## 15. Image Operations

### 15.1. Image Operations Overview

Vulkan Image Operations are operations performed by those SPIR-V Image Instructions which take an OpTypeImage (representing a VkImageView) or OpTypeSampledImage (representing a (VkImageView, VkSampler) pair) and texel coordinates as operands, and return a value based on one or more neighboring texture elements (texels) in the image. The “Depth” operand of OpTypeImage is ignored.

 Note Texel is a term which is a combination of the words texture and element. Early interactive computer graphics supported texture operations on textures, a small subset of the image operations on images described here. The discrete samples remain essentially equivalent, however, so we retain the historical term texel to refer to them.

Image Operations include the functionality of the following SPIR-V Image Instructions:

• OpImageSample* and OpImageSparseSample* read one or more neighboring texels of the image, and filter the texel values based on the state of the sampler.

• Instructions with ImplicitLod in the name determine the LOD used in the sampling operation based on the coordinates used in neighboring fragments.

• Instructions with ExplicitLod in the name determine the LOD used in the sampling operation based on additional coordinates.

• Instructions with Proj in the name apply homogeneous projection to the coordinates.

• OpImageFetch and OpImageSparseFetch return a single texel of the image. No sampler is used.

• OpImage*Gather and OpImageSparse*Gather read neighboring texels and return a single component of each.

• OpImageRead (and OpImageSparseRead) and OpImageWrite read and write, respectively, a texel in the image. No sampler is used.

• Instructions with Dref in the name apply depth comparison on the texel values.

• Instructions with Sparse in the name additionally return a sparse residency code.

#### 15.1.1. Texel Coordinate Systems

Images are addressed by texel coordinates. There are three texel coordinate systems:

• normalized texel coordinates [0.0, 1.0]

• unnormalized texel coordinates [0.0, width / height / depth)

• integer texel coordinates [0, width / height / depth)

SPIR-V OpImageFetch, OpImageSparseFetch, OpImageRead, OpImageSparseRead, and OpImageWrite instructions use integer texel coordinates. Other image instructions can use either normalized or unnormalized texel coordinates (selected by the unnormalizedCoordinates state of the sampler used in the instruction), but there are limitations on what operations, image state, and sampler state is supported. Normalized coordinates are logically converted to unnormalized as part of image operations, and certain steps are only performed on normalized coordinates. The array layer coordinate is always treated as unnormalized even when other coordinates are normalized.

Normalized texel coordinates are referred to as (s,t,r,q,a), with the coordinates having the following meanings:

• s: Coordinate in the first dimension of an image.

• t: Coordinate in the second dimension of an image.

• r: Coordinate in the third dimension of an image.

• (s,t,r) are interpreted as a direction vector for Cube images.

• q: Fourth coordinate, for homogeneous (projective) coordinates.

• a: Coordinate for array layer.

The coordinates are extracted from the SPIR-V operand based on the dimensionality of the image variable and type of instruction. For Proj instructions, the components are in order (s [,t] [,r] q), with t and r being conditionally present based on the Dim of the image. For non-Proj instructions, the coordinates are (s [,t] [,r] [,a]), with t and r being conditionally present based on the Dim of the image and a being conditionally present based on the Arrayed property of the image. Projective image instructions are not supported on Arrayed images.

Unnormalized texel coordinates are referred to as (u,v,w,a), with the coordinates having the following meanings:

• u: Coordinate in the first dimension of an image.

• v: Coordinate in the second dimension of an image.

• w: Coordinate in the third dimension of an image.

• a: Coordinate for array layer.

Only the u and v coordinates are directly extracted from the SPIR-V operand, because only 1D and 2D (non-Arrayed) dimensionalities support unnormalized coordinates. The components are in order (u [,v]), with v being conditionally present when the dimensionality is 2D. When normalized coordinates are converted to unnormalized coordinates, all four coordinates are used.

Integer texel coordinates are referred to as (i,j,k,l,n), with the coordinates having the following meanings:

• i: Coordinate in the first dimension of an image.

• j: Coordinate in the second dimension of an image.

• k: Coordinate in the third dimension of an image.

• l: Coordinate for array layer.

• n: Index of the sample within the texel.

They are extracted from the SPIR-V operand in order (i, [,j], [,k], [,l]), with j and k conditionally present based on the Dim of the image, and l conditionally present based on the Arrayed property of the image. n is conditionally present and is taken from the Sample image operand.

For all coordinate types, unused coordinates are assigned a value of zero.

Figure 3. Texel Coordinate Systems, Linear Filtering

The Texel Coordinate Systems - For the example shown of an 8×4 texel two dimensional image.

• Normalized texel coordinates:

• The s coordinate goes from 0.0 to 1.0.

• The t coordinate goes from 0.0 to 1.0.

• Unnormalized texel coordinates:

• The u coordinate within the range 0.0 to 8.0 is within the image, otherwise it is outside the image.

• The v coordinate within the range 0.0 to 4.0 is within the image, otherwise it is outside the image.

• Integer texel coordinates:

• The i coordinate within the range 0 to 7 addresses texels within the image, otherwise it is outside the image.

