Four Character Codes (FOURCC)

DirectDraw utilizes a special set of codes that are four characters in length. These codes, called four character codes or FOURCCs, are stored in file headers of files containing multimedia data such as bitmap images, sound, or video. FOURCCs describe the software technology that was used to produce multimedia data. By implication, they also describe the format of the data itself.

DirectDraw applications use FOURCCs for image color and format conversion. If an application calls the IDirectDrawSurface3::GetPixelFormat method to request the pixel format of a surface whose format is not RGB, the dwFourCC member of the DDPIXELFORMAT structure identifies the FOURCC when the method returns. For more information, see Converting Color and Format.

In addition, the biCompression member of the BITMAPINFOHEADER structure can be set to a FOURCC to indicate the codec used to compress or decompress an image.

FOURCCs are registered with Microsoft by the vendors of the respective multimedia software technologies. Some common FOURCCs appear in the following list.

FOURCC Company Technology Name
AUR2 AuraVision Corporation AuraVision Aura 2: YUV 422
AURA AuraVision Corporation AuraVision Aura 1: YUV 411
CHAM Winnov, Inc. MM_WINNOV_CAVIARA_CHAMPAGNE
CVID Supermac Cinepak by Supermac
CYUV Creative Labs, Inc Creative Labs YUV
FVF1 Iterated Systems, Inc. Fractal Video Frame
IF09 Intel Corporation Intel Intermediate YUV9
IV31 Intel Corporation Indeo 3.1
JPEG Microsoft Corporation Still Image JPEG DIB
MJPG Microsoft Corporation Motion JPEG Dib Format
MRLE Microsoft Corporation Run Length Encoding
MSVC Microsoft Corporation Video 1
PHMO IBM Corporation Photomotion
RT21 Intel Corporation Indeo 2.1
ULTI IBM Corporation Ultimotion
V422 Vitec Multimedia 24 bit YUV 4:2:2
V655 Vitec Multimedia 16 bit YUV 4:2:2
VDCT Vitec Multimedia Video Maker Pro DIB
VIDS Vitec Multimedia YUV 4:2:2 CCIR 601 for V422
YU92 Intel Corporation YUV
YUV8 Winnov, Inc. MM_WINNOV_CAVIAR_YUV8
YUV9 Intel Corporation YUV9
YUYV Canopus, Co., Ltd. BI_YUYV, Canopus
ZPEG Metheus Video Zipper