feat(📸): importExternalTexture part 0

[wcandillon]

• Document
• Implement in Skia

[mrousavy]

Great stuff!

Just to verify; does the YUV import path support full range on iOS?

I think right now both full range (kCVPixelFormatType_420YpCbCr8BiPlanarFullRange) and video range (kCVPixelFormatType_420YpCbCr8BiPlanarVideoRange) are imported as video range (aka limited color space).

That might produce wrong colors in YUV, especially noticeable in highlights or dark areas. But I might be wrong this is based on an AI summary of the PR

[mrousavy]

I asked Codex to summarize support for specific pixel formats that VisionCamera can produce:

---

Checked current main as of June 2, 2026:

• VisionCamera: bf30b4c
• react-native-skia: 257e6e6
• react-native-webgpu: 730010c
• Relevant open WebGPU PR found: #375, but it adds shared-fence/sync support, not broader pixel-format support.

Legend:

• Yes: explicit or intended support.
• Partial: can work only through a narrower path, with caveats.
• No: not supported correctly by the current NativeBuffer importer.

Android

VisionCamera format	Android backing	Reachable via VisionCamera	Skia NativeBuffer	WebGPU NativeBuffer	Notes
private	ImageFormat.PRIVATE / AHardwareBuffer	pixelFormat: "native"	Yes	Partial	Best zero-copy producer path. Skia uses Android external texture import. WebGPU imports zero-copy, but opaque YCbCr currently needs shader-side YUV decode/flip.
yuv-420-8-bit-video	YUV_420_888	pixelFormat: "yuv"	Partial	Partial	VisionCamera’s yuv path is CameraX CPU image analysis. NativeBuffer only helps if an AHardwareBuffer exists. WebGPU only recognizes 420 AHB as NV12 if format is Y8Cb8Cr8_420.
yuv-422-8-bit-video	YUV_422_888	device format metadata	Partial	No	Skia may import an AHB external texture if one exists. WebGPU wrapper does not classify this as YUV.
yuv-444-8-bit-video	YUV_444_888	device format metadata	Partial	No	Same as 422.
yuv-420-10-bit-video	YCBCR_P010	device format metadata	Partial	Partial	WebGPU recognizes AHARDWAREBUFFER_FORMAT_YCbCr_P010 as NV12-like, but color/range handling is not complete.
yuv-422-10-bit-video	YCBCR_P210	device format metadata	Partial	No	WebGPU wrapper does not classify P210 as YUV.
rgb-rgb-8-bit	FLEX_RGB_888	device format metadata	Partial	Partial	Not VisionCamera’s efficient path. Depends on whether an importable AHB exists.
rgb-rgba-8-bit	FLEX_RGBA_8888 / CameraX RGBA	pixelFormat: "rgb"	Partial	Partial	VisionCamera rgb is CPU conversion. If an RGBA AHB exists, both can import single-plane color.
depth-16-bit	DEPTH16	depth output	No	No	Not supported as a drawable NativeBuffer image/external texture.
depth-point-cloud-32-bit	DEPTH_POINT_CLOUD	depth output	No	No	Point cloud, not image texture interop.
unknown	fallback	fallback	No	No	No safe import semantics.

iOS

VisionCamera format	CoreVideo backing	Reachable via VisionCamera	Skia NativeBuffer	WebGPU NativeBuffer	Notes
yuv-420-8-bit-video	420YpCbCr8BiPlanarVideoRange	native format	Yes	Yes	WebGPU explicitly recognizes this as NV12.
yuv-420-8-bit-full	420YpCbCr8BiPlanarFullRange	pixelFormat: "yuv" / native	Yes	Partial	WebGPU recognizes it as NV12, but current matrix path treats full/video range too loosely.
yuv-420-10-bit-video	420YpCbCr10BiPlanarVideoRange	native format	Yes	No	Skia handles 10-bit YUV planes. WebGPU falls back to BGRA classification.
yuv-420-10-bit-full	420YpCbCr10BiPlanarFullRange	native format	Yes	No	Same.
yuv-422-8-bit-video	422YpCbCr8BiPlanarVideoRange	native format	Yes	No	Skia handles 422. WebGPU only recognizes 420 8-bit NV12.
yuv-422-8-bit-full	422YpCbCr8BiPlanarFullRange	native format	Yes	No	Same.
yuv-422-10-bit-video	422YpCbCr10BiPlanarVideoRange	native format	Yes	No	Same.
yuv-422-10-bit-full	422YpCbCr10BiPlanarFullRange	native format	Yes	No	Same.
yuv-444-8-bit-video	444YpCbCr8BiPlanarVideoRange	native format	Yes	No	Skia handles 444. WebGPU does not.
rgb-bgra-8-bit	32BGRA	pixelFormat: "rgb" / native	Yes	Yes	This is the safest RGB path for both.
rgb-rgba-8-bit	32RGBA	native format	Yes	Partial	Skia explicitly handles RGBA. WebGPU may import as single-plane color, but does not distinguish it in its public NativeVideoPixelFormat.
rgb-rgb-8-bit	24RGB	native format	No	No	Skia base classifier sees RGB, but the RGB import path only handles 32BGRA/32RGBA.
raw-bayer-packed96-12-bit	96VersatileBayerPacked12	native/photo RAW	No	No	Not a drawable image texture without demosaic/raw processing.
raw-bayer-unpacked-16-bit	16VersatileBayer	native/photo RAW	No	No	Same.
depth-16-bit	DepthFloat16	depth output	No	No	Depth object path, not camera texture import.
depth-32-bit	DepthFloat32	depth output	No	No	Same.
disparity-16-bit	DisparityFloat16	depth output	No	No	Same.
disparity-32-bit	DisparityFloat32	depth output	No	No	Same.
unknown	fallback	fallback	No	No	No safe import semantics.

[mrousavy]

Realistically speaking, you would only ever use PRIVATE on Android (zero-copy GPU friendly), and 420YpCbCr8BiPlanarVideoRange or 420YpCbCr8BiPlanarFullRange on iOS - and react-native-webgpu supports both of those, so I think this is great and enough already :)

[mrousavy]

Also I think we can import frames in formats like depth-16-bit into react-native-webgpu using ArrayBuffer APIs, which involves GPU -> CPU -> GPU down/uploads and then describing the texture with WebGPU format/layout props - so I think this either way all works!