Apple ProRes
White Paper
April 2022
2Apple ProRes April 2022
Contents
Introduction 3
Authorized AppleProRes Implementations 4
AppleProRes Family Overview 5
Properties of AppleProRes Codecs 8
Data Rate 9
Quality 12
Performance 15
Alpha Channel Support inAppleProRes4444Codecs 18
Appendix 19
Target Data Rates 19
Glossary 22
3Apple ProRes April 2022
Introduction
AppleProRes is one of the most popular codecs in professional
post-production. The ProRes family of video codecs has made it both
possible and affordable to edit full-frame, 10-bit, 422 and 4444
high-definition (HD), 2K, 4K, 6K, 8K, and larger video sources with
multistream performance in FinalCutPro. This white paper provides
in-depth information about the ProRes family of codecs, including
technical specifications and performance metrics.
For information about AppleProResRAW, which brings to raw video
the same great performance, quality, and ease of use that ProRes has
brought to conventional video, see the Apple ProRes RAW White Paper.
4Apple ProRes April 2022
AppleProRes is a codec technology developed for high-quality,
high-performance editing in FinalCutPro. Apple has licensed ProRes
to select companies for use in specific products and workflows.
In some instances, unauthorized codec implementations have been used
in third-party software and hardware products. Using any unauthorized
implementation (like the FFmpeg and derivative implementations) may
lead to decoding errors, performance degradation, incompatibility,
and instability.
For a list of all authorized ProRes licensees and developers, and for
licensing information, see the Apple Support article AppleProRes
and ProResRAW Authorized Products. If you’re using or considering
purchasing a product that encodes or decodes ProRes, and that product
is not on this list, contact Apple at ProRes@apple.com.
Authorized AppleProRes
Implementations
5Apple ProRes April 2022
AppleProRes Family Overview
AppleProRes codecs provide an unparalleled combination of
multistream, real-time editing performance, impressive image quality,
and reduced storage rates. ProRes codecs take full advantage of
multicore processing and feature fast, reduced-resolution decoding
modes. All ProRes codecs support any frame size (including SD, HD,
2K, 4K, 6K, 8K, and larger) at full resolution. The data rates vary based
on codec type, image content, frame size, and frame rate.
As a variable bit rate (VBR) codec technology, ProRes uses fewer bits on
simple frames that would not benefit from encoding at a higher data rate.
All ProRes codecs are frame-independent (or “intra-frame”) codecs,
meaning that each frame is encoded and decoded independently of any
other frame. This technique provides the greatest editing performance
and flexibility.
A variety of cameras can now capture and record a wider gamut of color
values when working in log or raw formats. You can preserve a wide color
gamut and high dynamic range (HDR) by recording with the ProRes log
setting on certain cameras such as the ARRIALEXA or transcoding from
the RED® camera’s REDCODE®RAW format. FinalCutPro10.4 or later
can process images in wide-gamut HDR and output HLG or PQProRes
files in the Rec.2020 color space. This results in deeper colors with
more detail and dynamic range. For more information on HDR workflows,
see HDR and Wide Color Gamut in FinalCutPro.
With FinalCutPro10.3 or later, you can also export ProRes files inside an
MXF metadata wrapper instead of exporting .mov files. This makes the
exported video file compatible with a wide range of playback systems
that rely on the MXF standard for broadcast and archiving.
6Apple ProRes April 2022
Apple ProRes Family Overview
AppleProRes includes the following formats:
AppleProRes4444XQ: The highest-quality version of ProRes for
4444 image sources (including alpha channels), with a very high data
rate to preserve the detail in high-dynamic-range imagery generated by
today’s highest-quality digital image sensors. AppleProRes4444XQ
preserves dynamic ranges several times greater than the dynamic range
of Rec.709 imagery—even against the rigors of extreme visual effects
processing, in which tone-scale blacks or highlights are stretched
significantly. Like standard AppleProRes4444, this codec supports up
to 12bits per image channel and up to 16 bits for the alpha channel.
