FOURCC.org - Video Codecs and Pixel Formats

FOURCCs supported by various graphics controllers

This table attempts to list the FOURCCs that are supported by various graphics controllers and some of the retail adapters that use those controllers. The list is, of course, incomplete, since I have access to only a limited set of hardware in our test lab. If you have a controller that is not listed, I'd be very pleased to add information for it if you send me a note.

This list was compiled by installing the various adapters in Window 95 system along with the drivers that were supplied with them (or the Microsoft driver, whichever was newer) then running DXVIEW (part of the DirectX SDK) to find out whether the controller supports overlay surfaces and, if so, which FOURCCs it offers. It is possible that a given controller supports more formats in hardware and that these are just not enabled in software or that formats offered by the driver involve some software conversion. Where possible, I have indicated these cases.

Note that Windows NT drivers for a given controller often support a smaller subset of FOURCCs than on Windows 95/98.

Graphics Controller FOURCCs Supported Example adapters using this controller and notes
3Dfx Voodoo 3 YUY2, UYVY, YV12, I420  
3D Labs Permedia II YUY2, Y411 Diamond  Multimedia GL1000 Pro
ATI 3D Rage II YUY2, YV12, UYVY ATI 3D Pro Turbo PC2TV
ATI Rage Pro YUY2, YV12, IF09, YVU9, UYVY, VBID
(AGP version of controller includes MC12, motion compensation surfaces. As yet, I have no information on this format)
(Data for Win98 driver)
Brooktree 2115 UYVY, YUY2, Y41P, Y42T, Y41T, RGBT, RGB16 (555), RGB16 (565), RGB32.
With driver conversion - IF09, YVU9, YV12, Y211, YVYU.
STB VideoRage (installed in original Gateway 2000 Destination living room PC systems).
Brooktree 2164 UYVY, YUY2, Y41P, RGB16 (555), RGB16 (565), Y41T, Y42T, RGBT.
With driver conversion - IF09, YVU9, YVYU, YV12, Y211, RGB32.
All converted formats apart from IF09 are disabled by default. IF09 conversion is significantly faster and better quality than having Indeo decompress to RGB.
STB VideoRage II (installed in later Gateway 2000 Destination living room PC systems).
Chips & Technology 65550 YUY2  
Cirrus Logic 5434 No overlay supported Diamond Speedstar series (Diamond GT)
Cyrix MediaGX UYVY  
Intel i740 AGP YUY2  
Matrox G400 IF09, YUY2, MTX1, MTX4, UYVY, MTX5, MTX3, YV12
(YUY2,UYVY are also supported as Direct3D textures)
Matrox Millenium G400
Matrox MGA Power Graphics IF09, YUY2
(These formats are offered via normal offscreen surfaces and colour space conversion BitBlt functions. No overlay is supported)
Matrox Millennium
Matrox MGA Power Graphics 64 bit IF09, YUY2
(These formats are offered via normal offscreen surfaces and colour space conversion BitBlt functions. No overlay is supported)
Matrox Mystique
NeoMagic MagicGraph 128ZV IF09, YUY2 Dell Latitude LM133 laptop
NVidia GeForce2 UYVY, UYNV, YUNV, YUY2, YV12, YVU9, IF09, IV32, IV31  
NVidia TNT UYVY, UYNV, YUY2, YV12, YVU9, IF09, IV32, IV31, RAW8 Yes, it really does support Indeo compressed format surfaces (according to the NVidia engineer who sent the information)
Rendition V2x00 UYVY, HMCR Hercules Thriller 3D / Thriller Conspiracy
Diamond Stealth II
Jazz
Outlaw 3D / Bonnie & Clyde
Genoa V-Raptor 3D
S3 Vision 968 YUY2 Number 9 Fx Motion 771
S3 Trio 64V+ YUY2, Y211 Diamond Stealth 64 Video 2001
Number 9 Motion 331
S3 Virge YUY2, Y211 STB powerGraph 64
Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 (Turbo)
S3 Virge/VX YUY2, Y211 Diamond Stealth 3D 3000 (Turbo)
S3 ProSavage KM133 RGB15, RGB16, YUY2, YV12/I420, Y211  
Trident TGUI 968x YUY2, IF09  
Trident 3D-975 YUY2, YV12, YVU9, IF09 (2 simultaneous overlays supported)
Trident 3D-985AGP YUY2, YV12, YVU9, IF09 (2 simultaneous overlays supported)