Live Streaming Bitrate Calculator

Find the best bitrate for your live stream

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Your Internet Upload Speed

Percent of Internet Upload Speed to be used by your stream

%

Frame per second

Video Resolution

Max Bitrate

kbps

How to use Live Streaming Bitrate Calculator?

bitrate calculator for video

 

Live Streaming Bitrate Calculator is a tool that helps you calculate the recommended and maximum bitrate for your Live Stream in order to make sure that your viewers can watch your stream without buffering or lag. Using our bitrate calculator you can get the accurate video bitrate and audio bitrate required for live streaming and video hosting. 

Your total bitrate depends very much on your internet connection. Having high bitrate setting requires very stable internet connection. If your internet connection can’t keep up, you will notice lags and buffering during the stream. if you are streaming using h265 format then you will be able to get a higher quality video with a very low bitrate because of the video compression. H264 is widely used for video delivery and for getting the best quality video the bitrate needs to be higher.

The perfect balance of video quality and internet connection speed is a difficult thing to find. Use this calculator to find that sweet spot.

Make sure you stay within the recommended bitrate and do not exceed your maximum number as the calculator suggests.

What is bitrate?

Bitrate is the rate at which you send bits to the streaming platform. It measures how much data of your audio and video information is transmitted in a given amount of time. Audio bitrate and video bitrate are commonly measured in kilobits per second (kbps) and megabits per second (Mbps). The higher the bitrate, the faster your internet connection when streaming video content online with video streaming software.

Internet Upload Speed

Internet upload speed is the rate at which a device can send data over an Internet connection. It’s usually expressed in megabits per second (Mbps). Upload speeds are always slower than download speeds because it takes more work for your ISP to transmit video and audio stream data from you to another computer or server on the internet instead of downloading content that’s already uploaded and stored somewhere else.

You can check how fast your upload speed is by going to speedtest.net

If your upload speed is greater than the bitrate for given video quality and video file size, you should be able to use that quality without having any issues.

What percentage of Upload Speed to use?

The percentage of your upload speed used for streaming is different depending on how many programs you have open that are also using the internet connection. For example, if there’s an internet browser open then it usually takes up some amount as well, which means less amount allocated for your stream.

Frames per second (FPS)

Frames per second (FPS), also known as frame rate, is the frequency of consecutive images called frames appearing on display. The higher number of FPS means smoother motion and less lag time between each image change. The most common frame rates are 30 fps for standard video, and 60 fps for high-definition displays

 

To achieve this level of quality, you need to make sure your upload speed is enough to support your stream so that your viewers have an enjoyable experience without any lag or buffering issues.

Video Resolution

Video Resolution is the number of pixels in a video picture or its display resolution. The higher the resolution, the more detailed your picture will be.

 

The most common resolutions for streaming are:

  • SD Video (1280 x 720)
  • HD Video (1920 x 1080)

SD video resolution refers to the standard definition. This is the most common type of video resolution you’ll find on your computer screen because it’s been around so long.

 

On the other hand, HD video resolution refers to high definition. This is the newer line of video resolutions that have become popular in recent times, and it offers a much more detailed picture than SD because it uses more pixels.

 

HD streaming needs a higher bitrate and, as a result, needs high upload speed. If your internet connection isn’t very good- choose SD instead of HD.

Bitrate Recommendation for each platform

Below are the recommended bit rate for Youtube, Twitch, and Facebook. Make sure to change the bit rate from streaming settings before streaming.

Youtube Bitrate Recommendation

Refer to this link for full guidelines

Video Resolution (Pixel)

Video Frame (Frames per second)

Recommended Video Bitrate (kilobytes per second)

Recommended Upload Speed (Megabytes Per Second)

720p

30fps

1500-4000 kbps

2-5 Mbps

720p

60 fps

2250-6000 kbps

2.9-7.4 Mbps

1080P

30 fps

3000-6000 kbps

3.8-7.4 Mbps

1080P

60 fps

4500-9000 kbps

5.6-11 Mbps

1440P

30 fps

6000-13,000 kbps

7.4-15.8 Mbps

1440P

60 fps

9000-18,000 kbps

11-21.8 Mbps

4K

30 fps

13,000-34,000 kbps

15.8-41 Mbps

4K

60 fps

20,000-51,000 kbps

24.2-61.5 Mbps

Twitch Bitrate Recommendation

Refer to this link for full guidelines

Video Resolution (Pixel)

Video Frame (Frames per second)

Recommended Video Bitrate (kilobytes per second)

Recommended Upload Speed (Megabytes Per Second)

720P

30 fps

2500-4000 kbps

3.2-5 Mbps

720P

60 fps

3500-5000 kbps

4.4-6.2 Mbps

1080P

30 fps

3500-5000 kbps

4.4-6.2 Mbps

1080P

60 fps

4500-6000 kbps

5.6-7.4 Mbps

Facebook Bitrate Recommendation

Refer to this link for full guidelines

Video file options:

Audio file options:

Video options:

  • Resolution: 1080p (1920 x 1080)
  • Frames per second: 30 fps
  • Video bitrate range: 3,000-6,000 Kbps
  • Keyframe: 2 seconds
  • Video codec: H.264, Level 4.1
  • 8-hour time limit

Audio options:

  • Sample rate: 44.1 kHz
  • Channel layout: Stereo
  • Audio bitrate: 128 Kbps

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