COLOR FORMAT(9)

✨ Color format ✨

okay so bestie, this is the Color format(9) page from the Kernel API Manual, and it’s literally about the connector "color format" property. That property lets userspace request a specific color model on the output of the connector. 💅

lowkey important: not all values listed by the property are guaranteed to work for every sink. It’s an optimistic listing of color formats that the source could output depending on circumstances. no cap. 🫶

Whether it actually can output a certain color format is determined during the atomic check phase. So a userspace application that sets the color format to a value other than "AUTO" should check whether its atomic commit succeeded. fr fr. 😭

🎀 Possible values for "color format" 🎀

• "AUTO" — the driver or display protocol helpers should pick a suitable color format. All implementations of a specific display protocol will behave the same way with "AUTO", but different display protocols do not necessarily have the same "AUTO" semantics. For HDMI connectors, "AUTO" picks RGB, but falls back to YUV 4:2:0 if the bandwidth required for full-scale RGB is not available, or the mode is YUV 4:2:0-only, as long as the mode, source, and sink all support YUV 4:2:0.
• "RGB" — RGB output format. The quantization range (limited/full) depends on the value of the "Broadcast RGB" property if it is present on the connector.
• "YUV 4:4:4" — YUV 4:4:4 (a.k.a. YCbCr 4:4:4) output format. Chroma is not subsampled. The quantization range defaults to limited.
• "YUV 4:2:2" — YUV 4:2:2 (a.k.a. YCbCr 4:2:2) output format. Chroma has half the horizontal resolution of Luma. The quantization range defaults to limited.
• "YUV 4:2:0" — YUV 4:2:0 (a.k.a. YCbCr 4:2:0) output format. Chroma has half the horizontal and vertical resolution of Luma. The quantization range defaults to limited.

A sink may only support some color formats in specific modes and at specific bit depths. The atomic modesetting API should be used to set a working configuration in one go, as an unsupported combination of parameters is rejected. periodt. 💖

🔮 SEE ALSO 🔮

• Kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c overview(9)
• drm_get_connector_type_name(9)
• drm_connector_get_cmdline_mode(9)
• drm_connector_init(9)
• drm_connector_dynamic_init(9)
• drm_connector_init_with_ddc(9)
• drmm_connector_init(9)
• drmm_connector_hdmi_init(9)
• drm_connector_attach_edid_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_encoder(9)
• drm_connector_has_possible_encoder(9)
• drm_connector_cec_phys_addr_invalidate(9)
• drm_connector_cec_phys_addr_set(9)
• drm_connector_cleanup(9)
• drm_connector_register(9)
• drm_connector_dynamic_register(9)
• drm_connector_unregister(9)
• drm_get_connector_status_name(9)
• drm_get_connector_force_name(9)
• drm_connector_list_iter_begin(9)
• drm_connector_list_iter_next(9)
• drm_connector_list_iter_end(9)
• drm_get_subpixel_order_name(9)
• drm_display_info_set_bus_formats(9)
• drm_get_tv_mode_from_name(9)
• drm_get_colorspace_name(9)
• standard connector properties(9)
• drm_mode_create_dvi_i_properties(9)
• drm_connector_attach_dp_subconnector_property(9)
• HDMI connector properties(9)
• Analog TV Connector Properties(9)
• drm_connector_attach_content_type_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_tv_margin_properties(9)
• drm_mode_create_tv_margin_properties(9)
• drm_mode_create_tv_properties_legacy(9)
• drm_mode_create_tv_properties(9)
• drm_mode_create_scaling_mode_property(9)
• Variable refresh properties(9)
• drm_connector_attach_vrr_capable_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_scaling_mode_property(9)
• drm_mode_create_aspect_ratio_property(9)
• standard connector properties(9)
• drm_mode_create_hdmi_colorspace_property(9)
• drm_mode_create_dp_colorspace_property(9)
• drm_mode_create_content_type_property(9)
• drm_mode_create_suggested_offset_properties(9)
• drm_connector_set_path_property(9)
• drm_connector_set_tile_property(9)
• drm_connector_set_link_status_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_max_bpc_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_hdr_output_metadata_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_broadcast_rgb_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_colorspace_property(9)
• drm_connector_attach_color_format_property(9)
• drm_connector_atomic_hdr_metadata_equal(9)
• drm_connector_set_vrr_capable_property(9)
• drm_connector_set_panel_orientation(9)
• drm_connector_set_panel_orientation_with_quirk(9)
• drm_connector_set_orientation_from_panel(9)
• drm_connector_create_privacy_screen_properties(9)
• drm_connector_attach_privacy_screen_properties(9)
• drm_connector_attach_privacy_screen_provider(9)
• drm_connector_update_privacy_screen(9)
• drm_connector_find_by_fwnode(9)
• drm_connector_oob_hotplug_event(9)
• drm_connector_get_color_format(9)
• Tile group(9)
• drm_mode_put_tile_group(9)
• drm_mode_get_tile_group(9)
• drm_mode_create_tile_group(9)
• drm_connector_attach_panel_type_property(9)

okay that’s the whole page, bestie. cute little sign-off: shoutout to the source/version at ./drivers/gpu/drm, and the date on this one is October 2026. mwah 💋🎀