AppleProRes4444XQ features a target data rate of approximately
500Mbps for 444 sources at 1920x1080 and 29.97fps.
AppleProRes4444: An extremely high-quality version of ProRes for
4444 image sources (including alpha channels). This codec features
full-resolution, mastering-quality 4444RGBA color and visual
fidelity that is perceptually indistinguishable from the original material.
AppleProRes4444 is a high-quality solution for storing and exchanging
motion graphics and composites, with excellent multigeneration
performance and a mathematically lossless alpha channel up to
16bits. This codec features a remarkably low data rate compared
to uncompressed 444 HD, with a target data rate of approximately
330Mbps for 444 sources at 1920x1080 and 29.97fps. It also offers
direct encoding of, and decoding to, both RGB and Y’C
B
C
R
pixel formats.
AppleProRes422HQ: A higher-data-rate version of AppleProRes422
that preserves visual quality at the same high level as AppleProRes4444,
but for 422 image sources. With widespread adoption across the video
post-production industry, AppleProRes422HQ offers visually lossless
preservation of the highest-quality professional HD video that a single-
link HD-SDI signal can carry. This codec supports full-width, 422 video
sources at 10-bit pixel depths, while remaining visually lossless through
many generations of decoding and re-encoding. The target data rate of
AppleProRes422HQ is approximately 220Mbps at 1920x1080 and
29.97fps.
AppleProRes422: A high-quality compressed codec offering nearly all
the benefits of AppleProRes422HQ, but at 66 percent of the data rate
for even better multistream, real-time editing performance. The target
data rate of AppleProRes422 is approximately 147Mbps at 1920x1080
and 29.97fps.
7Apple ProRes April 2022
Apple ProRes Family Overview
AppleProRes422LT: A more highly compressed codec than
AppleProRes422, with roughly 70 percent of the data rate and
30percent smaller file sizes. This codec is perfect for environments
where storage capacity and data rate are at a premium. The target data
rate of AppleProRes422LT is approximately 102 Mbps at1920x1080
and 29.97fps.
AppleProRes422Proxy: An even more highly compressed codec
than AppleProRes422LT, intended for use in offline workflows that
require low data rates but full-resolution video. The target data rate of
AppleProRes422Proxy is approximately 45Mbps at 1920x1080 and
29.97 fps.
Note: AppleProRes4444XQ and AppleProRes4444 are ideal for the
exchange of motion graphics media because they are virtually lossless,
and are the only ProRes codecs that support alpha channels.
8Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of AppleProRes Codecs
Every image or video codec can be characterized by how well it behaves
in three critical dimensions: compression, quality, and complexity.
Compression means data reduction, or how many bits are required
compared to the original image. For image sequences or video streams,
compression means data rate, expressed in bits/sec for transmission
or bytes/hour for storage. Quality describes how closely a compressed
image resembles the original. “Fidelity” would therefore be a more
accurate term, but “quality” is the term widely used. Complexity relates
to how many arithmetic operations must be computed to compress
or decompress an image frame or sequence. For software codec
implementations, the lower the complexity, the greater the number of
video streams that can be decoded simultaneously in real time, resulting
in higher performance within post-production applications.
Every image or video codec design must make tradeoffs between these
three properties. Because codecs used within professional camcorders
or for professional video editing must maintain high visual quality,
the tradeoff amounts to one of data rate versus performance. For
example, AVCHD camcorders can produce H.264 video streams with
excellent image quality at low data rates. However, the complexity of the
H.264 codec is very high, resulting in lower performance for real-time
video editing with multiple video streams and effects. In comparison,
AppleProRes features excellent image quality as well as low complexity,
which results in better performance for real-time video editing.
The following sections describe how the various ProRes codecs behave
and compare to one another in terms of these three important codec
properties: data rate, quality, and performance.
9Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
Data Rate
The ProRes family spans a broad range of data rates to support a
variety of workflow and application purposes. This section describes
how ProRes data rates compare to each other and to the data rates of
uncompressed video. The section also illustrates how frame size and
frame rate affect ProRes data rates. Finally, the text includes information
on the variable bit rate (VBR) nature of the ProRes codec family.
