VID-08

Video Wall Controller Capacity

SMPTE ST 2110 · SMPTE ST 2028 · ANSI/AVIXA D401.01 · ANSI/AVIXA D402.02

01 · Wall outputs

Output resolution per display

Number of displays

Output frame rate

fps

02 · Sources and windows

Source resolution

Number of sources

Simultaneous windows on the wall

Layers supported per outputⓘ

03 · Controller hardware

Ports per input card

Ports per output card

Usable slots per chassis

Processing capacityⓘ

Gpixel/s

Design headroom

Awaiting input12 fields left: Output resolution per display · Number of displays · Output frame rate · Source resolution · Number of sources · Simultaneous windows on the wall · Layers supported per output · Ports per input card · Ports per output card · Usable slots per chassis · Processing capacity · Design headroom

Capacity and layout

The drawing appears when the inputs are complete

01
Check whether a video wall controller can carry the design: pixel-processing throughput, input and output card counts, chassis slots, layer budget and ST 2110 ingress bandwidth.
02
Tip. Throughput, ports and layers are separate limits and the smallest one governs. A controller with plenty of pixel throughput can still run out of card slots or layers, which is the constraint that usually shows up late — after the source list has grown.
03
Gpixel/s — Throughput unit
04
in + out × layers — Pixel demand model
05
2.49 Gb/s — 1080p60 10-bit 4:2:2 per ST 2110 source
06
20 % — Typical design headroom

Video wall controller capacity

A controller is sized on three independent budgets: the pixels per second it must capture and render, the physical input and output ports it needs, and the number of windows it can composite on each output. Any one of the three can be the limit, and the smallest governs the design.

Pixel throughput

Every source is captured at its native raster and frame rate, and every output raster is re-rendered once per layer it carries. The sum of the two is compared against the rated capacity less the design headroom.

Use cases

Input demand = Σ (source width × height × fps)
Output demand = output pixels × fps × layers per output
Usable capacity = rated Gpixel/s × (1 − headroom)
Utilisation at or under the usable figure passes

Formula

Demand = Σ(source px × fps) + output px × fps × layers

Rated capacity is vendor data — confirm on the data sheet

Cards, chassis and layers

Ports come in fixed-size cards and cards fill chassis slots, so both round up. A window that spans several displays consumes a layer on each output it touches, which is why the layer budget is counted per output rather than per wall.

Use cases

Cards = ⌈sources ÷ input ports⌉ + ⌈outputs ÷ output ports⌉
Chassis = ⌈cards ÷ usable slots⌉
Layer budget = layers per output × output count
ST 2110 ingress sized at 10-bit 4:2:2

Formula

Cards = ⌈sources ÷ in-ports⌉ + ⌈outputs ÷ out-ports⌉

Layers are per output, not per wall

Throughput and layer figures are vendor-specific planning values that vary between controller families and firmware revisions. Confirm the chosen controller against its data sheet before committing to a source and window count.