |
AuraVision Corporation |
AuraVision Aura 2: YUV 422 |
AURA |
AuraVision Corporation |
AuraVision Aura 1: YUV 411 |
CHAM |
Winnov, Inc. |
MM_WINNOV_CAVIARA_CHAMPAGNE |
CYUV |
Creative Labs, Inc. |
Creative Labs YUV |
DXT1 |
Microsoft Corporation |
DirectX Texture Compression Format 1 |
DXT2 |
Microsoft Corporation |
DirectX Texture Compression Format 2 |
DXT3 |
Microsoft Corporation |
DirectX Texture Compression Format 3 |
DXT4 |
Microsoft Corporation |
DirectX Texture Compression Format 4 |
DXT5 |
Microsoft Corporation |
DirectX Texture Compression Format 5 |
FVF1 |
Iterated Systems, Inc. |
Fractal Video Frame |
IF09 |
Intel Corporation |
Intel Intermediate YUV9 |
IV31 |
Intel Corporation |
Indeo 3.1 |
JPEG |
Microsoft Corporation |
Still Image JPEG DIB |
MJPG |
Microsoft Corporation |
Motion JPEG DIB Format |
MRLE |
Microsoft Corporation |
Run Length Encoding |
MSVC |
Microsoft Corporation |
Video 1 |
PHMO |
IBM Corporation |
Photomotion |
RT21 |
Intel Corporation |
Indeo 2.1 |
ULTI |
IBM Corporation |
Ultimotion |
V422 |
Vitec Multimedia |
24-bit YUV 4:2:2 |
V655 |
Vitec Multimedia |
16-bit YUV 4:2:2 |
VDCT |
Vitec Multimedia |
Video Maker Pro DIB |
VIDS |
Vitec Multimedia |
YUV 4:2:2 CCIR 601 for V422 |
YU92 |
Intel Corporation |
YUV |
YUV8 |
Winnov, Inc. |
MM_WINNOV_CAVIAR_YUV8 |
YUV9 |
Intel Corporation |
YUV9 |
YUYV |
Canopus, Co., Ltd. |
BI_YUYV, Canopus |
ZPEG |
Metheus |
Video Zipper |