What is bitrate? how to understand bitrate? This post will show everything you need to know about bitrate, including bitrate definition, how does it affect video quality, the best bitrate for streaming, how to change video bitrate etc.

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March 14, 2022 |
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Home > Video > Convert Video > What Is Bitrate
What Is Bitrate? A Complete Guide to Bitrate
When we're working on a couple of videos, high quality is always persued. Then the term "bitrate" comes to us inevitably. Is a higher bitrate
better? To answer that, we have to make clear what bitrate is, how does it affect video quality. In this article, we'd like to show you a
comprehensive guide to video bitrate: what is it, how does bitrate affect video quality, video bitrate comparison, how to change bitrate, and
more!
Flexibly Change Video Bitrate for Streaming, YouTube, OBS, Discord and More!
Try out WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe! It allows you to tweak video bitrate to fit the different needs for streaming, YouTube, OBS, Twitch,
Discord and more. More than that, you can also change video codec, resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio etc. to customize your video as
you need.
Free Download
For Win 7 or later
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Table of Contents
Part 1. What Is Bitrate?
#1. What's Video Bitrate?
#2. What's Bitrate in Audio?
#3. CBR vs VBR
Part 2. How to Calculate Bitrate?
Part 3. How Does Bitrate Affect Video Quality?
Part 4. What Is the Best Bitrate for Specific Resolusion and Frame Rate?
Part 5. How to Change Bitrate for Different Purposes?
Part 6. FAQs about Bitrate
Part 1. What Is Bitrate?
In simple terms, bitrate refers to the amount of bits/data transferred within a second. No matter the video or the audio, you can find the bitrate
parameter. Here we'd like to explain what it means for video and audio.
#1. What Is Video Bitrate?
Video bitrate is the number of video data per second. It's mainly used to measure how much data a compuer or device can handle at given
time. Video bitrate is crucial since it determines video file size, video quality, and streaming performance for online videos. The higher the video
bitrate, the larger and more detailed your video will be. A lower number for video bitrate means more compression and less detail in your videos
while a higher number means less compression with more details in your videos.
For example, when you watching a video on YouTube at a relatively slow internet connection, you might notice the image becomes blocky or
pixelated as YouTube automatically decreased the video quality to assure your video is allowed by limited bandwidth.
#2. What's Bitrate in Audio?
Audio bitrate refers to the amount of binary data per second after the transmision from analog sound singal into digital sound singal. It is an
indicator to measure the audio quality indirectly. The higher the bitrate, the better the audio quality, but the larger the encoded file. Bitrate is
going to determine audio fidelity.
Types of audio files differ in how large they are, how much information they contain, and what role they fill. Generally, uncompressed file will
contain the most information and therefore have the highest bitrate. Compressed lossy files have the least amount of information and therefore
a lower bitrate. For example:
WAV, AIFF and PCM are uncompressed audio files, which are very large, including all the possible information that audio equipment can
detect.
FLAC, WMA, and ALAC are compressed lossless files. They were compressed in a way that no information gets lost. The file size is
smaller than uncompress file, but larger than compress lossy file.
MP3 and AAC are compressed lossy file, which removes some information that is not entirely essential. It's the smallest types of file
formats.
#3. CBR vs VBR
CBR stands for constant bitrate, which means to encode video in the same bitrate. It is not responsive to the size or complexity of the files that
it processes. As CBR uses a constant transmission, you're recommended to set your bitrate relatively high so that your encoder can handle
more complex segments of data as it processes your video.
VBR, by contrast, refers to data being transmitted at a variable rate. With VBR encoding, segments of data are packaged by their complexity so
that the transmission is optimized. VBR makes it possible to process at a higher bitrate and transmit larger files. In terms of encoding, data is
output at a set rate per time segment, and variable bitrate is measured by taking the average bitrate of the entire file.
Part 2. How to Calculate Bitrate?
The bitrate of encoding will affect the video processing speed and efficiency greatly. Using wrong bitrate when editing video may cause a
disaster, such as running out of the storage space of your disk. To avoid this, you might need to know something about how to calculate bitrate.
There is a simple formula for bitrate, namely bitrate × length = file size. Bitrate is measured in bits per sencond, which is referred to as "bps".
While it's not suitable for video since the volume of video footage is large. We're rather talk about video bitrate in megabits per second (Mbps).
To handle these different units, you have to make clear what it bit. Bits are binary units of information. Computers store bits as 0 or 1, and
combine them to store increasingly complex information. And one byte equal to 8 bits, which is used to indicate the rate at which a file is
downloaded or uploaded. But one byte doesn't store that much data, thus we use quantifiers to quickly quantify bytes.
1 Byte = 8 bits
1 Kilobyte (kB) = 1,024 Bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1,024 Kilobytes
1 Gigabyte (GB or Gig) = 1,024 Megabytes
1 Terabyte (TB) = 1,024 Gigabytes
By the way, Mbps not equals to MBps. As mentioned, Megabits per second (Mbps) is a unit of measurement used to indicate download and
upload speed. Megabytes per second (MBps) is also a unit measurement, but is used more to indicate the rate at which a file is downloaded or
uploaded.