• The j coordinate within the range 0 to 3 addresses texels within the image, otherwise it outside the image.

• Also shown for linear filtering:

• Given the unnormalized coordinates (u,v), the four texels selected are i0j0, i1j0, i0j1, and i1j1.

• The fractions α and β.

• Given the offset Δi and Δj, the four texels selected by the offset are i0j'0, i1j'0, i0j'1, and i1j'1.

 Note For formats with reduced-resolution channels, Δi and Δj are relative to the resolution of the highest-resolution channel, and therefore may be divided by two relative to the unnormalized coordinate space of the lower-resolution channels.
Figure 4. Texel Coordinate Systems, Nearest Filtering

The Texel Coordinate Systems - For the example shown of an 8×4 texel two dimensional image.

• Texel coordinates as above. Also shown for nearest filtering:

• Given the unnormalized coordinates (u,v), the texel selected is ij.

• Given the offset Δi and Δj, the texel selected by the offset is ij'.

### 15.2. Conversion Formulas

#### 15.2.1. RGB to Shared Exponent Conversion

An RGB color (red, green, blue) is transformed to a shared exponent color (redshared, greenshared, blueshared, expshared) as follows:

First, the components (red, green, blue) are clamped to (redclamped, greenclamped, blueclamped) as:

redclamped = max(0, min(sharedexpmax, red))

greenclamped = max(0, min(sharedexpmax, green))

blueclamped = max(0, min(sharedexpmax, blue))

where:

 Note NaN, if supported, is handled as in IEEE 754-2008 minNum() and maxNum(). This results in any NaN being mapped to zero.

The largest clamped component, maxclamped is determined:

maxclamped = max(redclamped, greenclamped, blueclamped)

A preliminary shared exponent exp' is computed:

The shared exponent expshared is computed:

Finally, three integer values in the range 0 to 2N are computed:

#### 15.2.2. Shared Exponent to RGB

A shared exponent color (redshared, greenshared, blueshared, expshared) is transformed to an RGB color (red, green, blue) as follows:

where:

N = 9 (number of mantissa bits per component)

B = 15 (exponent bias)

### 15.3. Texel Input Operations

Texel input instructions are SPIR-V image instructions that read from an image. Texel input operations are a set of steps that are performed on state, coordinates, and texel values while processing a texel input instruction, and which are common to some or all texel input instructions. They include the following steps, which are performed in the listed order:

For texel input instructions involving multiple texels (for sampling or gathering), these steps are applied for each texel that is used in the instruction. Depending on the type of image instruction, other steps are conditionally performed between these steps or involving multiple coordinate or texel values.

If Chroma Reconstruction is implicit, Texel Filtering instead takes place during chroma reconstruction, before sampler Y′CBCR conversion occurs.

#### 15.3.1. Texel Input Validation Operations

Texel input validation operations inspect instruction/image/sampler state or coordinates, and in certain circumstances cause the texel value to be replaced or become undefined. There are a series of validations that the texel undergoes.

##### Instruction/Sampler/Image View Validation

There are a number of cases where a SPIR-V instruction can mismatch with the sampler, the image view, or both, and a number of further cases where the sampler can mismatch with the image view. In such cases the value of the texel returned is undefined.

These cases include:

• The sampler borderColor is an integer type and the image view format is not one of the VkFormat integer types or a stencil component of a depth/stencil format.

• The sampler borderColor is a float type and the image view format is not one of the VkFormat float types or a depth component of a depth/stencil format.

• The sampler borderColor is one of the opaque black colors (VK_BORDER_COLOR_FLOAT_OPAQUE_BLACK or VK_BORDER_COLOR_INT_OPAQUE_BLACK) and the image view VkComponentSwizzle for any of the VkComponentMapping components is not the identity swizzle.

• The VkImageLayout of any subresource in the image view does not match that specified in VkDescriptorImageInfo::imageLayout used to write the image descriptor.

• The SPIR-V Image Format is not compatible with the image view’s format.

• The sampler unnormalizedCoordinates is VK_TRUE and any of the limitations of unnormalized coordinates are violated.

• The SPIR-V instruction is one of the OpImage*Dref* instructions and the sampler compareEnable is VK_FALSE

• The SPIR-V instruction is not one of the OpImage*Dref* instructions and the sampler compareEnable is VK_TRUE

• The SPIR-V instruction is one of the OpImage*Dref* instructions and the image view format is not one of the depth/stencil formats with a depth component, or the image view aspect is not VK_IMAGE_ASPECT_DEPTH_BIT.

• The SPIR-V instruction’s image variable’s properties are not compatible with the image view:

• Rules for viewType:

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_1D must have Dim = 1D, Arrayed = 0, MS = 0.

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_2D must have Dim = 2D, Arrayed = 0.

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_3D must have Dim = 3D, Arrayed = 0, MS = 0.

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_CUBE must have Dim = Cube, Arrayed = 0, MS = 0.

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_1D_ARRAY must have Dim = 1D, Arrayed = 1, MS = 0.

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_2D_ARRAY must have Dim = 2D, Arrayed = 1.

