 Co-sited chroma

Co-sited chroma places a retained colour-difference sample at the same spatial coordinate as a selected luma sample along the relevant axis. With horizontal reduction by two, an illustrative co-sited grid occupies $x=0,2,4,\dots$ when luma samples occupy all integer positions. The Linux video documentation distinguishes this from centered chroma.^[ref]

Co-siting does not require simply discarding alternate original samples. An original symmetric three-tap filter can produceFor a linear ramp $c(n)=a+bn$, the terms simplify to $d_k=a+2bk=c(2k)$. This filter's output is therefore aligned with the middle luma position for the ramp, even though it combines neighbouring samples.

An alternating input shows why filtering matters. Let $c(n)=128+20(-1{)}^n$. Keeping only even-indexed samples without filtering gives the constant148, losing the alternating pattern through aliasing. The stated three-tap filter instead gives $(108+2(148)+108)/4=128$ at every retained position. This demonstrates suppression of this particular pattern; it does not prove rejection of every frequency that could alias.

Horizontal and vertical alignment are separate choices. A 4:2:0 chroma subsampling grid can be co-sited vertically while centered horizontally. During chroma reconstruction, using the correct coordinates and an appropriate low-pass filter are related but distinct requirements: correct placement cannot undo detail already discarded during sampling.