3G SDI (SMPTE 424M)

The term "3G SDI" is often seen in the video production arena. 3G-SDI is a successor to the HD-SDI interface. It uses the same connectors and coaxial cables and is also downwards compatible. It provides an increase in bandwidth, which allows both higher resolutions and frame rates through a single connection.

HD-SDI is a global standard, specified in SMPTE292M and allows HD video data rate at 1.485 Gbit/s

Higher picture quality and frame rates such as RGB 4:4:4 or 50/60p can be achieved through dual-link SDI connections. Dual link is also used for Stereo3D playback and record of two separate video streams in full resolution.  

For broadcasters, HD-SDI has disadvantages when working with Stereo 3D and high frame rates. The signals need to have two connections (dual-link SDI) which increases requirements for video routing, cabling and monitoring.

For post-production, an additional disadvantage is the limitation to a resolution of up to only 2048x1080 at 24fps. If full aperture 2K (2048x1556) needs to be transferred, a non-video data connection known as "High Speed Data Link" or HSDL is used which commonly runs at about 15 fps. Although HSDL uses the same dual-link interfaces it is generally non-realtime and not suitable for display purposes.