1. A method for implementing a single instruction to process video data in a processing unit, the method comprising: retrieving a first plurality of bytes of video data into a first data buffer; retrieving a second plurality of bytes of video data into a second data buffer; identifying a first desired byte in the first data buffer and a second desired byte in the second data buffer, wherein the first and second desired bytes are identified based on the single instruction; determining an alignment position of the first desired byte and the second desired byte based on a processing operation of the single instruction; shifting at least one of the first data buffer or the second data buffer based on the determined alignment position, wherein the first desired byte is aligned with the second desired byte at a matching byte location; and processing the first desired byte and the second desired byte to provide processed video data.