Video Size - Resolution, FPS, and Storage
Use this video size calculator to convert resolution, color depth, frame rate, and duration into uncompressed bit rate and storage in MB, GB, and TB.
Video Size
Results
What Is Video Size?
A video size calculator turns five video parameters into the exact uncompressed storage a clip will take on disk. Pick a resolution preset or enter a custom width and height, choose a color depth, pick a frame rate, and enter the clip length in minutes. The result shows the bit rate plus the file size in megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes for SD cards, SSDs, and streaming bandwidth.
- • Plan storage for a video project: decide whether a two-hour 4K UHD shoot at 30 fps fits a 1 TB SSD before you set up the rig
- • Compare formats side by side: see how SD 480p, HD 720p, Full HD 1080p, 2K, 4K UHD, and 8K UHD change the storage requirement for the same clip
- • Translate storage into bandwidth: feed the Mbps bit rate into an upload-time or bandwidth calculator to plan streaming and cloud backups
- • Estimate archive and backup capacity: size up a year of weekly masters before committing to a NAS or cloud-storage plan
When you need to take the MB, GB, or TB result from this calculator and turn it into KiB, MiB, or other storage units, the Data Storage Converter handles the same byte, kilobyte, megabyte, and gigabyte scale conversions.
How Video Size Works
The video size calculator multiplies the pixel count by the color depth to get the bytes per frame, then multiplies by the frame rate and by the duration in seconds to get the total bytes. The result is scaled into MB, GB, and TB on the SI decimal scale so the labels match the storage you actually buy.
- width: horizontal resolution in pixels, where Full HD is 1920 and 4K UHD is 3840
- height: vertical resolution in pixels, where Full HD is 1080 and 4K UHD is 2160
- colorDepth: bits per pixel, where 24 is SDR (8-bit per channel RGB), 30 is HDR (10-bit per channel), and 48 is linear VFX (16-bit per channel)
- fps: frames per second, where 24 is cinema, 25 is PAL, 30 is NTSC, and 60 is high frame rate
- durationSeconds: clip length in seconds, converted from the minutes input by multiplying by 60
The formula is exact for uncompressed video. The inputs are the width, height, color depth, frame rate, and duration, so the result is not an estimate.
5-minute 1080p clip at 30 fps and 24-bit color
width = 1920, height = 1080, colorDepth = 24, fps = 30, durationMinutes = 5
frameSizeBytes = (1920 × 1080 × 24) ÷ 8 = 6,220,800 bytes. totalBytes = 6,220,800 × 30 × 300 = 55,987,200,000 bytes. bitRateBps = 6,220,800 × 30 × 8 = 1,492,992,000 bps = 1492.99 Mbps. fileSizeMB = 55,987,200,000 ÷ 1,000,000 = 55,987.2 MB.
about 55,987.2 MB (54.7 GB) at 1492.99 Mbps for a 5-minute Full HD clip
This is the size of the same clip on an uncompressed SDI or DPX-style video container, which is why consumer formats use heavy compression.
According to Omni Calculator: Video File Size (by format), the total file size equals the frame size multiplied by the frame rate and by the duration in seconds, with the frame size equal to resolution times color depth in bits divided by 8.
According to Wikipedia: Bit rate, the bit rate is the number of bits processed per unit of time, and multiplying it by the duration yields the total bits stored.
For the per-frame math alone, before you multiply by frame rate and duration, the Video Frame Size Calculator shows the byte total of a single uncompressed video frame from resolution and color depth.
Key Concepts Explained
Five video parameters decide the uncompressed file size. Naming them keeps the math from feeling abstract and turns each result row into a concrete planning decision.
Pixel Count and Resolution
the product of horizontal and vertical resolution, which gives the number of pixels per frame. Full HD is 1920 × 1080 = 2,073,600 pixels, while 4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 = 8,294,400 pixels, exactly four times the pixel count.
Color Depth (Bits per Pixel)
the number of bits used to record the color of each pixel. 8-bit per channel RGB uses 24 bits per pixel, 10-bit HDR uses 30 bits per pixel, and 16-bit linear uses 48 bits per pixel.
Frame Rate (Frames per Second)
the number of still frames displayed per second. Cinema uses 24 fps, PAL uses 25 fps, NTSC uses 30 fps, and high-frame-rate workflows use 50, 60, or 120 fps.
Bit Rate (Megabits per Second)
the per-second throughput of the uncompressed video, expressed in Mbps. Full HD at 24-bit 30 fps is 1492.99 Mbps, which is the throughput figure network and streaming calculators use.
Because the bit rate in Mbps is the same number a video engineer uses and a network engineer uses, the Bandwidth Calculator lets you flip the same Mbps figure into the bandwidth headroom a streaming or live-broadcast link needs.
How to Use This Calculator
The form has six fields, and the order you fill them does not change the result. Five steps cover the typical case from picking a preset to reading the storage numbers.
- 1 Pick a resolution preset or choose Custom: use Full HD 1080p for consumer and broadcast work, 4K UHD for high-resolution capture, and Custom for non-standard resolutions.
- 2 Confirm or override the width and height: the preset fills the most common value; switch to Custom and edit width and height directly for vertical phone video or anamorphic capture.
- 3 Pick a color depth that matches your footage: use 8-bit per channel (24-bit RGB) for SDR, 10-bit per channel (30-bit RGB) for HDR, 12-bit per channel (36-bit RGB) for pro workflows, and 16-bit per channel (48-bit RGB) for linear VFX.
- 4 Pick the frame rate of the source: use 24 for cinema, 25 for PAL, 30 for NTSC, 50 or 60 for high frame rate, and 120 for slow-motion capture.
