Ubuntu Manpage: y4mtopnm - Convert a YUV4MPEG2 stream to PNM images

Provided by: mjpegtools_2.1.0+debian-4_amd64

NAME

       y4mtopnm - Convert a YUV4MPEG2 stream to PNM images

SYNOPSIS

       y4mtopnm [options]

DESCRIPTION

y4mtopnm converts a YUV4MPEG2 stream into a sequence of raw PPM, PGM, or PAM images.
(Technically, "pnm" comprises the PPM, PGM and PBM formats. PAM is a fourth format, which
can effectively contain any of the other three, and more.)

Output is to stdout (but feel free to have the shell redirect to a file).

Input is read from stdin, like all other YUV4MPEG2 filters and tools. YUV4MPEG2 streams
contain frames using the Y'CbCr colorspace (ITU-R BT.601). For 4:4:4 (color) streams,
y4mtopnm will convert each pixel to the usual R'G'B' colorspace used for computer
graphics, and produce PPM images. "MONO" (luma-only) streams will be converted to full-
range [0,255] grayscale and output as PGM images.

YUV4MPEG2 streams may (often!) have subsampled chroma planes, but y4mtopnm will not
process them (except in the special 'flatten' mode; see below). Subsampled streams will
need to be converted to 4:4:4 using a tool such as y4mscaler.

If y4mtopnm is given a "444ALPHA" stream (4:4:4 video with an 8-bit alpha channel), the
results depend on whether or not the "-P" option is specified. With "-P", it will produce
PAM images with a TUPLTYPE of RGB_ALPHA, containing both color and alpha channel data.
Without "-P", it will produce pairs of PPM and PGM images: a PPM for the color pixels
followed by a PGM for the alpha channel data. (Such a sequence of interspersed PPM and
PGM images cannot be later re-processed by pnmtoy4m. This feature is mostly for quick and
easy stream debugging.)

If multiple output images are generated, they are simply output one after another. If you
want to turn such a "multi-image" stream/file into individual files, use pnmsplit. (Some
PNM filters can process multi-image files/streams; however, many written before June 2000
will only process the first image.)

y4mtopnm and pnmtoy4m are inverses of each other; you can typically pipe the output of one
into the other, and vice-versa (except for the "444ALPHA" case noted above and the "mixed-
mode" case noted below). Note that the colorspace operations can be lossy in both
directions (due to range-compression and/or quantization). And, when converting to PNM,
information on interlacing and sample aspect ratio of a stream is lost (but can be
reconstructed by supplying command-line arguments to pnmtoy4m).

OPTIONS

       y4mtopnm accepts the following options:

       -P   Produce  PAM  format output, instead of PPM and/or PGM.  PAM can encode a superset of
            PNM, but is not yet understood by as many graphics programs.   (Indeed,  surprisingly
            few of the NetPBM tools seem to understand it.)

       -D   Produce  a  separate output image for each field of each frame.  (Otherwise, a single
            image per frame, containing two interleaved fields, is created.)

            If the input stream is interlaced, the field-images are  output  in  temporal  order,
            i.e. the first image of a bottom-field-first stream will be the bottom-field.  If the
            stream is progressive or has "mixed-mode" interlacing, then  the  temporal  order  is
            ambiguous, and the top-field will always be output first.

            Note that it will not be possible to later use pnmtoy4m to reconstruct a "mixed-mode"
            stream from a sequence of PNM/PAM images.

       -f   Produce a special  'flattened'  output,  most  useful  for  analyzing  and  debugging
            streams.  All the planes of a frame/field are tiled together into an enlarged PGM (or
            grayscale PAM) output image as follows:
                           +-----+                    +-----+
                   4:4:4   |  Y  |    4:4:4 w/alpha   |  Y  |
                           +-----+                    +-----+
                           |  Cb |                    |  Cb |
                           +-----+                    +-----+
                           |  Cr |                    |  Cr |
                           +-----+                    +-----+
                                                      |  A  |
                           +-----+                    +-----+
                   4:2:2,  |  Y  |
                   4:2:0   +--+--+                    +-----+--+--+
                           |Cb|Cr|            4:1:1   |  Y  |Cb|Cr|
                           +--+--+                    +-----+--+--+
                                        +-----+
                                 MONO   |  Y  |
                                        +-----+
            In this mode,  any  YUV4MPEG2  chroma  format  is  accepted,  but  no  upsampling  or
            colorspace    conversion    is    performed.     This    is    essentially   just   a
            reformatting/permutation of the original data from the input stream into a PGM  image
            container.   All  the  other  command-line  flags continue to have the same effect on
            output.

       -v [0,1,2]
            Set verbosity level.
             0 = warnings and errors only.
             1 = add informative messages, too.
             2 = add chatty debugging message, too.

EXAMPLES

       To turn the first 15 frames of an (MJPEG or DV) AVI file into individual PPM files:

            lav2yuv -f 15 your-video.avi | y4mscaler -O chromass=444  |  y4mtopnm  |  pnmsplit  -
            "your-video-%d.ppm"

AUTHOR