Part 3. How Does Bitrate Affect Video Quality?
Higher Video Bitrate, Higher Video Quality?
Basically, bitrate is the key measure of video file size. High bitrate results in high video quality and large file size, while low bitrate leads in poor
video quality and small file size. This is where you should consoder and keep them balanced. Setting a video at extremely high bitrate is totally
a waste of bandwidth. The larger the file, the more buffering issues it may cause, because the server resources of most viewers can hardly
process an extensive file quickly.
Resolution and Frame Rate Also Matter for Quality!
Besides bitrate, video resolution and frame rate also affect the video quality.
Resolution indicates the number of pixels that form the video frame and make up its image. More pixels bring on a sharper look for the frame,
for example, 4K brings 4 times more details than 1080p. Resolution is particularly important for improving the viewing experience on large
displays.
Frame rate is a rate at which the images or video frames are played to create motion. It refers to the speed of how a number of frames appear
within a second. Higher frame rate will lead to a more coherent video. This will help you play video more faster and smoother. 24FPS is the
most common used frame rate, which is minimum frame rate before the video becomes jaggy. There can also be videos with higher fps ranging
from 30 to 60.
Learn more about the factors that affect video quality >>
Part 4. What Is the Best Bitrate for Specific Resolusion and Frame Rate?
You know, broadcasting usually requires more bandwidth compared to a video that is simply added to a website. The upload speed can be
determined by different factors, from the type of content, the site you want to stream to, to encoding.
Let’s say you want to stream videos on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch and expect the broadcast to be bufferless. Here are some
insights on the best video bitrates to use for the specific resolution and frame rate.
Resolution Birate Frame rate Upload Speed
4K HDR 6600 to 8500 kbps 60fps 10 to 35 Mbps
4K SDR 3500 to 4500 kbps 30fps 5.5 to 6.5 Mbps
1080p 4500 to 6500 kbps 60fps 6.5 to 8+ Mbps
720p 3500 to 5000 kbps 60fps 5.5 to 7 Mbps
1080p 3500 to 5000 kbps 30fps 5.5 to 7+ Mbps
720p 2500 to 4000 kbps 30fps to 6 Mbps
480p 1500 to 3000 kbps 60fps 3.5 to 5 Mbps
Here are also a range of bitrate for audio of different types.
128kbps for Mono
384kbps for Stereo
512kbps for 5.1
Part 5. How to Change Bitrate for Different Purposes?
As above, the internet connection and platform you want to stream to require different on your video bitrate. Thus, you need change your video
bitrate regularly for different purpose. But how? Here we'd like to show you how to change bitrate of video files with an excellent video converter
from Digiarty. It features extensive media format support and an intuitive user-friendly interface so that you can change the bitrate of your video
freely without any issue.
Free Download
For Win 7 or later
Free Download
for Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Start change your bitrate of video and audio now!
Step 1: Import video(s) to the program.
Launch the video converter, and drag and drop to load your video to the program.
Step 2: Choose an output format for your video.
As the video loaded, a window with over 420 profiles pops up automatically. Select an output format for your video. MP4 is always
recommended for its better compatibility and smaller size.
Step 3: Change the bitrate of your video and audio.
Click the gear-shaped Settings button to get an access for bitrate adjustment. Now drop down the list of Bit rate (Quality) to select Variable Rate
or Constant Rate. Set the value of Constant Rate if you choose it. Also, you're able to change audio bitrate by dropping down the list of Bitrate
under the Audio option.
Step 4: Start exporting the file with new bitrate.
Click on the Browse button to specify the output folder path if necessary. Then tap RUN button to start exporting your video with new bitrate.
Part 6. FAQs about Bitrate
1. What is a good bitrate for 1080p?
For 1080p video at 30 frames per second, the bitrate should be 3,500 to 5,000 kbps. For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the
recommended bitrate is between 4500 and 6000 kbps.
2. What happens if your bitrate is too high?
Though a higher bitrate can result in higher quality video, higher bitrates are not always better. If the bitrate is too high, it's a toatally waste of
bitwidth. Moreover, it also may reduce the number of potential viewers since some computers are not power enough to handle higher bitrate
video.
3. What is the difference between bandwidth and bitrate?
Bandwidth and bitrate both related to the speed of the flow of data. But there are some differences that:
Bandwidth usually refers to the total possible flow between two nodes, such as between two computers over all their unified connections.
Bitrate usually refers to the speed of one specific connection between source and sink, such as one Internet connection or while reading an
audio file.
Bitrate can never exceed Bandwidth, but Bandwidth can be larger than one connection's bitrate. For example, your Internet connection can
have a maximal bandwidth, and you may have more than one process connecting over the Internet, each with its own bitrate.
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