- 5 Enter the clip duration in minutes and read the result: for a 47-second clip enter 0.78; for a 2-hour 14-minute documentary enter 134. The primary number is the file size in MB.
A wedding videographer planning a 90-minute 4K UHD highlight at 30 fps and 8-bit SDR leaves the format on 4K UHD, sets color depth to 8-bit, picks fps = 30, and enters 90 minutes. The result is about 402,907.8 MB (393.5 GB) at 5971.97 Mbps.
Once you have the uncompressed file size in MB or GB, the Upload Time Calculator uses the same byte total to estimate how long the video takes to upload.
Benefits of Using This Calculator
Knowing the math behind video file size translates into a few specific planning benefits that map to real decisions about storage and bandwidth. Use the video size calculator results to lock down the gear and pipeline before the shoot, not after.
- • Pick the right SD card or SSD before recording: estimate whether a one-hour 4K UHD shoot fits a 512 GB card
- • Compare resolutions without re-entering numbers: swap Full HD 1080p for 4K UHD at the same duration and read the storage jump
- • Translate storage into streaming bandwidth: feed the Mbps bit rate into an upload-time or bandwidth calculator
- • Check whether compressed codecs fit the use case: compare the uncompressed MB against the target H.264 or H.265 file size
- • Plan capacity for archives and backups: size up a year of weekly video masters before committing to a NAS or cloud plan
After you have the file size in MB or GB, the Download Time Calculator flips the same number into a download duration, which is the most common next question after picking a recording format.
Factors That Affect Your Results
Five factors change the video file size result in practice. The math stays the same, but the practical impact varies by recording format.
Resolution (SD to 8K UHD)
SD 480p is 345,600 pixels per frame, HD 720p is 921,600, Full HD 1080p is 2,073,600, 2K is 3,686,400, 4K UHD is 8,294,400, and 8K UHD is 33,177,600. Going from Full HD to 4K UHD quadruples the file size for the same frame rate and color depth.
Color depth (8-bit SDR to 16-bit linear)
Switching from 8-bit per channel SDR to 10-bit per channel HDR increases the per-frame byte total by 25 percent. Switching to 12-bit adds 50 percent, and 16-bit doubles it.
Frame rate (24 fps to 120 fps)
Doubling the frame rate doubles the file size for the same resolution and color depth. A 60 fps 1080p clip is exactly twice the size of a 30 fps clip, and a 120 fps slow-motion clip is four times the size.
Duration scaling
File size scales linearly with duration. A 30-minute Full HD clip at 30 fps is 335,923.2 MB, and a 90-minute Full HD clip is about 983.2 GB uncompressed.
Compression versus uncompressed video
H.264 compresses the 1492.99 Mbps Full HD baseline by roughly 30 to 50 times for streaming, while H.265 compresses it by 50 to 100 times. ProRes 422 compresses by about 5 times.
- • The video size calculator returns the uncompressed file size only. Real video containers such as MP4, MOV, and MKV use codecs such as H.264, H.265, and ProRes to shrink the result through lossy or lossless compression.
- • Container overhead and metadata are not modelled. Real MOV, MP4, and MXF files include a small header, audio tracks, and timecode tracks. The overhead is usually well under 5 percent of the file size.
According to Wikipedia: Color depth, color depth or bit depth is the number of bits used to indicate the color of a single pixel, and the per-frame storage requirement scales linearly with the bit depth.
When the video also carries a separate uncompressed audio track such as 24-bit 48 kHz stereo, the Audio File Size Calculator adds the audio storage to the video total so the master file size is complete.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do you calculate the size of a video file?
A: Multiply horizontal resolution by vertical resolution and by color depth in bits per pixel, then divide by 8 to get bytes per frame. Multiply that per-frame byte total by the frame rate and by the duration in seconds to get total bytes. A 5-minute 1920 x 1080 clip at 24-bit color and 30 fps is about 55,987.2 MB uncompressed.
Q: How many MB is a 1 minute 1080p video?
A: One minute of uncompressed 1920 x 1080 video at 24-bit color and 30 fps is about 11,197.44 MB, because the per-frame byte total of 6,220,800 multiplied by 30 fps and 60 seconds yields 11,197,440,000 bytes. This is the canonical Full HD reference figure for SD card and SSD sizing.
Q: How big is a 4K video file per minute?
A: One minute of uncompressed 3840 x 2160 video at 24-bit color and 30 fps is about 44,789.76 MB or 43.74 GB. The per-frame byte total of 24,883,200 multiplied by 30 fps and 60 seconds yields 44,789,760,000 bytes. Doubling the frame rate to 60 fps doubles the per-minute total.
Q: How many GB is a 1 hour 1080p video?
A: One hour of uncompressed 1920 x 1080 video at 24-bit color and 30 fps is about 655.9 GB, because the per-frame byte total of 6,220,800 multiplied by 30 fps and 3600 seconds yields 671,846,400,000 bytes. The same hour compressed with H.265 typically lands between 4 and 8 GB.
Q: Does frame rate affect video file size?
A: Yes. Frame rate multiplies the per-frame byte total directly, so a 60 fps clip is exactly twice the size of a 30 fps clip at the same resolution, color depth, and duration. A 120 fps slow-motion clip is four times the size of a 30 fps clip.
Q: What is the difference between video bit rate and file size?
A: Bit rate is the number of bits processed per second, measured in Mbps or MB per second. File size is the bit rate multiplied by the duration in seconds, then divided by 8 to convert bits into bytes. A 1492.99 Mbps Full HD clip over 5 minutes becomes 55,987.2 MB.