Data rate & bandwidth calculator

Resolution, frame rate, pixel format and compression in — bandwidth, frame size, storage and the interfaces that can carry it out.

Image
px
px
fps
Identical streams sharing one link.
Pixel format
bit/px
Compression
Typical ratios at good quality; real values depend on the scene.
: 1
Data path from sensor to wire, and the usable capacity of common camera interfaces against the required rate.

Details

    How it's calculated

    An uncompressed video stream carries every pixel of every frame:

    data rate = width × height × frame rate × bits per pixel × number of cameras

    Bits per pixel follow from the pixel format: a mono or Bayer raw format carries just the ADC bits (8/10/12 bit, "packed") or pads every pixel to 16 bits ("unpacked"). After debayering, YUV 4:2:2 takes 16 bits, YUV 4:2:0 12 bits and RGB 24 bits per pixel.

    Video compression divides the rate by a compression ratio. The ratios used here (MJPEG ≈ 10:1, H.264 ≈ 50:1, H.265/VP9 ≈ 100:1) are deliberately conservative figures for typical scenes at good quality — the real ratio depends heavily on scene content, motion and encoder settings. Raw Bayer data is never fed into a video codec directly; it has to be processed to YUV/RGB first.

    Interface capacities are realistically usable throughput after protocol overhead, not nominal line rates. For MIPI CSI-2 we conservatively assume 1.5 Gbit/s per D-PHY lane.

    All results are planning estimates based on simplified models and manufacturer data, without guarantee. Please verify critical values against the manufacturer datasheets before you make a design decision.

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