Data rates of ProRes formats
The bar chart below shows how the data rates of the ProRes formats
compare to those of uncompressed, full-width (1920x1080), 444
12-bit and 422 10-bit image sequences at 29.97 frames per second
(fps). The chart shows that even the two highest-quality ProRes
formats—AppleProRes4444XQ and AppleProRes4444—offer
significantly lower data rates than their uncompressed counterparts.
0
750
1,500
2,250
3,000
Uncompressed
12-bit 4:4:4
ProRes
4444 XQ
(no alpha)
Uncompressed
10-bit 4:2:2
ProRes
422 HQ
ProRes
422
ProRes
422 LT
ProRes
422 Proxy
45
102
147
220
ProRes
4444
(no alpha)
330
2,237
Data Rates - Uncompressed and Apple ProRes at 1920 x 1080, 29.97 fps
Mb/s
4:4:4 formats
4:2:2 formats
1,326
495
The data rates shown in the bar chart above are for “full-width”
(1920x1080) HD frames at 29.97 fps. The ProRes family also supports
the 720p HD format at its full width (1280x720). In addition to full-width
HD formats, ProRes codecs support three different “partial-width” HD
video formats used as the recording resolutions in a number of popular
HD camcorders: 1280x1080, 1440x1080, and 960x720.
10Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
How frame size and frame rate affect data rates
The data rate of a ProRes format is determined primarily by three key
factors: ProRes codec type, encoded frame size, and frame rate. The
chart below shows some examples of how varying any one of these
factors changes a ProRes format’s data rate. A table of data rates
for a number of ProRes formats supported for real-time editing in
FinalCutPro can be found in the appendix.
23.976 fps
29.97 fps
0 38 75 113 15
0
147
117
126
101
102
82
87
70
Data Rates - Apple ProRes 422 LT versus Apple ProRes 422
Mb/s
1440 x 1080
1920 x 1080
1440 x 1080
1920 x 1080
1440 x 1080
1920 x 1080
1440 x 1080
1920 x 1080
ProRes 422 LT
ProRes 422
11Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
Variable bit rate encoding
ProRes is a variable bit rate (VBR) video codec. This means that the
number of bits used to encode each frame within a stream is not
constant, but varies from one frame to the next. For a given video
frame size and a given ProRes codec type, the ProRes encoder aims to
achieve a “target” number of bits per frame. Multiplying this number by
the frames per second of the video format being encoded results in the
target data rate for a specific ProRes format.
Although ProRes is a VBR codec, the variability is usually small. The
actual data rate is usually close to the target data rate. For a given
ProRes format, there is also a maximum number of bits per frame that is
never exceeded. This maximum is approximately 10 percent more than
the target number of bits per frame. The graph below plots the actual
number of bits used per frame in an example ProRes video sequence.
Compressed Frame Sizes - Apple ProRes 422
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Frame
0
400000
800000
Frame Size (Bytes)
Max
Target
Sequence depicted is ASC/DCI Standard Evaluation Material (StEM) Mini-Movie at 1920 x 1080.
Note that for this particular sequence of over 10,000 frames, only one
frame uses the maximum number of bits and most frames are clustered
within a few percentage points of the target. However, many frames use
significantly fewer bits than the target. This is because ProRes encoders
add bits to a frame only if doing so will produce a better match to the
original image. Beyond a certain point, simple image frames, such as
an all-black frame with a few words of text, incur no quality benefit if
more bits are added. ProRes encoders do not waste bits on any frame if
adding more will not improve the fidelity.
12Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
Quality
Although the ability to produce high-quality output is a key attribute of
image and video codecs, it is quality preservation—or fidelity—that is
the actual goal of a codec. Imagery often goes through many stages of
processing prior to ProRes encoding, and these stages may add visible
flaws, or “artifacts,” to the images. If an image sequence has visible
artifacts to begin with, ProRes will perfectly preserve these artifacts,
which can make viewers mistakenly think such flaws are caused by the
ProRes codec itself. The goal of every ProRes family member is to perfectly
preserve the quality of the original image source, be it good or bad.
