# SDL: Cache the Vulkan YUV conversion pipeline

**URL:** <https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/sdl-cache-the-vulkan-yuv-conversion-pipeline/69289>\
**Category:** SDL Commits\
**Created:** [September 12, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/sdl-cache-the-vulkan-yuv-conversion-pipeline/69289 "2026-09-12T00:07:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SDLPushPostBot](https://discourse.libsdl.org/user_avatar/discourse.libsdl.org/sdlpushpostbot/32/4370_2.png) [@SDLPushPostBot](https://discourse.libsdl.org/u/SDLPushPostBot)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/sdl-cache-the-vulkan-yuv-conversion-pipeline/69289/1 "2026-09-12T00:07:16Z")

</div>

> <https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/commit/4b40cff5d414a220b8f85c3b799a5cd003b47c0a>
>
> This is very slow on some mobile devices and is a small win on desktop devices a…s well.

```diff
From 4b40cff5d414a220b8f85c3b799a5cd003b47c0a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam Lantinga <[EMAIL REDACTED]>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 20:45:46 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Cache the Vulkan YUV conversion pipeline

This is very slow on some mobile devices and is a small win on desktop devices as well.
---
 src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c | 201 +++++++++++++++++---------
 1 file changed, 133 insertions(+), 68 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c b/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c
index 2a5c4db155513..f69bfc562c455 100644
--- a/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c
+++ b/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c
@@ -248,6 +248,28 @@ typedef struct
     VULKAN_Image image;
 } VULKAN_PaletteData;
 
+// YUV conversion data
+typedef struct VULKAN_YUVPipeline
+{
+ // The information used to create this entry
+ VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfoKHR samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo;
+
+ // Object passed to VkImageView and VkSampler for doing Ycbcr -> RGB conversion
+ VkSamplerYcbcrConversion samplerYcbcrConversion;
+
+ // Sampler created with samplerYcbcrConversion, passed to PSO as immutable sampler
+ VkSampler samplerYcbcr;
+
+ // Descriptor set layout with samplerYcbcr baked as immutable sampler
+ VkDescriptorSetLayout descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr;
+
+ // Pipeline layout with immutable sampler descriptor set layout
+ VkPipelineLayout pipelineLayoutYcbcr;
+
+ // The next entry in the cache
+ struct VULKAN_YUVPipeline *next;
+} VULKAN_YUVPipeline;
+
 // Per-texture data
 typedef struct
 {
@@ -259,14 +281,8 @@ typedef struct
     int width;
     int height;
 
- // Object passed to VkImageView and VkSampler for doing Ycbcr -> RGB conversion
- VkSamplerYcbcrConversion samplerYcbcrConversion;
- // Sampler created with samplerYcbcrConversion, passed to PSO as immutable sampler
- VkSampler samplerYcbcr;
- // Descriptor set layout with samplerYcbcr baked as immutable sampler
- VkDescriptorSetLayout descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr;
- // Pipeline layout with immutable sampler descriptor set layout
- VkPipelineLayout pipelineLayoutYcbcr;
+ bool yuv;
+ VULKAN_YUVPipeline *yuvPipeline;
 
     Uint8 *pixels;
     int pitch;
@@ -353,6 +369,8 @@ typedef struct
     VULKAN_PipelineState *pipelineStates;
     VULKAN_PipelineState *currentPipelineState;
 
+ VULKAN_YUVPipeline *yuvPipelineCache;
+
     bool supportsEXTSwapchainColorspace;
     bool supportsKHRGetPhysicalDeviceProperties2;
     bool supportsKHRSamplerYCbCrConversion;
@@ -519,6 +537,8 @@ static bool VULKAN_FindMemoryTypeIndex(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData, uint32_t
 static VkResult VULKAN_CreateWindowSizeDependentResources(SDL_Renderer *renderer);
 static VkDescriptorPool VULKAN_AllocateDescriptorPool(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData);
 static VkResult VULKAN_CreateDescriptorSetAndPipelineLayout(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData, VkSampler samplerYcbcr, VkDescriptorSetLayout *descriptorSetLayoutOut, VkPipelineLayout *pipelineLayoutOut);
+static VULKAN_YUVPipeline *VULKAN_GetYUVPipeline(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData, const VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfoKHR *samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo);
+static void VULKAN_CleanupYUVPipeline(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData, VULKAN_YUVPipeline *data);
 static VkSurfaceTransformFlagBitsKHR VULKAN_GetRotationForCurrentRenderTarget(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData);
 static bool VULKAN_IsDisplayRotated90Degrees(VkSurfaceTransformFlagBitsKHR rotation);
 
@@ -538,6 +558,13 @@ static void VULKAN_DestroyAll(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
         VULKAN_DestroyTexture(renderer, texture);
     }
 
+ for (VULKAN_YUVPipeline *pipeline = rendererData->yuvPipelineCache; pipeline;) {
+ VULKAN_YUVPipeline *next = pipeline->next;
+ VULKAN_CleanupYUVPipeline(rendererData, pipeline);
+ pipeline = next;
+ }