• VK_IMAGE_VIEW_TYPE_CUBE_ARRAY must have Dim = Cube, Arrayed = 1, MS = 0.

• If the image was created with VkImageCreateInfo::samples equal to VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT, the instruction must have MS = 0.

• If the image was created with VkImageCreateInfo::samples not equal to VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT, the instruction must have MS = 1.

• If the Sampled Type of the OpTypeImage does not match the numeric format of the image, as shown in the SPIR-V Sampled Type column of the Interpretation of Numeric Format table.

• If the signedness of any read or sample operation does not match the signedness of the image’s format.

Only OpImageSample* and OpImageSparseSample* can be used with a sampler that enables sampler Y′CBCR conversion.

OpImageFetch, OpImageSparseFetch, OpImage*Gather, and OpImageSparse*Gather must not be used with a sampler that enables sampler Y′CBCR conversion.

The ConstOffset and Offset operands must not be used with a sampler that enables sampler Y′CBCR conversion.

##### Integer Texel Coordinate Validation

Integer texel coordinates are validated against the size of the image level, and the number of layers and number of samples in the image. For SPIR-V instructions that use integer texel coordinates, this is performed directly on the integer coordinates. For instructions that use normalized or unnormalized texel coordinates, this is performed on the coordinates that result after conversion to integer texel coordinates.

If the integer texel coordinates do not satisfy all of the conditions

0 ≤ i < ws

0 ≤ j < hs

0 ≤ k < ds

0 ≤ l < layers

0 ≤ n < samples

where:

ws = width of the image level

hs = height of the image level

ds = depth of the image level

layers = number of layers in the image

samples = number of samples per texel in the image

then the texel fails integer texel coordinate validation.

There are four cases to consider:

1. Valid Texel Coordinates

• If the texel coordinates pass validation (that is, the coordinates lie within the image),

then the texel value comes from the value in image memory.

2. Border Texel

• If the texel coordinates fail validation, and

• If the read is the result of an image sample instruction or image gather instruction, and

• If the image is not a cube image,

then the texel is a border texel and texel replacement is performed.

3. Invalid Texel

• If the texel coordinates fail validation, and

• If the read is the result of an image fetch instruction, image read instruction, or atomic instruction,

then the texel is an invalid texel and texel replacement is performed.

4. Cube Map Edge or Corner

Otherwise the texel coordinates lie beyond the edges or corners of the selected cube map face, and Cube map edge handling is performed.

##### Cube Map Edge Handling

If the texel coordinates lie beyond the edges or corners of the selected cube map face, the following steps are performed. Note that this does not occur when using VK_FILTER_NEAREST filtering within a mip level, since VK_FILTER_NEAREST is treated as using VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE.

• Cube Map Edge Texel

• If the texel lies beyond the selected cube map face in either only i or only j, then the coordinates (i,j) and the array layer l are transformed to select the adjacent texel from the appropriate neighboring face.

• Cube Map Corner Texel

• If the texel lies beyond the selected cube map face in both i and j, then there is no unique neighboring face from which to read that texel. The texel should be replaced by the average of the three values of the adjacent texels in each incident face. However, implementations may replace the cube map corner texel by other methods. The methods are subject to the constraint that if the three available texels have the same value, the resulting filtered texel must have that value.

##### Sparse Validation

If the texel reads from an unbound region of a sparse image, the texel is a sparse unbound texel, and processing continues with texel replacement.

##### Layout Validation

If all planes of a disjoint multi-planar image are not in the same image layout, the image must not be sampled with sampler Y′CBCR conversion enabled.

#### 15.3.2. Format Conversion

Texels undergo a format conversion from the VkFormat of the image view to a vector of either floating point or signed or unsigned integer components, with the number of components based on the number of components present in the format.

• Color formats have one, two, three, or four components, according to the format.

• Depth/stencil formats are one component. The depth or stencil component is selected by the aspectMask of the image view.

Each component is converted based on its type and size (as defined in the Format Definition section for each VkFormat), using the appropriate equations in 16-Bit Floating-Point Numbers, Unsigned 11-Bit Floating-Point Numbers, Unsigned 10-Bit Floating-Point Numbers, Fixed-Point Data Conversion, and Shared Exponent to RGB. Signed integer components smaller than 32 bits are sign-extended.

If the image view format is sRGB, the color components are first converted as if they are UNORM, and then sRGB to linear conversion is applied to the R, G, and B components as described in the “sRGB EOTF” section of the Khronos Data Format Specification. The A component, if present, is unchanged.

If the image view format is block-compressed, then the texel value is first decoded, then converted based on the type and number of components defined by the compressed format.

#### 15.3.3. Texel Replacement

A texel is replaced if it is one (and only one) of:

• a border texel,

• an invalid texel, or

• a sparse unbound texel.

