Some devices require data for each input or output video frame to be placed in discontiguous memory buffers. In such cases one video frame has to be addressed using more than one memory address, i.e. one pointer per "plane". A plane is a sub-buffer of current frame. For examples of such formats see . Initially, V4L2 API did not support multi-planar buffers and a set of extensions has been introduced to handle them. Those extensions constitute what is being referred to as the "multi-planar API". Some of the V4L2 API calls and structures are interpreted differently, depending on whether single- or multi-planar API is being used. An application can choose whether to use one or the other by passing a corresponding buffer type to its ioctl calls. Multi-planar versions of buffer types are suffixed with an `_MPLANE' string. For a list of available multi-planar buffer types see &v4l2-buf-type;.

Multi-planar API introduces new multi-planar formats. Those formats use a separate set of FourCC codes. It is important to distinguish between the multi-planar API and a multi-planar format. Multi-planar API calls can handle all single-planar formats as well, while the single-planar API cannot handle multi-planar formats. Applications do not have to switch between APIs when handling both single- and multi-planar devices and should use the multi-planar API version for both single- and multi-planar formats. Drivers that do not support multi-planar API can still be handled with it, utilizing a compatibility layer built into standard V4L2 ioctl handling.

In most casesThe compatibility layer does not cover drivers that do not use video_ioctl2() call., applications can use the multi-planar API with older drivers that support only its single-planar version and vice versa. Appropriate conversion is done seamlessly for both applications and drivers in the V4L2 core. The general rule of thumb is: as long as an application uses formats that a driver supports, it can use either API (although use of multi-planar formats is only possible with the multi-planar API). The list of formats supported by a driver can be obtained using the &VIDIOC-ENUM-FMT; call. It is possible, but discouraged, for a driver or an application to support and use both versions of the API.

&VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; Two additional multi-planar capabilities are added. They can be set together with non-multi-planar ones for devices that handle both single- and multi-planar formats. &VIDIOC-G-FMT;, &VIDIOC-S-FMT;, &VIDIOC-TRY-FMT; New structures for describing multi-planar formats are added: &v4l2-pix-format-mplane; and &v4l2-plane-pix-format;. Drivers may define new multi-planar formats, which have distinct FourCC codes from the existing single-planar ones. &VIDIOC-QBUF;, &VIDIOC-DQBUF;, &VIDIOC-QUERYBUF; A new &v4l2-plane; structure for describing planes is added. Arrays of this structure are passed in the new m.planes field of &v4l2-buffer;. &VIDIOC-REQBUFS; Will allocate multi-planar buffers as requested.