I get asked all the time: "What bitrate should I use to get the most viewers without making my stream look awful?" Bitrate is one of those deceptively simple knobs that determines whether your stream is watchable or a frustrating smear of artefacts. Over the years I’ve run dozens of tests across different encoders (OBS, vMix, Streamlabs, hardware encoders like Elgato Cam Link and AJA), codecs (x264, NVENC, Apple VideoToolbox) and platforms (Twitch, YouTube, Facebook) to find practical, repeatable settings — not theoretical ideals. Below I walk through the decisions that matter and give recommended starting points you can adapt to your audience and infrastructure.
Why bitrate matters (and what it actually does)
Bitrate is the amount of data you send per second for video and audio. Higher bitrate = more data for the encoder to represent detail, motion, and color — which usually means higher perceived quality. But bitrate isn't magic: if your source is low-quality or your encoder settings are inefficient, increasing bitrate gives diminishing returns. Conversely, sending too high a bitrate will choke your internet uplink, cause dropped frames, stalled streams, or force platform-side re-encoding that can actually worsen quality for viewers.
Start with three questions
Before you touch any numbers, ask yourself:
Your answers will drive the rest of the decision-making. If you stream to multiple platforms or simulcast with Restream, aim for the lowest common denominator or use a cloud transcoding service to offload multiple output bitrates.
Match bitrate to resolution and framerate
Resolution and framerate set the baseline amount of information in each frame. A 1080p60 stream carries far more motion and pixel data than a 720p30 stream, and therefore needs a higher bitrate to look good.
| Resolution / FPS | Recommended bitrate (video) | When to choose |
|---|---|---|
| 720p @ 30 | 2.5 – 4 Mbps | Mobile-focused streams, limited upload, talk shows |
| 720p @ 60 | 3.5 – 5 Mbps | Fast gameplay on limited uplink |
| 1080p @ 30 | 4.5 – 7 Mbps | Standard desktop streams, presentations |
| 1080p @ 60 | 6 – 9 Mbps | High-motion gameplay, fitness, esports |
| 1440p @ 60 | 9 – 18 Mbps | High detail, large screens, niche viewers |
| 2160p (4K) @ 60 | 15 – 35+ Mbps | Professional broadcasts; use only with very strong uplink and platform support |
These ranges assume modern codecs like H.264 (x264 or NVENC). If you use H.265/HEVC, you can target lower bitrates for similar perceptual quality, but platform support is limited: Twitch does not support HEVC ingest, and many viewers' hardware decoders still struggle.
CBR vs VBR: what to pick
Most live streaming platforms expect a constant bitrate (CBR) at ingest because it’s easier for their ingest servers and for consistent viewer experience. I recommend using CBR for platform live streaming unless you’re sending to a dedicated encoder or cloud service that supports variable bitrate (VBR) and guarantees output. VBR can be more efficient in terms of quality-per-bit but risks sudden spikes that exceed your upload capacity. OBS offers “CBR” and “VBR (CRF)” modes — choose CBR for live platform streaming.
Encoder choice matters: x264 vs NVENC vs hardware
x264 (CPU-based) gives excellent quality at lower bitrates if you use slower presets (veryfast, faster, medium). But high-quality x264 uses a lot of CPU and may not be feasible on laptops or small rigs. NVIDIA NVENC (hardware GPU encoder) has improved dramatically; on Turing and Ada Lovelace GPUs it produces quality close to x264 at the same bitrate while freeing up CPU for games or apps. Apple VideoToolbox and Intel QuickSync are viable on Mac and Intel platforms.
Rule of thumb:
Keyframe interval, profile and tuning
Set your keyframe (GOP) interval to 2 seconds for most platforms; this is required by Twitch and recommended by YouTube for consistent playback and stream latency characteristics. Choose the H.264 profile “high” for most streams — it gives better compression for higher quality. Use baseline/constrained baseline only if you need compatibility with very old devices.
Audio bitrate — don’t neglect it
Audio is a small fraction of the bitrate, but a low-quality audio track can ruin viewer experience. Use AAC-LC at 128 kbps stereo for voice and music-heavy streams. Lower to 96 kbps if you're extremely constrained, but avoid going below 64 kbps.
Measure your real upload (not the ISP headline)
ISPs often advertise "up to" speeds. Always measure sustained upload bandwidth under your usual load using tools like speedtest.net or a local iperf server. When testing, include typical background traffic (cloud backups, phone syncing) because those will compete with your stream. As a safety margin, reserve 20–30% of your upload for headroom: if your measured upload is 10 Mbps, cap your stream to ~7–8 Mbps to avoid drops.
Adaptive strategies for viewers on weak connections
Many platforms automatically transcode to multiple quality layers for viewers, but that usually requires partnership-level access or platform support. If you control the distribution (e.g., a self-hosted Wowza or SRT pipeline), create multiple simultaneous output bitrates (720p60, 1080p30, 480p30). If you can't, choose a bitrate that serves the largest share of your audience and use overlays that don't hide important details at lower resolutions.
Practical checklist before going live
Real-world examples and trade-offs
I once helped a mid-sized creator switch from 1080p60 at 8 Mbps to 1080p30 at 6 Mbps. The visible quality loss was negligible for their talk-and-game hybrid content, but the reduced bitrate eliminated occasional dropped frames and improved viewership from mobile users on limited connections. In another case, a competitive gamer insisted on 1080p60; we upgraded to NVENC on an RTX 3070 and bumped bitrate to 9 Mbps while enabling local recording at a higher bitrate for post-production — the stream quality improved and CPU load dropped, but we had to ensure their upload could sustain the higher bitrate.
Bitrate tuning is about trade-offs: consistency beats theoretical perfection. A slightly lower, stable bitrate that never drops frames will generally feel better to viewers than a higher bitrate that stutters under congestion. Aim for the sweet spot where your encoder, resolution, and internet connection align — and run a few test streams to validate changes before big events.