Border texels are replaced with a value based on the image format and the borderColor of the sampler. The border color is:

Table 15. Border Color B
Sampler borderColor Corresponding Border Color

VK_BORDER_COLOR_FLOAT_TRANSPARENT_BLACK

[Br, Bg, Bb, Ba] = [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]

VK_BORDER_COLOR_FLOAT_OPAQUE_BLACK

[Br, Bg, Bb, Ba] = [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0]

VK_BORDER_COLOR_FLOAT_OPAQUE_WHITE

[Br, Bg, Bb, Ba] = [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0]

VK_BORDER_COLOR_INT_TRANSPARENT_BLACK

[Br, Bg, Bb, Ba] = [0, 0, 0, 0]

VK_BORDER_COLOR_INT_OPAQUE_BLACK

[Br, Bg, Bb, Ba] = [0, 0, 0, 1]

VK_BORDER_COLOR_INT_OPAQUE_WHITE

[Br, Bg, Bb, Ba] = [1, 1, 1, 1]

 Note The names VK_BORDER_COLOR_*_TRANSPARENT_BLACK, VK_BORDER_COLOR_*_OPAQUE_BLACK, and VK_BORDER_COLOR_*_OPAQUE_WHITE are meant to describe which components are zeros and ones in the vocabulary of compositing, and are not meant to imply that the numerical value of VK_BORDER_COLOR_INT_OPAQUE_WHITE is a saturating value for integers.

This is substituted for the texel value by replacing the number of components in the image format

Table 16. Border Texel Components After Replacement
Texel Aspect or Format Component Assignment

Depth aspect

D = Br

Stencil aspect

S = Br

One component color format

Colorr = Br

Two component color format

[Colorr,Colorg] = [Br,Bg]

Three component color format

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb] = [Br,Bg,Bb]

Four component color format

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb,Colora] = [Br,Bg,Bb,Ba]

The value returned by a read of an invalid texel is undefined, unless that read operation is from a buffer resource and the robustBufferAccess feature is enabled. In that case, an invalid texel is replaced as described by the robustBufferAccess feature.

If the VkPhysicalDeviceSparseProperties::residencyNonResidentStrict property is VK_TRUE, a sparse unbound texel is replaced with 0 or 0.0 values for integer and floating-point components of the image format, respectively.

If residencyNonResidentStrict is VK_FALSE, the value of the sparse unbound texel is undefined.

#### 15.3.4. Depth Compare Operation

If the image view has a depth/stencil format, the depth component is selected by the aspectMask, and the operation is a Dref instruction, a depth comparison is performed. The value of the result D is 1.0 if the result of the compare operation is true, and 0.0 otherwise. The compare operation is selected by the compareOp member of the sampler.

where, in the depth comparison:

Dref = shaderOp.Dref (from optional SPIR-V operand)

D (texel depth value)

#### 15.3.5. Conversion to RGBA

The texel is expanded from one, two, or three components to four components based on the image base color:

Table 17. Texel Color After Conversion To RGBA
Texel Aspect or Format RGBA Color

Depth aspect

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb, Colora] = [D,0,0,one]

Stencil aspect

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb, Colora] = [S,0,0,one]

One component color format

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb, Colora] = [Colorr,0,0,one]

Two component color format

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb, Colora] = [Colorr,Colorg,0,one]

Three component color format

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb, Colora] = [Colorr,Colorg,Colorb,one]

Four component color format

[Colorr,Colorg,Colorb, Colora] = [Colorr,Colorg,Colorb,Colora]

where one = 1.0f for floating-point formats and depth aspects, and one = 1 for integer formats and stencil aspects.

#### 15.3.6. Component Swizzle

All texel input instructions apply a swizzle based on:

The swizzle can rearrange the components of the texel, or substitute zero or one for any components. It is defined as follows for each color component:

where:

If the border color is one of the VK_BORDER_COLOR_*_OPAQUE_BLACK enums and the VkComponentSwizzle is not the identity swizzle for all components, the value of the texel after swizzle is undefined.

#### 15.3.7. Sparse Residency

OpImageSparse* instructions return a structure which includes a residency code indicating whether any texels accessed by the instruction are sparse unbound texels. This code can be interpreted by the OpImageSparseTexelsResident instruction which converts the residency code to a boolean value.

#### 15.3.8. Chroma Reconstruction

In some color models, the color representation is defined in terms of monochromatic light intensity (often called “luma”) and color differences relative to this intensity, often called “chroma”. It is common for color models other than RGB to represent the chroma channels at lower spatial resolution than the luma channel. This approach is used to take advantage of the eye’s lower spatial sensitivity to color compared with its sensitivity to brightness. Less commonly, the same approach is used with additive color, since the green channel dominates the eye’s sensitivity to light intensity and the spatial sensitivity to color introduced by red and blue is lower.

Lower-resolution channels are “downsampled” by resizing them to a lower spatial resolution than the channel representing luminance. This process is also commonly known as “chroma subsampling”. There is one luminance sample in each texture texel, but each chrominance sample may be shared among several texels in one or both texture dimensions.

• _444” formats do not spatially downsample chroma values compared with luma: there are unique chroma samples for each texel.

• _422” formats have downsampling in the x dimension (corresponding to u or s coordinates): they are sampled at half the resolution of luma in that dimension.

