MPEG - the maximum range for R,G,B?
Yes, MPEG-2 video is stored as YCbCr, but video editing programs (like Cinelerra) convert the samples to RGB for processing during editing. That range is 16-235.
From Wikipedia on YCbCr

Analog YPbPr from analog R'G'B' is derived as follows:


To get a YUV output in the 16-235 range, the input RGB is also limited.