The converter also works in reverse, so you can convert other "Raw Video Data Stream" formats to YUV without using software like FFmpeg or a similar tool.
The .YUV file format stores raw, uncompressed video and image data using the YUV color space, which separates image brightness (luma) from color (chroma). It is primarily used in digital video processing, broadcast engineering, and by the mjpegtools video utilities as a YUV4MPEG2 stream. You can process these files using FFmpeg, play them with VLC media player, or read about the mathematics behind the format on the YUV Wikipedia page. The main disadvantage of the .YUV format is its completely uncompressed nature, meaning a few seconds of HD video can consume gigabytes of disk space. Furthermore, standard .YUV files often lack headers; they contain zero metadata about resolution, frame rate, or chroma subsampling type. This means conventional media players and web browsers will fail to open them unless you manually input the exact video dimensions. They also do not support audio tracks. To solve these playback and storage limits, convert your files. For web playback and sharing, convert to MP4 (H.264 or HEVC). For lossless video archiving with audio support, convert to MKV. Drag and drop your file to analyze and convert it - free, online, and without installing software.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your YUV file.
If you want to convert YUV file to MP4 or BITMAP, you can use FFmpeg or similar software from the "Raw Uncompressed Video Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to YUV, try FFmpeg or another comparable tool in the "Raw Uncompressed Video Storage" category.
The YUV Converter Story
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our YUV converter.