Video Bitrate Calculator
The bitrate a video needs at a given resolution and frame rate, the file size that produces, and how long it will take to upload.
Bitrate is estimated from the pixel rate: width × height × frames per second, multiplied by a bits-per-pixel factor that depends on the codec and the quality you want.
How the video bitrate calculator works
Bitrate is estimated from the pixel rate: width × height × frames per second, multiplied by a bits-per-pixel factor that depends on the codec and the quality you want. Modern codecs are far more efficient — H.265 and AV1 achieve similar quality to H.264 at roughly half the bitrate. File size is simply bitrate × duration, plus the audio track.
Formula: bitrate ≈ width × height × fps × bits per pixel; size = (video + audio bitrate) × duration
Worked examples
| Inputs | Video bitrate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p30 H.264, 10 minutes | 5.6 Mbps | about 5.6 Mbps |
| 4K60 with H.265 | 24.6 Mbps | about 24.6 Mbps |
| 720p30 for a small file | 0.8 Mbps | about 0.8 Mbps |
FAQFrequently asked questions
What bitrate should I upload at?
Most platforms recommend about 8 Mbps for 1080p30 and 35–45 Mbps for 4K60 in H.264. They re-encode anyway, so uploading a little above the recommendation preserves quality.
Why is H.265 smaller?
Newer codecs predict and compress more cleverly, reaching similar quality at roughly half the bitrate — at the cost of much more processing to encode.
What is bits per pixel?
A rough measure of how much data each pixel gets. Around 0.09 is normal streaming quality; 0.16 or more suits archival footage and heavy editing.
Does frame rate matter as much as resolution?
Almost — doubling either roughly doubles the data, though motion-heavy footage costs more than static shots.
Why is my real file different?
Encoders use variable bitrate, spending more on complex scenes. This is a planning estimate, not an exact figure.
Where these figures come from
- IEC 80000-13 — Information science and technology (quantities and units) — the decimal (kB, MB) versus binary (KiB, MiB) prefixes used throughout
- RFC 4632 — Classless Inter-domain Routing (CIDR) — the address-plan arithmetic behind the subnet calculator
- RFC 1918 — Address Allocation for Private Internets — the private ranges the subnet calculator recognises
- NIST SP 800-63B — Digital Identity Guidelines, Authentication — length over composition rules; the basis of the password guidance here
- NIST SP 800-57 Part 1 — Recommendation for Key Management — key-strength comparisons used by the key-space calculator
- NIST — Digital Identity Guidelines (SP 800-63) — US federal authentication standard
Last checked: September 2026. Units follow the SI decimal convention (IEC 80000-13 defines the binary alternatives); network and security figures cite the defining standard.