Reading and Frame-wise Saving of YUV Files

Reading YUV files and saving them frame by frame is a common task in video processing, particularly when frame-by-frame analysis or editing is required. YUV is a widely used color encoding format, extensively applied in video compression and transmission. This article explains how to implement this functionality using MATLAB, storing the Y, U, and V components as multidimensional matrices.

YUV files are typically stored in binary format with a structure consisting of consecutive frame data. Each frame contains three components: Y (luminance), U (chrominance), and V (chrominance), which may be arranged in different formats such as 4:2:0 or 4:4:4. Correct file parsing requires clear specification of resolution and frame format.

First, determine the YUV file's resolution and frame format. Assuming a resolution of W×H and a 4:2:0 format (where UV components have half the resolution of Y components in both horizontal and vertical directions), open the file and read each frame's data sequentially. The Y component has dimensions W×H, while U and V components are W/2×H/2 each.

In MATLAB implementation, this can be achieved through byte-by-byte file reading and data reorganization. The total bytes per frame calculate as W×H + 2×(W/2×H/2). The read data should be stored in three separate matrices (Y, U, V), where the third dimension represents the frame index. This results in three N-dimensional matrices (N being the total frame count), facilitating subsequent processing or saving as individual files.

Key implementation steps include using fopen() for file access, fread() for binary data reading, and reshape() for matrix reorganization. The algorithm should incorporate parameter validation for resolution and format specifications. This method suits scenarios requiring frame-wise YUV video processing, such as color correction and motion analysis. By flexibly adjusting resolution or frame format parameters, the solution can adapt to different YUV file types.