Description
This article will discuss input bandwidth for HDMI and DisplayPort and teach how to calculate custom resolutions and frame rates. There is also a calculator on this page that will allow for test calculations. This is a useful tool for understanding what the HELIOS® inputs are capable of.
Calculating video bandwidth requirements
Use this formula to check a format against HDMI 2.0, HDMI 2.1, or DisplayPort 1.4 bandwidth:
Data Rate = Total width x Total height × Frame Rate × Bits per color × Pixel format
Formula Variables:
Total width = Active + horizontal blanking pixels
Total height = Active + vertical blanking pixels
Frame Rate = in Hz
Bits per color = color depth (8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit)
Pixel format = 2 for 4:2:2 or 3 for RGB or 4:4:4
Example calculation
Desired input format: 5K (5120 × 2880) at 60 Hz, 8-bit RGB with CVT-RB v2
Total width: 5200
Total height: 2962
Frame Rate: 60 Hz
Bits per color: 8-bit
Pixel format: 3
5200 × 2962 × 60 × 8 × 3 = 22,179,456,000 ≈ 22.18 Gb/s
Conclusion: This example format will not fit on HDMI 2.0 (14.4 Gbit/s max) but will fit on HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4.
Input bandwidth limits
HELIOS has an overall system pixel rate of 2,124,000,000 active pixels per second. This limit only applies to the pixel rate and is not affected by color depth, color format, blanking, redundancy, etc.
HELIOS® has an overall system pixel rate of 2,124,000,000 active pixels per second. This limit only applies to the pixel rate and is not affected by color depth, color format, blanking, redundancy, etc.