What bitrate should I choose for my video?

The default bitrate is 1 Mbit per second. We recommend this for most videos. If the quality of the converted video is not as good as it should be, use the Recreate button to select a higher bitrate. Do keep in mind that the quality and bitrate of your original video are very important. If you upload a video that has a bitrate of 1 Mbit/s, selecting a higher bitrate will not make any difference.

A few things to keep in mind regarding bitrates:

  • The higher the bitrate, the larger the size of the video file.
  • The higher the bitrate, the longer it takes to convert your video file

To give you an idea of what bitrates are used for different types of video:

Usage Bitrate
videophone quality (minimum necessary for a consumer-acceptable "talking head" picture) 16 Kbit/s
business-oriented videoconferencing quality 128 – 384 Kbit/s
VCD quality 1.25 Mbit/s
DVD quality 5 Mbit/s
HDTV quality 8 – 15 Mbit/s
HD DVD 29.4 Mbit/s max
Blu-ray Disc 40 Mbit/s max