Can My Cable Do It

HomeMethodology

Methodology and sources

Data last verified 27 October 2026. No figure on this site is typed in by hand: each one is parsed from a saved copy of a published source, checked word for word against that copy, and resolved by the written rules below.

How a verdict is made

  1. Data rate. The pixel clock comes from VESA's Coordinated Video Timings (CVT) formula. The headline uses reduced blanking v2; reduced blanking v1 and standard CVT are shown alongside. The data rate is the pixel clock times the bits per pixel: 3 samples per pixel for RGB/4:4:4, times the bit depth.
  2. Capacity. Each link is judged on its payload after line encoding, never its headline rating.
  3. Verdict. Pass if the data rate fits; Tight if it fits within 3% of the payload, to allow for audio and framing overheads not modelled; Fail if it doesn't fit.
  4. DSC. Where a link carries Display Stream Compression, the DSC verdict uses the lowest rate VESA's DSC standard allows (8 bits per pixel for 4:4:4), so it is labelled "at maximum compression", and each verdict shows the compression ratio needed, rounded up.

Results use PC monitor timings (VESA CVT reduced blanking v2 as the headline), not the TV and console timings in CTA-861, so a TV or console may need more bandwidth than shown. RGB/4:4:4 color.

How it is tested

The timing engine is checked against VESA's own CVT generator spreadsheet, recalculated for every mode on the site and more; every pixel clock and total must match. The verdicts are checked against published real-world cases, such as GPU and monitor specifications and VESA's own example configurations. A change that breaks either can't be published.

Flags and assumptions

Rules for disagreements

Sources

Updates

The sources are re-checked once a year, after new standards are announced, and whenever a correction is reported. Every visible change is listed on the changes page.