Colour Depth Calculator
Levels per channel, total colours, raw bitrate and the size of one banding step, for any bit depth.
Results
Levels per channel
1024
Colours it can show
1,073,741,824
Bits each pixel really costs
30
bit/px
Bytes in one frame
31,104,000
B
Megabytes per frame
31.1040
MB
Uncompressed bitrate
6220.800
Mbps
Size of one step in a gradient
0.09775
%
Stops the depth can hold
10
stops
Levels against 8 bits
4.0000
Gigabytes an hour, uncompressed
2799.36
GB/h
What this tool does
Eight bits give 256 levels per channel, which sounds generous until you spread them across a gradient: each step is four tenths of a per cent, and on a smooth sky you can see the edges. Ten bits make each step a tenth of a per cent and the banding disappears — at the price of a quarter more data. The page gives the step size as well as the count, because that is what you actually see.
Formula
levels per channel = 2ⁿ · colours = 2^(3n) · bytes per frame = width × height × 3n ÷ 8
Variables
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
bd | Bits per channel | — |
ch | How many channels | — |
w | Frame width | — |
h | Frame height | — |
fps | Frames per second | — |
LV | Levels per channel | — |
CO | Colours it can show | — |
BP | Bits each pixel really costs | bit/px |
FB | Bytes in one frame | B |
FM | Megabytes per frame | MB |
RT | Uncompressed bitrate | Mbps |
BS | Size of one step in a gradient | % |
DR | Stops the depth can hold | stops |
VS | Levels against 8 bits | — |
GH | Gigabytes an hour, uncompressed | GB/h |
Worked example
- Bits per channel10
- How many channels3
- Frame width3840
- Frame height2160
- Frames per second25
- Levels per channel1024
- Colours it can show1,073,741,824
- Bits each pixel really costs30 bit/px
- Bytes in one frame31,104,000 B
- Megabytes per frame31.1040 MB
- Uncompressed bitrate6220.800 Mbps
- Size of one step in a gradient0.09775 %
- Stops the depth can hold10 stops
- Levels against 8 bits4.0000
- Gigabytes an hour, uncompressed2799.36 GB/h
Limitations
- The calculation runs at full precision and only the display is rounded. If you copy an intermediate value and retype it, small differences can appear.
- Mixing units is the most common source of error. Convert every input to the units shown next to each field before calculating.