• _420” formats have downsampling in the x dimension (corresponding to u or s coordinates) and the y dimension (corresponding to v or t coordinates): they are sampled at half the resolution of luma in both dimensions.

The process of reconstructing a full color value for texture access involves accessing both chroma and luma values at the same location. To generate the color accurately, the values of the lower-resolution channels at the location of the luma samples must be reconstructed from the lower-resolution sample locations, an operation known here as “chroma reconstruction” irrespective of the actual color model.

The location of the chroma samples relative to the luma coordinates is determined by the xChromaOffset and yChromaOffset members of the VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo structure used to create the sampler Y′CBCR conversion.

The following diagrams show the relationship between unnormalized (u,v) coordinates and (i,j) integer texel positions in the luma channel (shown in black, with circles showing integer sample positions) and the texel coordinates of reduced-resolution chroma channels, shown as crosses in red.

 Note If the chroma values are reconstructed at the locations of the luma samples by means of interpolation, chroma samples from outside the image bounds are needed; these are determined according to Wrapping Operation. These diagrams represent this by showing the bounds of the “chroma texel” extending beyond the image bounds, and including additional chroma sample positions where required for interpolation. The limits of a sample for NEAREST sampling is shown as a grid.
Figure 5. 422 downsampling, xChromaOffset=COSITED_EVEN
Figure 6. 422 downsampling, xChromaOffset=MIDPOINT
Figure 7. 420 downsampling, xChromaOffset=COSITED_EVEN, yChromaOffset=COSITED_EVEN
Figure 8. 420 downsampling, xChromaOffset=MIDPOINT, yChromaOffset=COSITED_EVEN
Figure 9. 420 downsampling, xChromaOffset=COSITED_EVEN, yChromaOffset=MIDPOINT
Figure 10. 420 downsampling, xChromaOffset=MIDPOINT, yChromaOffset=MIDPOINT

Reconstruction is implemented in one of two ways:

If the format of the image that is to be sampled sets VK_FORMAT_FEATURE_SAMPLED_IMAGE_YCBCR_CONVERSION_CHROMA_RECONSTRUCTION_EXPLICIT_BIT, or the VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo’s forceExplicitReconstruction is set to VK_TRUE, reconstruction is performed as an explicit step independent of filtering, described in the Explicit Reconstruction section.

If the format of the image that is to be sampled does not set VK_FORMAT_FEATURE_SAMPLED_IMAGE_YCBCR_CONVERSION_CHROMA_RECONSTRUCTION_EXPLICIT_BIT and if the VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo’s forceExplicitReconstruction is set to VK_FALSE, reconstruction is performed as an implicit part of filtering prior to color model conversion, with no separate post-conversion texel filtering step, as described in the Implicit Reconstruction section.

##### Explicit Reconstruction
• If the chromaFilter member of the VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo structure is VK_FILTER_NEAREST:

• If the format’s R and B channels are reduced in resolution in just width by a factor of two relative to the G channel (i.e. this is a “_422” format), the values accessed by texel filtering are reconstructed as follows:

• If the format’s R and B channels are reduced in resolution in width and height by a factor of two relative to the G channel (i.e. this is a “_420” format), the values accessed by texel filtering are reconstructed as follows:

 Note xChromaOffset and yChromaOffset have no effect if chromaFilter is VK_FILTER_NEAREST for explicit reconstruction.
• If the chromaFilter member of the VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo structure is VK_FILTER_LINEAR:

• If the format’s R and B channels are reduced in resolution in just width by a factor of two relative to the G channel (i.e. this is a “422” format):

• If xChromaOffset is VK_CHROMA_LOCATION_COSITED_EVEN:

• If xChromaOffset is VK_CHROMA_LOCATION_MIDPOINT:

• If the format’s R and B channels are reduced in resolution in width and height by a factor of two relative to the G channel (i.e. this is a “420” format), a similar relationship applies. Due to the number of options, these formulae are expressed more concisely as follows:

 Note In the case where the texture itself is bilinearly interpolated as described in Texel Filtering, thus requiring four full-color samples for the filtering operation, and where the reconstruction of these samples uses bilinear interpolation in the chroma channels due to chromaFilter=VK_FILTER_LINEAR, up to nine chroma samples may be required, depending on the sample location.
##### Implicit Reconstruction

Implicit reconstruction takes place by the samples being interpolated, as required by the filter settings of the sampler, except that chromaFilter takes precedence for the chroma samples.

If chromaFilter is VK_FILTER_NEAREST, an implementation may behave as if xChromaOffset and yChromaOffset were both VK_CHROMA_LOCATION_MIDPOINT, irrespective of the values set.

 Note This will not have any visible effect if the locations of the luma samples coincide with the location of the samples used for rasterization.

The sample coordinates are adjusted by the downsample factor of the channel (such that, for example, the sample coordinates are divided by two if the channel has a downsample factor of two relative to the luma channel):

#### 15.3.9. Sampler Y′CBCR Conversion

Sampler Y′CBCR conversion performs the following operations, which an implementation may combine into a single mathematical operation:

##### Sampler Y′CBCR Range Expansion

Sampler Y′CBCR range expansion is applied to color channel values after all texel input operations which are not specific to sampler Y′CBCR conversion. For example, the input values to this stage have been converted using the normal format conversion rules.

