diff --git a/libvo/gl_common.c b/libvo/gl_common.c
index 47b0429ccf..626f7e4643 100644
--- a/libvo/gl_common.c
+++ b/libvo/gl_common.c
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ static const struct gl_name_map_struct gl_name_map[] = {
     MAP(GL_RGB10), MAP(GL_RGB12), MAP(GL_RGB16), MAP(GL_RGBA2),
     MAP(GL_RGBA4), MAP(GL_RGB5_A1), MAP(GL_RGBA8), MAP(GL_RGB10_A2),
     MAP(GL_RGBA12), MAP(GL_RGBA16), MAP(GL_LUMINANCE8), MAP(GL_LUMINANCE16),
+    MAP(GL_R16),
 
     // format
     MAP(GL_RGB), MAP(GL_RGBA), MAP(GL_RED), MAP(GL_GREEN), MAP(GL_BLUE),
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ const char *glValName(GLint value)
  * \return 1 if format is supported by OpenGL, 0 if not.
  * \ingroup gltexture
  */
-int glFindFormat(uint32_t fmt, int *bpp, GLint *gl_texfmt,
+int glFindFormat(uint32_t fmt, int have_texture_rg, int *bpp, GLint *gl_texfmt,
                  GLenum *gl_format, GLenum *gl_type)
 {
     int supported = 1;
@@ -190,9 +191,9 @@ int glFindFormat(uint32_t fmt, int *bpp, GLint *gl_texfmt,
         break;
     case IMGFMT_420P16:
         supported = 0; // no native YUV support
-        *gl_texfmt = GL_LUMINANCE16;
+        *gl_texfmt = have_texture_rg ? GL_R16 : GL_LUMINANCE16;
         *bpp = 16;
-        *gl_format = GL_LUMINANCE;
+        *gl_format = have_texture_rg ? GL_RED : GL_LUMINANCE;
         *gl_type = GL_UNSIGNED_SHORT;
         break;
     case IMGFMT_YV12:
@@ -592,6 +593,8 @@ int glFmt2bpp(GLenum format, GLenum type)
     case GL_RGBA:
     case GL_BGRA:
         return 4 * component_size;
+    case GL_RED:
+        return component_size;
     }
     return 0; // unknown
 }
@@ -853,7 +856,8 @@ static void gen_spline_lookup_tex(GL *gl, GLenum unit)
 }
 
 #define SAMPLE(dest, coord, texture) \
-    "TEX dest, " coord ", " texture ", $tex_type;\n"
+    "TEX textemp, " coord ", " texture ", $tex_type;\n" \
+    "MOV " dest ", textemp.r;\n"
 
 static const char *bilin_filt_template =
     SAMPLE("yuv.$out_comp","fragment.texcoord[$in_tex]","texture[$in_tex]");
diff --git a/libvo/gl_common.h b/libvo/gl_common.h
index d1d034b99a..f2e07e7e8b 100644
--- a/libvo/gl_common.h
+++ b/libvo/gl_common.h
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@
 #ifndef GL_LUMINANCE16
 #define GL_LUMINANCE16 0x8042
 #endif
+#ifndef GL_R16
+#define GL_R16 0x822A
+#endif
 #ifndef GL_UNPACK_CLIENT_STORAGE_APPLE
 #define GL_UNPACK_CLIENT_STORAGE_APPLE 0x85B2
 #endif
@@ -245,8 +248,8 @@ void glAdjustAlignment(GL *gl, int stride);
 
 const char *glValName(GLint value);
 
-int glFindFormat(uint32_t format, int *bpp, GLint *gl_texfmt,
-                 GLenum *gl_format, GLenum *gl_type);
+int glFindFormat(uint32_t format, int have_texture_rg, int *bpp,
+                 GLint *gl_texfmt, GLenum *gl_format, GLenum *gl_type);
 int glFmt2bpp(GLenum format, GLenum type);
 void glCreateClearTex(GL *gl, GLenum target, GLenum fmt, GLenum format,
                       GLenum type, GLint filter, int w, int h,
diff --git a/libvo/vo_gl.c b/libvo/vo_gl.c
index e99ff4432f..b38a8d75e4 100644
--- a/libvo/vo_gl.c
+++ b/libvo/vo_gl.c
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ struct gl_priv {
     uint32_t image_d_width;
     uint32_t image_d_height;
     int many_fmts;
+    int have_texture_rg;
     int ati_hack;
     int force_pbo;
     int use_glFinish;
@@ -503,6 +504,7 @@ static void autodetectGlExtensions(struct vo *vo)
         if (extensions && strstr(extensions, "_pixel_buffer_object"))
             p->force_pbo = is_ati;
     }
+    p->have_texture_rg = extensions && strstr(extensions, "GL_ARB_texture_rg");
     if (p->use_rectangle == -1) {
         p->use_rectangle = 0;
         if (extensions) {
@@ -669,7 +671,8 @@ static int config(struct vo *vo, uint32_t width, uint32_t height,
     p->image_d_height = d_height;
     p->is_yuv = mp_get_chroma_shift(p->image_format, &xs, &ys, NULL) > 0;
     p->is_yuv |= (xs << 8) | (ys << 16);
-    glFindFormat(format, NULL, &p->texfmt, &p->gl_format, &p->gl_type);
+    glFindFormat(format, p->have_texture_rg, NULL, &p->texfmt, &p->gl_format,
+                 &p->gl_type);
 
     p->vo_flipped = !!(flags & VOFLAG_FLIPPING);
 
@@ -1207,7 +1210,7 @@ static int query_format(struct vo *vo, uint32_t format)
     if (!p->use_ycbcr && (format == IMGFMT_UYVY || format == IMGFMT_YVYU))
         return 0;
     if (p->many_fmts &&
-        glFindFormat(format, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL))
+        glFindFormat(format, p->have_texture_rg, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL))
         return caps;
     return 0;
 }