How to use Bandwidth to Determine the Best Video Output

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Product Information & Documentation

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09/27/2022

Bandwidth is the rate of digital data flow to a monitor, and depends on three elements:

  • Resolution
  • Refresh rate
  • Color depth factor (bits per pixel)

To make sure your cable supports your configuration of resolution, refresh rate, and color depth, verify that the bandwidth of your desired video signal is lower than the Max. If using MST, the sum of your signals should be lower than the Max. The Effective Bandwidth of the cable is:

Output Revision     Max. Specification
Bandwidth
Max. Effective
Bandwidth
DVI dual-link 9.90 Gbps 7.92 Gbps
single-link* 4.95 Gbps 3.96 Gbps
HDMI 1.0–1.2 4.95 Gbps 3.96 Gbps
1.3/1.4 10.2 Gbps 8.16 Gbps
2.0 18.0 Gbps 14.4 Gbps
2.1 48.0 Gbps 42.67 Gbps
DisplayPort 1.1 10.8 Gbps 8.64 Gbps
1.2 21.6 Gbps 17.28 Gbps
1.3/1.4 32.4 Gbps 25.92 Gbps
2.0 80 Gbps 77.37 Gbps
Thunderbolt™ 1 10 Gbps 8.64 Gbps
2 20 Gbps 17.28 Gbps
3/4 40 Gbps 34.56 Gbps
Note Bandwidth is a property of digital signals; analog video signals like VGA do not have a well-defined bandwidth limit. The maximum resolution possible with VGA is 2048×1536.
Note * Intel® Graphics Drivers for Windows only support DVI Single-link rates.

Here is a table of common resolution/refresh rate configurations, at the standard 8-bit color depth:

  24 Hz 60 Hz 120 Hz 144 Hz
1280×720
720p
HD
0.66 Gbps 1.66 Gbps 3.32 Gbps 3.98 Gbps
1920×1080
1080p
Full HD/FHD
1.49 Gbps 3.73 Gbps 7.46 Gbps 8.96 Gbps
2560×1440
1440p
WQHD/QHD
2.65 Gbps 6.64 Gbps 13.27 Gbps 15.93 Gbps
3840×2160
2160p
UHD
5.97 Gbps 14.93 Gbps 29.86 Gbps 35.83 Gbps

To calculate a specific configuration's required bandwidth, use a bandwidth calculator.

Related topics
Supported Configurations for Three Displays
Maximum Resolutions Supported in a Three Display Configuration
Troubleshooting Issues With Multiple Displays
Multi-stream Transport (MST) Reference Guide
What’s the Version of My HDMI Port or Cable?