Sampler Y′CBCR range expansion is not applied if ycbcrModel is VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_MODEL_CONVERSION_RGB_IDENTITY. That is, the shader receives the vector C'rgba as output by the Component Swizzle stage without further modification.

For other values of ycbcrModel, range expansion is applied to the texel channel values output by the Component Swizzle defined by the components member of VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo. Range expansion applies independently to each channel of the image. For the purposes of range expansion and Y′CBCR model conversion, the R and B channels contain color difference (chroma) values and the G channel contains luma. The A channel is not modified by sampler Y′CBCR range expansion.

The range expansion to be applied is defined by the ycbcrRange member of the VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo structure:

• If ycbcrRange is VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_RANGE_ITU_FULL, the following transformations are applied:

 Note These formulae correspond to the “full range” encoding in the “Quantization schemes” chapter of the Khronos Data Format Specification. Should any future amendments be made to the ITU specifications from which these equations are derived, the formulae used by Vulkan may also be updated to maintain parity.
• If ycbcrRange is VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_RANGE_ITU_NARROW, the following transformations are applied:

 Note These formulae correspond to the “narrow range” encoding in the “Quantization schemes” chapter of the Khronos Data Format Specification.
• n is the bit-depth of the channels in the format.

The precision of the operations performed during range expansion must be at least that of the source format.

An implementation may clamp the results of these range expansion operations such that Y′ falls in the range [0,1], and/or such that CB and CR fall in the range [-0.5,0.5].

##### Sampler Y′CBCR Model Conversion

The range-expanded values are converted between color models, according to the color model conversion specified in the ycbcrModel member:

VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_MODEL_CONVERSION_RGB_IDENTITY

The color channels are not modified by the color model conversion since they are assumed already to represent the desired color model in which the shader is operating; Y′CBCR range expansion is also ignored.

VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_MODEL_CONVERSION_YCBCR_IDENTITY

The color channels are not modified by the color model conversion and are assumed to be treated as though in Y′CBCR form both in memory and in the shader; Y′CBCR range expansion is applied to the channels as for other Y′CBCR models, with the vector (CR,Y′,CB,A) provided to the shader.

VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_MODEL_CONVERSION_YCBCR_709

The color channels are transformed from a Y′CBCR representation to an R′G′B′ representation as described in the “BT.709 Y′CBCR conversion” section of the Khronos Data Format Specification.

VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_MODEL_CONVERSION_YCBCR_601

The color channels are transformed from a Y′CBCR representation to an R′G′B′ representation as described in the “BT.601 Y′CBCR conversion” section of the Khronos Data Format Specification.

VK_SAMPLER_YCBCR_MODEL_CONVERSION_YCBCR_2020

The color channels are transformed from a Y′CBCR representation to an R′G′B′ representation as described in the “BT.2020 Y′CBCR conversion” section of the Khronos Data Format Specification.

In this operation, each output channel is dependent on each input channel.

An implementation may clamp the R′G′B′ results of these conversions to the range [0,1].

The precision of the operations performed during model conversion must be at least that of the source format.

The alpha channel is not modified by these model conversions.

 Note Sampling operations in a non-linear color space can introduce color and intensity shifts at sharp transition boundaries. To avoid this issue, the technically precise color correction sequence described in the “Introduction to Color Conversions” chapter of the Khronos Data Format Specification may be performed as follows: Calculate the unnormalized texel coordinates corresponding to the desired sample position. For a minFilter or magFilter of VK_FILTER_NEAREST: Calculate (i,j) for the sample location as described under the “nearest filtering” formulae in (u,v,w,a) to (i,j,k,l,n) Transformation And Array Layer Selection Calculate the normalized texel coordinates corresponding to these integer coordinates. Sample using sampler Y′CBCR conversion at this location. For a minFilter or magFilter of VK_FILTER_LINEAR: Calculate (i[0,1],j[0,1]) for the sample location as described under the “linear filtering” formulae in (u,v,w,a) to (i,j,k,l,n) Transformation And Array Layer Selection Calculate the normalized texel coordinates corresponding to these integer coordinates. Sample using sampler Y′CBCR conversion at each of these locations. Convert the non-linear A′R′G′B′ outputs of the Y′CBCR conversions to linear ARGB values as described in the “Transfer Functions” chapter of the Khronos Data Format Specification. Interpolate the linear ARGB values using the α and β values described in the “linear filtering” section of (u,v,w,a) to (i,j,k,l,n) Transformation And Array Layer Selection and the equations in Texel Filtering. The additional calculations and, especially, additional number of sampling operations in the VK_FILTER_LINEAR case can be expected to have a performance impact compared with using the outputs directly; since the variation from “correct” results are subtle for most content, the application author should determine whether a more costly implementation is strictly necessary. Note that if chromaFilter, and minFilter or magFilter are both VK_FILTER_NEAREST, these operations are redundant and sampling using sampler Y′CBCR conversion at the desired sample coordinates will produce the “correct” results without further processing.

