Video bitrate calculator
Recommended video bitrate, file size and data rate from resolution, frame rate, codec and quality target.
Recommended bitrate
Recommended bitrate
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- Estimated file size
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Streaming platform upload guides
These are the platforms' own published upload recommendations, not this calculator's output; a platform re-encodes what you upload, so its target bitrate can differ from the bits-per-pixel estimate above.
| Platform | 1080p | 4K |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 8 to 12 Mbps | 35 to 68 Mbps |
| Vimeo | 10 to 20 Mbps | 30 to 60 Mbps |
| Twitch | 4.5 to 6 Mbps | Not supported |
| Netflix | 5 to 8 Mbps | 15 to 25 Mbps |
How it works
Video bitrate is the amount of compressed video data transmitted or stored per second, measured in Mbps. It is set by resolution, frame rate, codec efficiency and quality target, and it directly determines file size and streaming bandwidth needs.
- Pick resolution and frame rate
More pixels and more frames per second both raise the data needed for the same quality.
- Choose your codec
Newer codecs such as HEVC and AV1 need fewer bits for the same visual quality than H.264.
- Set duration and quality
File size and data rate follow directly from the bitrate and length.
The bits-per-pixel model
This calculator estimates bitrate from a bits-per-pixel-per-frame (bpp) benchmark for each codec, scaled by your quality target:
bitrate (Mbps) = width × height × bpp × fps ÷ 1,000,000
At standard quality, the benchmarks are roughly 0.10 bpp for H.264, 0.07 for HEVC, 0.05 for AV1, and 1.75 for ProRes 422, an intermediate editing codec that trades file size for near-lossless quality and fast decoding. Low quality scales these down by 40% and high quality scales them up by 60%. For the default 1080p, 30 fps, HEVC combination this comes to about 4.35 Mbps, in the neighborhood of the platform guides below once you allow for HEVC being roughly 40 to 50% more efficient than H.264.
Why ProRes looks so much larger
ProRes 422 is an intermediate codec built for editing, not delivery. It uses only light intraframe compression, no prediction across frames, which preserves full chroma detail and avoids the blocking artifacts that build up across repeated H.264 re-encodes. That is why ProRes 422 at 1080p 60 fps computes to roughly 218 Mbps here, while H.264 at the same resolution needs only 10 to 20 Mbps for comparable delivery quality.
A model, not a guarantee
Actual encoder output depends heavily on scene complexity: static talking-head footage needs far less than fast motion or fine detail at the same settings. Use this as a starting point and adjust from the streaming guides below or your own test encodes.
Frequently asked questions
What bitrate should I use for 4K 60fps video upload to YouTube?
YouTube recommends 35 to 68 Mbps for 4K 60fps SDR uploads using H.264, and roughly 15 to 30 Mbps for H.265 or HEVC at comparable quality. YouTube re-encodes every upload with VP9 or AV1, so uploading at a higher source bitrate gives its encoder more quality headroom. For the best final output, upload at 50 or more Mbps with H.264, or 25 or more Mbps with H.265, using constant quality encoding rather than a fixed bitrate.
How much smaller is H.265 (HEVC) compared to H.264 at the same quality?
H.265 achieves roughly 40 to 50% better compression efficiency than H.264 at equivalent perceptual quality, so a 10 Mbps H.265 stream looks comparable to a 20 Mbps H.264 stream. AV1 improves further, by another 20 to 30% over H.265. The trade-off is encoding complexity: H.265 and AV1 need significantly more processing time to encode well, though hardware encoders on modern GPUs greatly speed this up.
What does this calculator's bits-per-pixel model actually predict?
Using the benchmarks above at standard quality, H.264 web delivery comes out to roughly 6 Mbps at 1080p 30fps, 12 Mbps at 1080p 60fps, 25 Mbps at 4K 30fps, and 50 Mbps at 4K 60fps. Complex, fast-motion scenes need more than a static scene at the same settings, so treat these as a starting point rather than a fixed target.
What bitrate do professional streaming services use for 4K HDR?
Netflix streams 4K HDR at roughly 15 to 25 Mbps using an optimized AV1 or VP9 pipeline, achieving quality comparable to 50 to 80 Mbps H.264. Disney+ and Apple TV+ use HEVC, with 4K HDR streams around 20 to 40 Mbps. These highly optimized, multi-pass, per-title encodes are far more efficient than a single-pass real-time encode from consumer software.
Why does ProRes have a much higher bitrate than H.264 at the same resolution?
ProRes 422 is an intermediate, or mezzanine, codec designed for editing, not delivery. It applies only light intraframe compression, preserving full chroma sampling and avoiding the artifacts that build up during repeated H.264 re-encodes. ProRes 422 at 1080p 60fps computes to roughly 218 Mbps in this calculator, while H.264 needs only 10 to 20 Mbps at the same resolution for equivalent delivery quality. Editors use ProRes for editing and mastering, then export H.264 or H.265 for final delivery.