PVR Files

The PVR file is an custom PowerVR image format for the Sega Dreamcast.

Header

The GBIX (Global Index) is optional and not always present.

Position	Length	Value	Description
0x00	0x04	0x47424958 (GBIX)	GBIX Identifier (Global Index)
0x04	0x04	-	GBIX Size (mostly 4 bytes)
0x08	0x??	-	GBIX Content (mostly empty)
After GBIX	-------------	-------------	-------------
0x00	0x04	0x50565254 (PVRT)	PVRT Identifier
0x04	0x04	-	Length of PVR file after this
0x08	0x04	-	PVR Type
0x0C	0x02	-	Image Width
0x0E	0x02	-	Image Height

GBIX (Global Index)

Shenmue I & II don't seem to use this feature of the PVR files.

• The Global Index is a unique number that is assigned to all textures.
• Texture duplication is checked by comparing the Global Index numbers.
• The Global Index is stored in a texture file.

PVR Type

This only shows some of the possible values, more are available but not needed. Only the first 2 bytes of the PVR Type are used.

Pixel Format (0x01)

• 0x00 = ARGB1555
• 0x01 = RGB565
• 0x02 = ARGB4444
• 0x03 = YUV442
• 0x04 = Bump

Data Format (0x02)

• 0x00 = Normal
• 0x01 = Square Twiddled
• 0x02 = Square Twiddled Mipmaps
• 0x03 = Vector Quantized
• 0x04 = Vector Quantized Mipmaps