The quality-preserving capability of the various ProRes codecs can be
expressed in both quantitative and qualitative terms. In the field of image
and video compression, the most widely used quantitative measure of
image fidelity is peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). PSNR is a measure of
how closely a compressed image (after being decompressed) matches
the original image handed to the encoder. The higher the PSNR value,
the more closely the encoded image matches the original. The graph
below plots the PSNR value for each image frame in a test sequence
for three different codecs: AppleProRes422HQ, Avid DNxHD, and
PanasonicD5.
PSNR Comparison - Apple ProRes, DNxHD, and D5
2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Frame
40
50
60
70
80
Luma PSNR (dB)
Apple ProRes 422 HQ (163 Mbps)
DNxHD 175X (175 Mbps)
D5
Measured using ASC/DCI Standard Evaluation Material (StEM) Mini-Movie at 1920 x 1080.
13Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
The next graph shows the same sequence plotted for each
AppleProRes422 codec. As the graph shows, there is a difference
in PSNR between one family member and the next. These differences
correspond to the comparative data rates of the AppleProRes422
codecs. PSNR for AppleProRes422HQ is 15–20dB higher than that
for AppleProRes422Proxy, but the AppleProRes422HQ stream has
nearly five times the data rate of the AppleProRes422Proxy stream.
The benefit of higher fidelity comes at the cost of larger file sizes, so
it’s important to select the ProRes family member according to your
workflow requirements.
PSNR Comparison - Apple ProRes 422 Family
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Frame
0
20
40
60
80
Luma PSNR (dB)
ProRes 422 HQ
ProRes 422
ProRes 422 LT
ProRes 422 Proxy
Measured using ASC/DCI Standard Evaluation Material (StEM) Mini-Movie at 1920 x 1080.
In addition to indicating visual fidelity, the difference in PSNR
values also denotes headroom. For example, if you were to view
the original sequence used in the graph above, and then view the
AppleProRes422HQ and AppleProRes422 encoded versions of
the same stream, all three would look visually identical. However, the
higher PSNR value for AppleProRes422HQ indicates greater quality
headroom. This increased headroom means that an image sequence
can be decoded and re-encoded over multiple generations and still look
visually identical to the original, as shown in the graph below.
Multigeneration PSNR
20
30
40
50
60
Luma PSNR (dB)
1 3 5 7 9
Generations
ProRes 422 HQ
ProRes 422
14Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
Because PSNR is not a perfect measure of compressed image fidelity—
there is no particular PSNR number that can absolutely guarantee
that a compressed image will have no visible difference from the
original—it’s useful to have some qualitative description of expected
image quality for each ProRes codec type. Note that in the table below,
the qualitative description for AppleProRes4444 (without an alpha
channel) is identical to that for AppleProRes422HQ. This is because
AppleProRes4444, though its target bit rate is 50percent higher than
that of AppleProRes422HQ, uses extra bits to encode the greater
number of chroma samples in 444 at the same high quality headroom
ensured by AppleProRes422HQ for 422 sources.
AppleProRes
codec
Visible differences
(1st gen.)
Quality headroom
ProRes 4444 XQ Virtually never Very high, excellent for multi-gen.
finishing and camera originals
ProRes 4444 Virtually never Very high, excellent for multi-gen.
finishing
ProRes 422 HQ Virtually never Very high, excellent for multi-gen.
finishing
ProRes 422 Very rare High, very good for most multi-gen.
workflows
ProRes 422 LT Rare Good for some multi-gen. workflows
ProRes 422 Proxy Subtle for high-detail
images
OK, intended for first-gen. viewing
and editing
15Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
Performance
The ProRes family of codecs is designed for speed, and fast encoding
and decoding is essential to avoid workflow bottlenecks.