+ rendererData->yuvPipelineCache = NULL;
+
     if (rendererData->waitDestStageMasks) {
         SDL_free(rendererData->waitDestStageMasks);
         rendererData->waitDestStageMasks = NULL;
@@ -2691,7 +2718,8 @@ static bool VULKAN_CreateTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer, SDL_Texture *texture, S
             return SDL_SetError("YUV textures require a Vulkan device that supports VK_KHR_sampler_ycbcr_conversion");
         }
 
- VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfoKHR samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo = { 0 };
+ VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfoKHR samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo;
+ SDL_zero(samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo);
         samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SAMPLER_YCBCR_CONVERSION_CREATE_INFO_KHR;
 
         if (texture->format != SDL_PIXELFORMAT_I444 &&
@@ -2765,42 +2793,12 @@ static bool VULKAN_CreateTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer, SDL_Texture *texture, S
         samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo.chromaFilter = VK_FILTER_LINEAR;
         samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo.forceExplicitReconstruction = VK_FALSE;
 
- result = vkCreateSamplerYcbcrConversionKHR(rendererData->device, &samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo, NULL, &textureData->samplerYcbcrConversion);
- if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
- SET_ERROR_CODE("vkCreateSamplerYcbcrConversionKHR()", result);
- return false;
- }
-
- // Also create VkSampler object which we will need to pass to the PSO as an immutable sampler
- VkSamplerCreateInfo samplerCreateInfo = { 0 };
- samplerCreateInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SAMPLER_CREATE_INFO;
- samplerCreateInfo.magFilter = VK_FILTER_LINEAR;
- samplerCreateInfo.minFilter = VK_FILTER_LINEAR;
- samplerCreateInfo.mipmapMode = VK_SAMPLER_MIPMAP_MODE_NEAREST;
- samplerCreateInfo.addressModeU = VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
- samplerCreateInfo.addressModeV = VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
- samplerCreateInfo.addressModeW = VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
- samplerCreateInfo.mipLodBias = 0.0f;
- samplerCreateInfo.anisotropyEnable = VK_FALSE;
- samplerCreateInfo.maxAnisotropy = 1.0f;
- samplerCreateInfo.minLod = 0.0f;
- samplerCreateInfo.maxLod = 1000.0f;
-
- VkSamplerYcbcrConversionInfoKHR samplerYcbcrConversionInfo = { 0 };
- samplerYcbcrConversionInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SAMPLER_YCBCR_CONVERSION_INFO_KHR;
- samplerYcbcrConversionInfo.conversion = textureData->samplerYcbcrConversion;
- samplerCreateInfo.pNext = &samplerYcbcrConversionInfo;
- result = vkCreateSampler(rendererData->device, &samplerCreateInfo, NULL, &textureData->samplerYcbcr);
- if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
- SET_ERROR_CODE("vkCreateSampler()", result);
+ textureData->yuvPipeline = VULKAN_GetYUVPipeline(rendererData, &samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo);
+ if (!textureData->yuvPipeline) {
             return false;
         }
 
- // Allocate special descriptor set layout with samplerYcbcr baked as an immutable sampler
- result = VULKAN_CreateDescriptorSetAndPipelineLayout(rendererData, textureData->samplerYcbcr, &textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr, &textureData->pipelineLayoutYcbcr);
- if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
- return false;
- }
+ textureData->yuv = true;
     }
     textureData->width = width;
     textureData->height = height;
@@ -2810,7 +2808,8 @@ static bool VULKAN_CreateTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer, SDL_Texture *texture, S
         usage |= VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT;
     }
 
- result = VULKAN_AllocateImage(rendererData, create_props, width, height, textureFormat, usage, imageViewSwizzle, textureData->samplerYcbcrConversion, &textureData->mainImage);
+ VkSamplerYcbcrConversionKHR samplerYcbcrConversion = (textureData->yuvPipeline ? textureData->yuvPipeline->samplerYcbcrConversion : VK_NULL_HANDLE);
+ result = VULKAN_AllocateImage(rendererData, create_props, width, height, textureFormat, usage, imageViewSwizzle, samplerYcbcrConversion, &textureData->mainImage);
     if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
         SET_ERROR_CODE("VULKAN_AllocateImage()", result);
         return false;
@@ -2853,23 +2852,6 @@ static void VULKAN_DestroyTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer,
 
     VULKAN_DestroyImage(rendererData, &textureData->mainImage);
 
- if (textureData->samplerYcbcrConversion != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
- vkDestroySamplerYcbcrConversionKHR(rendererData->device, textureData->samplerYcbcrConversion, NULL);
- textureData->samplerYcbcrConversion = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
- }
- if (textureData->samplerYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
- vkDestroySampler(rendererData->device, textureData->samplerYcbcr, NULL);
