Resolution Data Rate Calculator
Calculate the uncompressed and compressed bandwidth required for video streams based on resolution, frame rate, and color depth.
Calculated Results
Understanding Video Data Rates
The Resolution Data Rate Calculator is an essential tool for broadcast engineers, videographers, and network administrators. It determines how much data a video stream consumes based on its technical specifications. This is critical for planning storage capacity, determining internet bandwidth requirements, and selecting the right hardware for video processing.
The Data Rate Formula
The mathematical foundation for calculating uncompressed video bandwidth is straightforward:
To calculate compressed video, we simply divide the result by the Compression Ratio. For example, H.264 or H.265 compression can often achieve ratios of 50:1 to 200:1 compared to raw video while maintaining visual quality.
Key Factors Influencing Bandwidth
- Resolution: The total number of pixels in a frame. Moving from 1080p (Full HD) to 4K (Ultra HD) quadruples the number of pixels, and thus the data rate.
- Frame Rate: Measured in Frames Per Second (FPS). Higher frame rates (like 60fps vs 24fps) result in smoother motion but increase the data throughput linearly.
- Bit Depth: Determines how much color information is stored per pixel. While 8-bit is standard, 10-bit and 12-bit (HDR) significantly increase the data load to provide more color nuance.
- Compression: Uncompressed video is rarely used outside of professional production environments (like SDI or high-end cameras) due to its massive size.
Example Calculation: 4K Video
Let's look at a standard 4K (3840 x 2160) stream at 60 FPS with 10-bit color depth:
- Total Pixels: 3840 * 2160 = 8,294,400 pixels per frame.
- Total Bits per Frame: 8,294,400 * 10 = 82,944,000 bits.
- Raw Data Rate: 82,944,000 * 60 = 4,976,640,000 bits per second (~4.98 Gbps).
- With 100:1 Compression: 4.98 Gbps / 100 = 49.8 Mbps.