Fast decoding is especially critical for multistream, real-time playback
in FinalCutPro. The ProRes codec family performs exceptionally well in
this regard. For each AppleProRes codec type, the charts below show
examples of the number of full-quality 4K and 8K streams that can be
played back simultaneously in real time. In practice, you may not often
need to play back ten, twenty, or more streams simultaneously, but
these charts give an idea of how much processing time is available for
real-time titling, effects, and so on when just one, two, or three streams
are being used.
The following chart shows the performance of a MacBookPro with an
AppleM1Max chip. M1Pro and M1Max chips include an Apple-designed
media engine that accelerates video processing. M1Pro also includes
dedicated acceleration for ProRes, allowing playback of multiple streams
of high-quality 4K and 8K ProRes video while using very little power.
M1Max goes even further, featuring two ProRes accelerators and
delivering up to two times faster video encoding than M1Pro.
ProRes 422 Proxy
ProRes 422 LT
ProRes 422
ProRes 422 HQ
30
31
33
33
ProRes 4444
(no alpha)
22
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
21
Testing conducted by Apple in December 2021 on preproduction 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with
Apple M1 Max, 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 64GB of RAM, and 8TB SSD. Tested on macOS Monterey with
Final Cut Pro 10.6.1, using 90-second picture-in-picture projects with 33 streams of Apple ProRes 422 Proxy
video, 33 streams of Apple ProRes 422 LT video, 31 streams of Apple ProRes 422 video, 30 streams of
Apple ProRes 422 HQ video, 22 streams of Apple ProRes 4444 video, and 21 streams of Apple ProRes 4444
XQ video, all at 4096 x 2160 resolution and 23.98 frames per second. Performance may vary based on system
Number of simultaneous streams (better quality)
ProRes 4444 XQ
(no alpha)
16Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
The following chart shows what’s possible on a MacStudio computer
with an M1Ultra chip. In this case, the media engine that was doubled
in the M1Max chip is doubled again to support up to 19 simultaneous
streams of 8KProRes video.
ProRes 422
ProRes 422 HQ
19
19
ProRes 4444
(no alpha)
8
Mac Studio – Picture-in-Picture Playback: Simultaneous 8K Streams
0 5 10 15 20
8
Testing conducted by Apple in February 2022 using preproduction Mac Studio systems with Apple M1 Ultra,
20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB of RAM, and 8TB SSD. Tested on prerelease versions of macOS Monterey
12.3 and Final Cut Pro 10.6.2, using 60-second picture-in-picture projects with 19 streams of Apple ProRes 422
video, 19 streams of Apple ProRes 422 HQ video, 8 streams of Apple ProRes 4444 video, and 8 streams of
Apple ProRes 4444 XQ video, all at 8192 x 4320 resolution and 23.98 frames per second. Performance may
vary based on system configuration, media type, and other factors.
Number of simultaneous streams (better quality)
ProRes 4444 XQ
(no alpha)
ProRes decoders are designed to work especially well as high-quality,
high-performance editing codecs for FinalCutPro. Not only are they fast
for decoding video at full frame size and quality, but they are even faster
at decoding frames at “half-size” (1/2 height and 1/2 width). Especially
for high-resolution formats like 4K and 8K, half-size images provide
plenty of onscreen detail for making editing decisions.
Although fast decoding speed is the primary factor in real-time editing
performance, fast encoding speed is also important for key steps in
post-production workflows. Like ProRes decoders, the ProRes family of
encoders have all been built as efficient software implementations, and
fast encoding is achieved through efficient use of multicore processors.
Fast encoding speed is essential for some steps and important in
virtually all others.
17Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
For real-time capture and ProRes encoding of baseband video signals
(either analog or digital SD or HD signal sources), ProRes software
encoders must be fast enough to keep up with the incoming real-time
video frames. An appropriate video capture card must be used for this
purpose, but otherwise no specialized encoding hardware is required to
achieve real-time capture of baseband video to ProRes formats.
