Whether you’re just starting to make videos or have been making them for years, it’s highly likely you’ve encountered the term “video bitrate.” This, of course, led you to ask yourself — What is video bitrate and why does it matter?

We’ll give you the answers you need to deliver high-quality videos to your audience.

Why has video bitrate become such a sought-after term? Because publishers and content creators are making more videos than ever before. They have all realized that video marketing is worth the effort:

Just like any other content type, videos must be of superior quality. Although some brands focus on resolution, they fail to see that bitrate is important as well. It is one of those elements that elevate the quality of your videos.

In this article, we will discuss video bitrate in more depth.

What Is Video Bitrate?

Let’s start from the beginning. 

Every second of a video you upload includes digital information. High-quality videos are packed with a lot of information. Live streams from a smartphone with lower video quality, on the other hand, have less information.

These two video types transmit different amounts of data. Regardless of the amount, though, the information they transmit is known as bitrate.

In other words, video bitrate refers to video data transferred per second. A higher bitrate decides the overall quality of your video. If your video or stream has a high bitrate, then your viewers will enjoy high-quality content that runs smoothly on their devices.

When compared to photos or text, videos pack more data. That is why you must ensure your video’s bitrate is high. If it is, it will move your data over the internet quickly and reliably. As a result, your viewers won’t have any difficulties while watching your content.

Keep in mind that video bitrate differs from other elements that measure video quality, e.g. resolution or frame rate.

In short, bitrate denotes the speed at which your video uploads to the internet. At the same time, it denotes the speed at which your audience downloads your video from the internet and onto their devices.

How Is Video Bitrate Measured?

Video bitrate is measured in bits per second, otherwise known as bps. As we said, this measurement determines the quality and size of video (and audio) files.

Since video files are large, the amount of data they transmit is presented through megabits per second (Mbps). This symbol shows the millions of bits of data uploaded and downloaded per second.

Video Quality: How Bitrate Affects It

Streaming is one of the best ways to connect with your audience. Customers nowadays want to have a more personal connection with their brands. Broadcasting provides them that.

What does it take to create a professional-looking live video? Is equipment all you need to draw attention to your streams? Actually, the gear is only one part of it. There is something more important.

We’re talking about the bitrate the video is recorded with. This has an impact on the file size and video quality. Let’s discuss this further.

What does higher bitrate mean in terms of video quality? It indicates that more video bits are being transferred within a second. This translates into a video of better quality.

What’s more, when you increase the bitrate, this will increase the size of your output video file. This means that export will be relatively slower. You may experience buffering issues in this case.

Of course, lower bitrate leads to lower video quality. This quality results in a smaller file size and faster export.

Although videos of higher quality should be your goal, you should know that it’s important to use the right amount of bitrates. You don’t want to waste bandwidth, so find a balance to not place a huge strain on your hardware.

Other Factors That Affect Video Quality

There are other factors that affect the quality of your videos. They are frame rate and resolution:

• Frame rate is a term that refers to the speed at which a series of frames appear per second. This measurement is represented in frames per second (fps). Most content, including motion pictures and live streams, use the standard rate of 24 fps.
• Resolution determines how clear your video appears. It indicates the number of pixels that are a part of the video frame, making up its image. A higher number of pixels leads to a higher resolution. Conversely, a lower number of pixels results in a low-resolution video.

Conclusion

Video is enjoying tremendous popularity now. If you play your cards right with this content type, you can attract more customers to your brand. Videos with poor quality, however, can set you back and turn your audience away from you.

So, engage your audience with high-quality videos. Be mindful of video bitrate together with resolution and frame rate to provide them with the best experience possible.