Y4M to TBZ2 Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
YUV4MPEG2 Raw Video and Bzip2ed TAR (TBZ2) exist for different jobs: Y4M is uncompressed video with a text header — the interchange format of video-filter pipelines (avisynth/vapoursynth) and encoder test suites. Convert TBZ2 exactly like TAR.BZ2.
This converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — your files never leave your device, nothing is uploaded, and there are no watermarks, sign-ups or queues. Drop in several files at once to convert them as a batch.
How to convert Y4M to TBZ2
- 1
Select your files
Select your Y4M file — it never leaves your device.
- 2
Convert instantly
The engine packs the file, byte for byte, into a TBZ2 container — no re-encoding, no quality change.
- 3
Download results
Download the finished TBZ2 archive.
About the Y4M format
Y4M (YUV4MPEG2) is uncompressed video with a one-line text header: resolution, framerate and color space, then raw YUV frames. It is the lingua franca of video-filter pipelines — AviSynth, Vapoursynth and encoder test suites pass frames around as Y4M because there is nothing to misparse.
A Y4M of any real length is enormous (30MB per second of 1080p), so conversion to MP4/WEBM with H.264 or VP9 is always the destination — the value is in the zero-ambiguity input, not the format itself.
+Strengths
- ✓Zero-ambiguity pixel format declaration
- ✓Standard between filter frameworks
- ✓Lossless by construction
!Limitations
- −No compression whatsoever
- −Color space variants (limited/full) trip decoders
- −Not natively playable in browsers
About the TBZ2 format
TAR.BZ2 pairs the tar container with bzip2 compression — the classic release artifact of the 2000s Unix world. Bzip2's block-sorting algorithm compresses text and source trees noticeably tighter than gzip, which is why distribution mirrors and source releases favoured it for years.
Today it has largely ceded the top spot to TAR.XZ (smaller) and tar.gz (faster), but countless build scripts, mirrors and legacy toolchains still expect the exact .tar.bz2 artifact — and producing it is a matter of running the tar through a bzip2 encoder.
+Strengths
- ✓Tighter than gzip on text and source trees
- ✓Classic, universally supported on Unix-like systems
- ✓Deterministic, well-understood artifact for releases
!Limitations
- −Slow compression compared to gzip/zstd
- −Larger than TAR.XZ for the same content
- −Single stream — no random file access
Why convert Y4M to TBZ2?
There is a concrete reason this conversion exists: No compression whatsoever TBZ2 sidesteps that — Tighter than gzip on text and source trees If that is your situation, the tool above settles it in seconds, entirely on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Y4M to TBZ2 converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for Y4M to TBZ2?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Will the audio track be kept?
Yes. The audio is carried over and re-encoded to the standard audio codec of TBZ2, staying in sync with the video. If your Y4M file has multiple audio tracks, the first one is used.
Why is video conversion slower than image conversion?
Every frame has to be decoded and re-encoded. This site runs that work on your own CPU via WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded, but a multi-minute video reasonably takes a few minutes. Images, by comparison, are single-frame jobs.