For file-based transcoding of video files that have been encoded with
other (non-ProRes) video codecs, transcoding to ProRes entails both
decoding of the source video format and re-encoding to ProRes. As
a result, the minimum total transcoding time is the sum of the time
required to decode the file and the time required to re-encode it to
ProRes. For certain video codec formats that are highly complex
and therefore relatively slow to decode, such as JPEG-2000 and the
REDCODERAW(R3D) native codec format, the overall transcoding time
is dominated by the decoding time. Still, fast ProRes encoding helps
shorten the total transcoding time.
Fast encoding and decoding also benefits rendering and exporting.
Rendering effects, as part of a creative process or the final step before
output, is basically a decode of the source media and a re-encode to
the chosen final output format. During the rendering process, all of the
decoding, blending, and compositing steps must be precomputed before
encoding to the compressed format defined in your FinalCutPro project.
Although you can choose any AppleProRes codec as a rendering
format—from AppleProRes422LT to AppleProRes4444XQ—and
change it at any time during post-production, FinalCutPro defaults to
rendering in AppleProRes422.
When rendering to ProRes, the total rendering time is determined by
the speed of both the decoding and encoding steps, which can be
significantly quicker compared to other, more complex and slower
codecs. The speed advantage of ProRes is also beneficial when
exporting a file at the end of a project. If you need to deliver to the web,
DVD, or Blu-ray disc, you can speed up the export process by choosing
to edit the project in ProRes instead of other professional formats,
including uncompressed.
Note: Using a ProResRAW workflow is ideal for high-dynamic-range
(HDR) content and can dramatically speed up transcoding-intensive
tasks such as exporting to H.264 or HEVC. For more information, see
AppleProResRAW and About AppleProResRaw.
18Apple ProRes April 2022
Properties of Apple ProRes Codecs
Alpha Channel Support
inAppleProRes4444Codecs
In addition to supporting Y’C
B
C
R
or RGB 444 pixel data, the
AppleProRes4444XQ and AppleProRes4444 codecs support an
optional alpha channel. The sampling nomenclature for such Y’C
B
C
R
A
or RGBA images is 4444, to indicate that for each pixel location,
there is an alpha—or A—value in addition to the three Y’C
B
C
R
or RGB
values. An alpha value specifies the proportion of its associated RGB or
Y’C
B
C
R
pixel that should be blended with the pixel at the corresponding
location of a background image, creating a variable transparency effect
for use in compositing workflows. Unlike Y’C
B
C
R
or RGB pixel values,
alpha values do not represent samples of a real-world image, or even
samples of a computer-generated image, both of which are intended for
humanviewing.
Alpha values are essentially numeric data that specify how to blend,
or composite, a foreground image into a background image. For this
reason, AppleProRes4444XQ and AppleProRes4444 encode alpha
values exactly rather than approximately. This kind of exact encoding is
called “lossless” (or sometimes “mathematically lossless”) compression.
It uses different encoding techniques from those used by the ProRes
codec family for RGB or Y’C
B
C
R
pixel values, where approximate encoding
is acceptable as long as differences from the original are not visible to
the viewer and do not affect processing. The AppleProRes4444XQ and
AppleProRes4444 codecs losslessly encode alpha channel values of
any bit depth up to and including 16 bits.
In summary, the AppleProRes4444XQ and AppleProRes4444 codecs
can be considered “visually lossless” for encoding the Y’C
B
C
R
or RGB
pixel values intended for viewing, but “mathematically lossless” for
encoding the alpha values that specify compositing. As a result, the
degree of quality or fidelity is never a question for AppleProRes4444
alpha channels because the decoded data always matches the
originalperfectly.
With any kind of lossless compression, the data rate varies according
to the amount of image detail being encoded. This is true of
AppleProRes4444 lossless alpha channel compression as well.
However, because alpha channels usually contain just the information
related to object outlines, the optional alpha channel typically results
in only a small increase in the overall AppleProRes4444 data rate. For
this reason, the presence of an alpha channel in an AppleProRes4444
stream typically reduces decoding and encoding performance by only
about 10 percent or less.