### 15.4. Texel Output Operations

Texel output instructions are SPIR-V image instructions that write to an image. Texel output operations are a set of steps that are performed on state, coordinates, and texel values while processing a texel output instruction, and which are common to some or all texel output instructions. They include the following steps, which are performed in the listed order:

#### 15.4.1. Texel Output Validation Operations

Texel output validation operations inspect instruction/image state or coordinates, and in certain circumstances cause the write to have no effect. There are a series of validations that the texel undergoes.

##### Texel Format Validation

If the image format of the OpTypeImage is not compatible with the VkImageView’s format, the write causes the contents of the image’s memory to become undefined.

##### Texel Type Validation

If the Sampled Type of the OpTypeImage does not match the type defined for the format, as specified in the SPIR-V Sampled Type column of the Interpretation of Numeric Format table, the write causes the value of the texel to become undefined. For integer types, if the Signedness of the Sampled Type of the OpTypeImage does not match the signedness of the accessed resource, the write causes the value of the texel to become undefined.

#### 15.4.2. Integer Texel Coordinate Validation

The integer texel coordinates are validated according to the same rules as for texel input coordinate validation.

If the texel fails integer texel coordinate validation, then the write has no effect.

#### 15.4.3. Sparse Texel Operation

If the texel attempts to write to an unbound region of a sparse image, the texel is a sparse unbound texel. In such a case, if the VkPhysicalDeviceSparseProperties::residencyNonResidentStrict property is VK_TRUE, the sparse unbound texel write has no effect. If residencyNonResidentStrict is VK_FALSE, the write may have a side effect that becomes visible to other accesses to unbound texels in any resource, but will not be visible to any device memory allocated by the application.

#### 15.4.4. Texel Output Format Conversion

If the image format is sRGB, a linear to sRGB conversion is applied to the R, G, and B components as described in the “sRGB EOTF” section of the Khronos Data Format Specification. The A component, if present, is unchanged.

Texels then undergo a format conversion from the floating point, signed, or unsigned integer type of the texel data to the VkFormat of the image view. Any unused components are ignored.

Each component is converted based on its type and size (as defined in the Format Definition section for each VkFormat). Floating-point outputs are converted as described in Floating-Point Format Conversions and Fixed-Point Data Conversion. Integer outputs are converted such that their value is preserved. The converted value of any integer that cannot be represented in the target format is undefined.

### 15.5. Normalized Texel Coordinate Operations

If the image sampler instruction provides normalized texel coordinates, some of the following operations are performed.

#### 15.5.1. Projection Operation

For Proj image operations, the normalized texel coordinates (s,t,r,q,a) and (if present) the Dref coordinate are transformed as follows:

#### 15.5.2. Derivative Image Operations

Derivatives are used for LOD selection. These derivatives are either implicit (in an ImplicitLod image instruction in a fragment shader) or explicit (provided explicitly by shader to the image instruction in any shader).

For implicit derivatives image instructions, the derivatives of texel coordinates are calculated in the same manner as derivative operations. That is:

Partial derivatives not defined above for certain image dimensionalities are set to zero.

For explicit LOD image instructions, if the optional SPIR-V operand Grad is provided, then the operand values are used for the derivatives. The number of components present in each derivative for a given image dimensionality matches the number of partial derivatives computed above.

If the optional SPIR-V operand Lod is provided, then derivatives are set to zero, the cube map derivative transformation is skipped, and the scale factor operation is skipped. Instead, the floating point scalar coordinate is directly assigned to λbase as described in Level-of-Detail Operation.

#### 15.5.3. Cube Map Face Selection and Transformations

For cube map image instructions, the (s,t,r) coordinates are treated as a direction vector (rx,ry,rz). The direction vector is used to select a cube map face. The direction vector is transformed to a per-face texel coordinate system (sface,tface), The direction vector is also used to transform the derivatives to per-face derivatives.

#### 15.5.4. Cube Map Face Selection

The direction vector selects one of the cube map’s faces based on the largest magnitude coordinate direction (the major axis direction). Since two or more coordinates can have identical magnitude, the implementation must have rules to disambiguate this situation.

The rules should have as the first rule that rz wins over ry and rx, and the second rule that ry wins over rx. An implementation may choose other rules, but the rules must be deterministic and depend only on (rx,ry,rz).

The layer number (corresponding to a cube map face), the coordinate selections for sc, tc, rc, and the selection of derivatives, are determined by the major axis direction as specified in the following two tables.

