Video data generally is composed of one to four components per pixel. Each component is represented using data of the same precision, and is commonly represented using a variety of precisions, such as 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit formats. The pixel rate generally is constant, regardless of the number of components or the precision of the components.
Processing, storage and transmission of video data having different precisions in a computer system may be difficult because a computer system typically has processing elements and data storage and transmission elements that are byte-oriented, i.e., the data paths have precisions that are integer multiples of 8-bits. Processing, storage and transmission of 10-bit and 12-bit video data using byte-oriented computing equipment may result in inefficient use of transmission and processing bandwidth and data storage. Although some computer systems have 16-bit, 32-bit and 64-bit data paths, video processing equipment that has such a precision is typically expensive.