19Apple ProRes April 2022
Target Data Rates
Dimensions Frame
Rate
ProRes 422
Proxy
ProRes 422
LT
ProRes 422 ProRes 422
HQ
ProRes 4444
(no alpha)
ProRes 4444XQ
(no alpha)
Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr
720 x 486 24p 10 4 23 10 34 15 50 23 75 34 113 51
60i, 30p 12 5 29 13 42 19 63 28 94 42 141 64
720 x 576 50i, 25p 12 6 28 13 41 18 61 28 92 41 138 62
960 x 720 24p 15 7 35 16 50 23 75 34 113 51 170 76
25p 16 7 36 16 52 24 79 35 118 53 177 80
30p 19 9 44 20 63 28 94 42 141 64 212 95
50p 32 14 73 33 105 47 157 71 236 106 354 159
60p 38 17 87 39 126 57 189 85 283 127 424 191
1280 x 720 24p 18 8 41 18 59 26 88 40 132 59 198 89
25p 19 9 42 19 61 28 92 41 138 62 206 93
30p 23 10 51 23 73 33 110 49 165 74 247 111
50p 38 17 84 38 122 55 184 83 275 124 413 186
60p 45 20 101 46 147 66 220 99 330 148 495 223
1280 x 1080 24p 31 14 70 31 101 45 151 68 226 102 339 153
60i, 30p 38 17 87 39 126 57 189 85 283 127 424 191
1440 x 1080 24p 31 14 70 31 101 45 151 68 226 102 339 153
50i, 25p 32 14 73 33 105 47 157 71 236 106 354 159
60i, 30p 38 17 87 39 126 57 189 85 283 127 424 191
Appendix
20Apple ProRes April 2022
Dimensions
Frame
Rate
ProRes 422
Proxy
ProRes 422
LT
ProRes 422 ProRes 422
HQ
ProRes 4444
(no alpha)
ProRes 4444XQ
(no alpha)
Mb/s
GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr
1920 x 1080 24p 36 16 82 37 117 53 176 79 264 119 396 178
50i, 25p 38 17 85 38 122 55 184 83 275 124 413 186
60i, 30p 45 20 102 46 147 66 220 99 330 148 495 223
50p 76 34 170 77 245 110 367 165 551 248 826 372
60p 91 41 204 92 293 132 440 198 660 297 990 445
2K
2048 x 1080
24p 41 19 93 42 134 60 201 91 302 136 453 204
25p 43 19 97 44 140 63 210 94 315 142 472 212
30p 52 23 116 52 168 75 251 113 377 170 566 255
50p 86 39 194 87 280 126 419 189 629 283 944 425
60p 103 46 232 104 335 151 503 226 754 339 1131 509
2K
2048 x 1556
24p 56 25 126 57 181 81 272 122 407 183 611 275
25p 58 26 131 59 189 85 283 127 425 191 637 287
30p 70 31 157 71 226 102 340 153 509 229 764 344
50p 117 52 262 118 377 170 567 255 850 382 1275 574
60p 140 63 314 141 452 203 679 306 1019 458 1528 688
QFHD
3840 x 2160
24p 145 65 328 148 471 212 707 318 1061 477 1591 716
25p 151 68 342 154 492 221 737 332 1106 498 1659 746
30p 182 82 410 185 589 265 884 398 1326 597 1989 895
50p 303 136 684 308 983 442 1475 664 2212 995 3318 1493
60p 363 163 821 369 1178 530 1768 795 2652 1193 3977 1790
4K
4096 x 2160
24p 155 70 350 157 503 226 754 339 1131 509 1697 764
25p 162 73 365 164 524 236 786 354 1180 531 1769 796
30p 194 87 437 197 629 283 943 424 1414 636 2121 955
50p 323 145 730 328 1049 472 1573 708 2359 1062 3539 1593
60p 388 174 875 394 1257 566 1886 848 2828 1273 4242 1909
Target Data Rates (continued)
21Apple ProRes April 2022
Dimensions Frame
Rate
ProRes 422
Proxy
ProRes 422
LT
ProRes 422 ProRes 422
HQ
ProRes 4444
(no alpha)
ProRes 4444XQ
(no alpha)
Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr Mb/s GB/hr
5K
5120 x 2700
24p 243 109 547 246 786 354 1178 530 1768 795 2652 1193
25p 253 114 570 257 819 369 1229 553 1843 829 2765 1244
30p 304 137 684 308 982 442 1473 663 2210 994 3314 1492
50p 507 228 1140 513 1638 737 2458 1106 3686 1659 5530 2488
60p 608 273 1367 615 1964 884 2946 1326 4419 1989 6629 2983
6K
6144 x 3240
24p 350 157 788 354 1131 509 1697 764 2545 1145 3818 1718
25p 365 164 821 370 1180 531 1769 796 2654 1194 3981 1791
30p 437 197 985 443 1414 636 2121 955 3182 1432 4772 2148
