How do I choose my bitrate / bit rate?
August 25, 2009 0Key factors to consider before choosing your bitrate:
Target audience download capacity: Consider the projected download speed of your target audience. Generally, a viewer should have a download capacity that is 1.5 times greater than the stream’s bitrate. If your audience primarily has dial-up, broadcasting at a higher bitrate will be counter-productive.
Your upload capacity: If you are streaming live, make sure your upload speed is 1.5 times greater than the stream’s bitrate.
Bandwidth Consumption: Broadcasting at a higher bitrate leads to greater bandwidth consumption per user.
Bitrate Comparison Chart
Included below is a list of common video and audio broadcast types and their recommended bitrate in kilobits per second (kbps). Note: Many bitrate choices are available. The following bitrates are meant to act as guidelines only.
Audio | ||
Voice only | ||
---|---|---|
AM radio | 20kbps | This is an excellent bitrate for broadcasts that are primarily talking. |
Music | ||
FM radio | 32kbps | This is the current industry standard for FM radio broadcasts. It will work well for any music broadcast, or as a higher quality option for voice broadcasts. |
Higher quality music | 64kbps | Using this bitrate will provide a higher quality broadcast that works well for delivering near-CD quality music. |
CD quality music | 128kbps | This is generally the highest audio bitrate you should use. It will deliver excellent quality. Note: You should compare a 64k broadcast to a 128k broadcast, as many people do not feel the slight increase in quality is worth doubling their bandwidth usage. |
Video | ||
Static image (e.g. a person speaking at a podium) | 128kbps | This should generally be the lowest bitrate that is used for video. It can be used in situations where significant movement is not expected. |
Standard Video broadcast (e.g. conferences, concerts, instructional video, etc) | 282kbps | This bitrate is the current internet standard for video broadcasting. Most viewers on a high-speed connection (DSL, cable etc.) can effectively view these broadcasts. |
High quality video broadcast (weddings, sporting events, racing, etc) | 548kbps | This bitrate will provide a higher quality broadcast that is often preferred by people whose broadcasts contain a lot of movement or action. It is also an alternative to 282kbps broadcasting if you want a higher quality. Note: Some viewers may have difficulty watching your stream. |
Very high quality broadcasting, fast action video, high detail video (sailing, car racing, etc) | 1128kbps | This level of broadcast is necessary for high quality broadcasting of fast moving events, and can also be very effective for situations that require a high level of detail. Often broadcasters will offer this in addition to a lower quality broadcast. |
DVD quality video | 2137kbps | A very high quality stream that would be most effective for a specific audience capable of streaming data at such a high rate. |