- textureData->samplerYcbcr = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
- }
- if (textureData->pipelineLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
- vkDestroyPipelineLayout(rendererData->device, textureData->pipelineLayoutYcbcr, NULL);
- textureData->pipelineLayoutYcbcr = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
- }
- if (textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
- vkDestroyDescriptorSetLayout(rendererData->device, textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr, NULL);
- textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
- }
-
     VULKAN_DestroyBuffer(rendererData, &textureData->stagingBuffer);
     if (textureData->mainFramebuffer != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
         vkDestroyFramebuffer(rendererData->device, textureData->mainFramebuffer, NULL);
@@ -3116,8 +3098,7 @@ static bool VULKAN_LockTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer, SDL_Texture *texture,
         return SDL_SetError("texture is already locked");
     }
 
- bool yuv = (textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE);
- if (yuv) {
+ if (textureData->yuv) {
         // It's more efficient to upload directly...
         if (!textureData->pixels) {
             size_t size, calculated_pitch;
@@ -3175,8 +3156,7 @@ static void VULKAN_UnlockTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer, SDL_Texture *texture)
         return;
     }
 
- bool yuv = (textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE);
- if (yuv) {
+ if (textureData->yuv) {
         const SDL_Rect *rect = &textureData->lockedRect;
         const Uint8 *pixels = textureData->pixels + rect->y * textureData->pitch + rect->x * SDL_BYTESPERPIXEL(texture->format);
 
@@ -3844,6 +3824,92 @@ static VkDescriptorSet VULKAN_AllocateDescriptorSet(SDL_Renderer *renderer, VULK
     return descriptorSet;
 }
 
+static VULKAN_YUVPipeline *VULKAN_GetYUVPipeline(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData, const VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfoKHR *samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo)
+{
+ VULKAN_YUVPipeline *pipeline;
+ VkResult result;
+
+ // Save pNext and set it to NULL for the cache comparison
+ VkSamplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfoKHR cacheKey;
+ SDL_memcpy(&cacheKey, samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo, sizeof(cacheKey));
+ cacheKey.pNext = NULL;
+
+ for (pipeline = rendererData->yuvPipelineCache; pipeline; pipeline = pipeline->next) {
+ if (SDL_memcmp(&pipeline->samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo, &cacheKey, sizeof(cacheKey)) == 0) {
+ return pipeline;
+ }
+ }
+
+ pipeline = (VULKAN_YUVPipeline *)SDL_calloc(1, sizeof(*pipeline));
+ if (!pipeline) {
+ return NULL;
+ }
+ SDL_memcpy(&pipeline->samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo, &cacheKey, sizeof(cacheKey));
+
+ result = vkCreateSamplerYcbcrConversionKHR(rendererData->device, samplerYcbcrConversionCreateInfo, NULL, &pipeline->samplerYcbcrConversion);
+ if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
+ SET_ERROR_CODE("vkCreateSamplerYcbcrConversionKHR()", result);
+ VULKAN_CleanupYUVPipeline(rendererData, pipeline);
+ return NULL;
+ }
+
+ // Also create VkSampler object which we will need to pass to the PSO as an immutable sampler
+ VkSamplerCreateInfo samplerCreateInfo = { 0 };
+ samplerCreateInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SAMPLER_CREATE_INFO;
+ samplerCreateInfo.magFilter = VK_FILTER_LINEAR;
+ samplerCreateInfo.minFilter = VK_FILTER_LINEAR;
+ samplerCreateInfo.mipmapMode = VK_SAMPLER_MIPMAP_MODE_NEAREST;
+ samplerCreateInfo.addressModeU = VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
+ samplerCreateInfo.addressModeV = VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
+ samplerCreateInfo.addressModeW = VK_SAMPLER_ADDRESS_MODE_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
+ samplerCreateInfo.mipLodBias = 0.0f;
+ samplerCreateInfo.anisotropyEnable = VK_FALSE;
+ samplerCreateInfo.maxAnisotropy = 1.0f;
+ samplerCreateInfo.minLod = 0.0f;
+ samplerCreateInfo.maxLod = 1000.0f;
+
+ VkSamplerYcbcrConversionInfoKHR samplerYcbcrConversionInfo = { 0 };
+ samplerYcbcrConversionInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SAMPLER_YCBCR_CONVERSION_INFO_KHR;
+ samplerYcbcrConversionInfo.conversion = pipeline->samplerYcbcrConversion;
+ samplerCreateInfo.pNext = &samplerYcbcrConversionInfo;
+ result = vkCreateSampler(rendererData->device, &samplerCreateInfo, NULL, &pipeline->samplerYcbcr);
+ if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
+ SET_ERROR_CODE("vkCreateSampler()", result);
+ VULKAN_CleanupYUVPipeline(rendererData, pipeline);
+ return NULL;
+ }
+
+ // Allocate special descriptor set layout with samplerYcbcr baked as an immutable sampler
+ result = VULKAN_CreateDescriptorSetAndPipelineLayout(rendererData, pipeline->samplerYcbcr, &pipeline->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr, &pipeline->pipelineLayoutYcbcr);
+ if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
+ VULKAN_CleanupYUVPipeline(rendererData, pipeline);
+ return NULL;
+ }
+
+ // Link it into our cache!