50p 730 328 1643 739 2359 1062 3539 1593 5308 2389 7962 3583
60p 875 394 1969 886 2828 1273 4242 1909 6364 2864 9545 4295
8K
8192 x 4320
24p 622 280 1400 630 2011 905 3017 1358 4525 2036 6788 3055
25p 649 292 1460 657 2097 944 3146 1416 4719 2123 7078 3185
30p 778 350 1750 788 2514 1131 3771 1697 5657 2545 8485 3818
50p 1298 584 2920 1314 4194 1887 6291 2831 9437 4247 14,156 6370
60p 1556 700 3500 1575 5028 2263 7542 3394 11,313 5091 16,970 7636
Target Data Rates (continued)
22Apple ProRes April 2022
alpha channel An additional channel of information that may optionally
be included with RGB and Y’C
B
C
R
images. If included with an RGB image,
for each R, G, and B value that defines a pixel, there is an A value that
specifies how the RGB pixel should be blended with a background image.
Typically, one extreme value of A indicates 100% transparency and the
other extreme value indicates 100% opacity. Values in between the
extremes indicate the degree of opacity.
AppleProRes format A ProRes-encoded bitstream, typically in the
form of a .mov file, for which the ProRes codec type and video format
are specified. For example, an “AppleProRes422HQ 1920x1080i
29.97format.”
codec Abbreviation for compressor/decompressor. A general term
referring to both encoder and decoder.
decoder An algorithm or processing system that takes a compressed
bitstream as input and delivers a sequence of images or video frames
as output. For ProRes, this term refers to a QuickTime decompressor
component that converts a ProRes-encoded .mov file to a sequence of
images, for further processing or display.
encoder An algorithm or processing system that takes uncompressed
images as input and delivers a compressed bitstream as output. For
ProRes, this term refers to a QuickTime compressor component that
generates a ProRes-encoded .mov file.
image sequence An ordered set of image frames that, when displayed
at a specified frame rate, is perceived by the viewer as a real-time
motion image sequence. If not referred to as “video,” an image sequence
is often a set of RGB images (with an optional alpha channel), such as
the DPX, TIFF, and OpenEXR file formats.
Glossary
23Apple ProRes April 2022
Glossary
Copyright © 2022 AppleInc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, FinalCut, FinalCutPro, Mac,
MacBookPro, macOS, and QuickTime are trademarks of AppleInc., registered in the U.S. and other
countries and regions. AppleProRes, MacStudio, and ProRes are trademarks of AppleInc. Other product
and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Product
specifications are subject to change without notice. 028-00500-A
lossless A type of codec for which putting an image frame through
encoding followed by decoding results in an image that is mathematically
guaranteed to have exactly the same pixel values as the original.
video An image sequence for which the image frames typically use the
Y’C
B
C
R
color space and subsampled chroma channels, usually with one
of the following patterns: 422, 420, or 411.
video format A video sequence for which the frame height, frame width,
and frame rate are all specified. For example, a “1920x1080i 29.97
video format.”
visually lossless A type of codec for which putting an image frame
through encoding followed by decoding results in an image that is not
mathematically lossless, but is visually indistinguishable from the original
when viewed alongside the original on identical displays.