Pixel Rate Calculator

Horizontal Resolution (Pixels)

Vertical Resolution (Pixels)

Refresh Rate (Hz)

Blanking Overhead (%) (Standard is 5-15%)

Results

Total Pixels per Frame: 0 px

Raw Pixel Rate: 0 Megapixels/sec

Effective Pixel Clock (with Blanking): 0 MHz

Estimated Bandwidth (8-bit Color): 0 Gbps

What is Pixel Rate?

The pixel rate, often referred to as the pixel clock or frequency, is the speed at which pixels are transmitted to a display device to produce a coherent image. It is a critical measurement for determining if a video interface (like HDMI, DisplayPort, or VGA) can support a specific resolution and refresh rate combination.

How to Calculate Pixel Rate

The basic formula for raw pixel rate is straightforward:

            Pixel Rate = Width × Height × Refresh Rate
        

However, real-world displays require blanking intervals. These are short pauses between lines and frames used by display controllers to synchronize the signal. This is why the "Pixel Clock" is always higher than the raw pixel count of the resolution.

Real-World Examples

Full HD (1080p) @ 60Hz: Requires a pixel clock of approximately 148.5 MHz.
4K UHD @ 60Hz: Requires a pixel clock of approximately 594 MHz.
4K UHD @ 144Hz: Requires over 1,400 MHz, necessitating advanced compression (DSC) or high-bandwidth interfaces like HDMI 2.1.

Why Does This Matter?

Understanding the pixel rate helps PC gamers, AV professionals, and hardware enthusiasts troubleshoot display issues like flickering, "no signal" errors, or the inability to select a high refresh rate. If your cable or port's maximum pixel clock is lower than what the monitor demands, the image will not display correctly.

function calculatePixelRate() { var width = parseFloat(document.getElementById("pixelWidth").value); var height = parseFloat(document.getElementById("pixelHeight").value); var refresh = parseFloat(document.getElementById("refreshRate").value); var blanking = parseFloat(document.getElementById("blankingFactor").value); if (isNaN(width) || isNaN(height) || isNaN(refresh) || isNaN(blanking)) { alert("Please enter valid numeric values."); return; } // Calculations var totalPixels = width * height; var rawRateHz = totalPixels * refresh; var rawRateMP = rawRateHz / 1000000; // Effective Pixel Clock with Blanking // Simple model: Width * Height * Refresh * (1 + BlankingFactor/100) var clockRateMHz = (rawRateHz * (1 + (blanking / 100))) / 1000000; // Estimated Bandwidth in Gbps for 8-bit RGB (24 bits per pixel) // Logic: Pixel Clock * 24 bits / 1,000,000,000 var bandwidthGbps = (clockRateMHz * 1000000 * 24) / 1000000000; // Update DOM document.getElementById("totalPixels").innerText = totalPixels.toLocaleString(); document.getElementById("rawRate").innerText = rawRateMP.toFixed(2); document.getElementById("clockRate").innerText = clockRateMHz.toFixed(2); document.getElementById("bandwidth").innerText = bandwidthGbps.toFixed(2); document.getElementById("resultsArea").style.display = "block"; }