Table 18. Cube map face and coordinate selection
Major Axis Direction Layer Number Cube Map Face sc tc rc

+rx

0

Positive X

-rz

-ry

rx

-rx

1

Negative X

+rz

-ry

rx

+ry

2

Positive Y

+rx

+rz

ry

-ry

3

Negative Y

+rx

-rz

ry

+rz

4

Positive Z

+rx

-ry

rz

-rz

5

Negative Z

-rx

-ry

rz

Table 19. Cube map derivative selection
Major Axis Direction ∂sc / ∂x ∂sc / ∂y ∂tc / ∂x ∂tc / ∂y ∂rc / ∂x ∂rc / ∂y

+rx

-∂rz / ∂x

-∂rz / ∂y

-∂ry / ∂x

-∂ry / ∂y

+∂rx / ∂x

+∂rx / ∂y

-rx

+∂rz / ∂x

+∂rz / ∂y

-∂ry / ∂x

-∂ry / ∂y

-∂rx / ∂x

-∂rx / ∂y

+ry

+∂rx / ∂x

+∂rx / ∂y

+∂rz / ∂x

+∂rz / ∂y

+∂ry / ∂x

+∂ry / ∂y

-ry

+∂rx / ∂x

+∂rx / ∂y

-∂rz / ∂x

-∂rz / ∂y

-∂ry / ∂x

-∂ry / ∂y

+rz

+∂rx / ∂x

+∂rx / ∂y

-∂ry / ∂x

-∂ry / ∂y

+∂rz / ∂x

+∂rz / ∂y

-rz

-∂rx / ∂x

-∂rx / ∂y

-∂ry / ∂x

-∂ry / ∂y

-∂rz / ∂x

-∂rz / ∂y

#### 15.5.7. Scale Factor Operation, Level-of-Detail Operation and Image Level(s) Selection

LOD selection can be either explicit (provided explicitly by the image instruction) or implicit (determined from a scale factor calculated from the derivatives). The implicit LOD selected can be queried using the SPIR-V instruction OpImageQueryLod, which gives access to the λ' and dl values, defined below. These values must be computed with mipmapPrecisionBits of accuracy and may be subject to implementation-specific maxima and minima for very large, out-of-range values.

##### Scale Factor Operation

The magnitude of the derivatives are calculated by:

mux = |∂s/∂x| × wbase

mvx = |∂t/∂x| × hbase

mwx = |∂r/∂x| × dbase

muy = |∂s/∂y| × wbase

mvy = |∂t/∂y| × hbase

mwy = |∂r/∂y| × dbase

where:

∂t/∂x = ∂t/∂y = 0 (for 1D images)

∂r/∂x = ∂r/∂y = 0 (for 1D, 2D or Cube images)

and:

wbase = image.w

hbase = image.h

dbase = image.d

(for the baseMipLevel, from the image descriptor).

A point sampled in screen space has an elliptical footprint in texture space. The minimum and maximum scale factors min, ρmax) should be the minor and major axes of this ellipse.

The scale factors ρx and ρy, calculated from the magnitude of the derivatives in x and y, are used to compute the minimum and maximum scale factors.

ρx and ρy may be approximated with functions fx and fy, subject to the following constraints:

The minimum and maximum scale factors minmax) are determined by:

ρmax = max(ρx, ρy)

ρmin = min(ρx, ρy)

The ratio of anisotropy is determined by:

η = min(ρmaxmin, maxAniso)

where:

sampler.maxAniso = maxAnisotropy (from sampler descriptor)

limits.maxAniso = maxSamplerAnisotropy (from physical device limits)

maxAniso = min(sampler.maxAniso, limits.maxAniso)

If ρmax = ρmin = 0, then all the partial derivatives are zero, the fragment’s footprint in texel space is a point, and N should be treated as 1. If ρmax ≠ 0 and ρmin = 0 then all partial derivatives along one axis are zero, the fragment’s footprint in texel space is a line segment, and η should be treated as maxAniso. However, anytime the footprint is small in texel space the implementation may use a smaller value of η, even when ρmin is zero or close to zero. If either VkPhysicalDeviceFeatures::samplerAnisotropy or VkSamplerCreateInfo::anisotropyEnable are VK_FALSE, maxAniso is set to 1.

If η = 1, sampling is isotropic. If η > 1, sampling is anisotropic.

The sampling rate (N) is derived as:

N = ⌈η⌉

An implementation may round N up to the nearest supported sampling rate. An implementation may use the value of N as an approximation of η.

##### Level-of-Detail Operation

The LOD parameter λ is computed as follows:

where:

and maxSamplerLodBias is the value of the VkPhysicalDeviceLimits feature maxSamplerLodBias.

##### Image Level(s) Selection

The image level(s) d, dhi, and dlo which texels are read from are determined by an image-level parameter dl, which is computed based on the LOD parameter, as follows:

where:

and:

levelbase = baseMipLevel

q = levelCount - 1

baseMipLevel and levelCount are taken from the subresourceRange of the image view.

If the sampler’s mipmapMode is VK_SAMPLER_MIPMAP_MODE_NEAREST, then the level selected is d = dl.

If the sampler’s mipmapMode is VK_SAMPLER_MIPMAP_MODE_LINEAR, two neighboring levels are selected:

δ is the fractional value, quantized to the number of mipmap precision bits, used for linear filtering between levels.

#### 15.5.8. (s,t,r,q,a) to (u,v,w,a) Transformation

The normalized texel coordinates are scaled by the image level dimensions and the array layer is selected.

This transformation is performed once for each level used in filtering (either d, or dhi and dlo).