Video Bandwidth Calculator

Signal Format

Which Links Can Carry It?

The Minimum row in each group is the lowest standard that fits. "Needs" is what that link has to carry, worked out the way that link counts it. The notes column gives the assumption used.

How Each Link Is Counted

• Active picture: width × height × frame rate × bits per pixel. Bits per pixel = bit depth × 3 for 4:4:4/RGB, × 2 for 4:2:2, × 1.5 for 4:2:0, plus one more sample per pixel for alpha. For interlaced, the frame rate is half the field rate.
• SDI sends the whole SMPTE raster, blanking included, as 10-bit words at a fixed rate. 4:2:2 at 10-bit uses 20 bits per raster sample (Y + alternate Cb/Cr). 4:4:4, 4:2:2:4 and 12-bit formats use 40 bits (two 20-bit streams). 8-bit is carried in 10-bit words, and 4:2:0 is carried as 4:2:2. Example: 2160p60 4:2:2 10-bit = 4400 × 2250 × 60 × 20 = 11.88 Gb/s, which is exactly 12G-SDI. For 59.94, 29.97 and so on, the link runs at its ÷1.001 rate, so the same format still fits.
• HDMI (TMDS, 1.4 and 2.0) sends the CTA-861 raster including blanking. The TMDS character rate is the pixel clock × bit depth ÷ 8 for RGB/4:4:4, the pixel clock for 4:2:2 (always a 12-bit container), and half that for 4:2:0. Limits: 340 MHz (10.2 Gb/s) for HDMI 1.4 and 600 MHz (18 Gb/s) for HDMI 2.0. Link Gb/s = character rate × 3 channels × 10 bits (8b/10b).
• HDMI 2.1 FRL drops most of the blanking and uses 16b/18b coding, so capacity = lane rate × 16/18. The figure here is an estimate: active pixels per line × line rate × bits per pixel, plus 3% for FRL packets, Reed–Solomon FEC and audio. The exact rules are in the HDMI 2.1 specification, which is not public. Treat results within a few percent of a tier as marginal.
• DisplayPort needs pixel clock × bits per pixel to fit in the link's payload: 80% of the raw rate for 8b/10b (HBR to HBR3), and VESA's published 128b/132b payload figures for UHBR. DisplayPort sources often use CVT reduced blanking (CVT-RB v2), which needs less bandwidth than CTA timing. Where only the reduced-blanking timing fits, the row says so.
• HDBaseT carries an HDMI signal. Spec 2.0 handles up to 4K30 4:4:4 or 4K60 4:2:0 at 8-bit (TMDS 297 MHz). Spec 3.0 carries uncompressed HDMI 2.0 4K60 4:4:4 (18 Gb/s). Many 2.0-era extenders add light compression or colour-space conversion to go further, so check the product.
• SMPTE ST 2110-20 sends only the active picture over RTP. On-wire = active rate × (1 + 86/1440) ≈ +6%. That assumes 1,440-byte video payloads, the ST 2110-10 standard UDP size limit less the RTP and payload headers, and 86 bytes of RTP, payload, UDP, IPv4, Ethernet, preamble and inter-frame gap overhead per packet. Alpha travels as a separate stream, so it is left out here. ST 2110-22 carries compressed video, typically JPEG XS, designed to be visually lossless at up to about 10:1.
• NDI and streaming figures are published maximums, not calculations. NDI rates come from NDI's bandwidth tables, which only list 720p, 1080 and 2160 at 50/60. Streaming rates are YouTube Live's recommended encoder bitrates.

Typical Cable Lengths

These are typical working lengths, not guarantees. Real reach depends on the cable, its connectors and patch points, and the receiver's equaliser. Check the cable and equipment specs, and use fibre beyond these.