一個完整的彩色影像和一個彩色影像只有Y成份的圖、只有Cb成份的圖、和只有Cr成份的圖。只有Y成份的圖基本上就是彩色影像的灰階版本。that the white snow is represented as a middle value in both Cr and Cb; that the brown barn is represented by weak Cb and strong Cr; that the green grass is represented by weak Cb and weak Cr; and that the blue sky is represented by strong Cb and weak Cr.
Y'CbCr訊號(prior to scaling and offsets to place the signals into digital form)被稱為YPbPr,而且產生時必須合乎gamma-adjusted RGB source有二個不同的常數Kb和Kr如下:
YPbPr (analog version of Y'CbCr) from R'G'B'
Y' = Kr * R' + (1 - Kr - Kb) * G' + Kb * B'
Pb = 0.5 * (B' - Y') / (1 - Kb)
Pr = 0.5 * (R' - Y') / (1 - Kr)
....................................................
R', G', B' in [0; 1]
Y' in [0; 1]
Pb in [-0.5; 0.5]
Pr in [-0.5; 0.5]
where Kb and Kr are ordinarily derived from the definition of the corresponding RGB space. (The equivalent matrix manipulation is often referred to as the "color matrix.")