+ pipeline->next = rendererData->yuvPipelineCache;
+ rendererData->yuvPipelineCache = pipeline;
+
+ return pipeline;
+}
+
+static void VULKAN_CleanupYUVPipeline(VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData, VULKAN_YUVPipeline *pipeline)
+{
+ if (pipeline->samplerYcbcrConversion != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
+ vkDestroySamplerYcbcrConversionKHR(rendererData->device, pipeline->samplerYcbcrConversion, NULL);
+ }
+ if (pipeline->samplerYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
+ vkDestroySampler(rendererData->device, pipeline->samplerYcbcr, NULL);
+ }
+ if (pipeline->pipelineLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
+ vkDestroyPipelineLayout(rendererData->device, pipeline->pipelineLayoutYcbcr, NULL);
+ }
+ if (pipeline->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
+ vkDestroyDescriptorSetLayout(rendererData->device, pipeline->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr, NULL);
+ }
+ SDL_free(pipeline);
+}
+
 static bool VULKAN_SetDrawState(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const SDL_RenderCommand *cmd, VkPipelineLayout pipelineLayout, VkDescriptorSetLayout descriptorSetLayout, const VULKAN_PixelShaderConstants *shader_constants, VkPrimitiveTopology topology, int numImages, VkImageView *imageViews, int numSamplers, VkSampler *samplers, const Float4X4 *matrix, VULKAN_DrawStateCache *stateCache, bool yuv)
 
 {
@@ -4063,9 +4129,8 @@ static bool VULKAN_SetCopyState(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const SDL_RenderCommand
     int numSamplers = 0;
     VkSampler samplers[2];
     VULKAN_PixelShaderConstants constants;
- VkDescriptorSetLayout descriptorSetLayout = (textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) ? textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr : rendererData->descriptorSetLayout;
- VkPipelineLayout pipelineLayout = (textureData->pipelineLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE) ? textureData->pipelineLayoutYcbcr : rendererData->pipelineLayout;
- bool yuv = (textureData->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr != VK_NULL_HANDLE);
+ VkDescriptorSetLayout descriptorSetLayout = textureData->yuvPipeline ? textureData->yuvPipeline->descriptorSetLayoutYcbcr : rendererData->descriptorSetLayout;
+ VkPipelineLayout pipelineLayout = textureData->yuvPipeline ? textureData->yuvPipeline->pipelineLayoutYcbcr : rendererData->pipelineLayout;
 
     VULKAN_SetupShaderConstants(renderer, cmd, texture, &constants);
 
@@ -4134,7 +4199,7 @@ static bool VULKAN_SetCopyState(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const SDL_RenderCommand
         samplers[numSamplers++] = samplers[0];
     }
 
- return VULKAN_SetDrawState(renderer, cmd, pipelineLayout, descriptorSetLayout, &constants, VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_LIST, numImageViews, imageViews, numSamplers, samplers, matrix, stateCache, yuv);
+ return VULKAN_SetDrawState(renderer, cmd, pipelineLayout, descriptorSetLayout, &constants, VK_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLE_LIST, numImageViews, imageViews, numSamplers, samplers, matrix, stateCache, textureData->yuv);
 }
 
 static void VULKAN_DrawPrimitives(SDL_Renderer *renderer, VkPrimitiveTopology primitiveTopology, const size_t vertexStart, const size_t vertexCount)

```