How to use Bandwidth to Determine the Best Video Output
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.