What is video bitrate?

Bitrate is the amount of data encoded per second of video, measured in kilobits per second (kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps). Higher bitrate generally means better image quality but larger file sizes.

Which codec should I use?

H.264 (AVC) offers the widest device compatibility. H.265 (HEVC) delivers similar quality at roughly half the bitrate. AV1 is the most efficient but requires more CPU power to encode and decode. VP9 is Google's open alternative to H.265.

How is file size calculated?

File size = (video bitrate + audio bitrate) × duration ÷ 8. The result is in bytes; divide by 1,048,576 for megabytes. This tool uses a typical audio track of 192 kbps AAC.

Are these bitrates exact?

The values are industry-standard recommendations (used by YouTube, Vimeo, and hardware vendors). Actual file size varies with scene complexity — static scenes compress more; fast motion compresses less.

What does "Quality" mean in this tool?

Quality levels map to CRF-style targets: Low (~50% of standard), Standard (baseline), High (~1.5×), and Ultra (~2.5×). These help you trade off file size against visual fidelity.

Video Bitrate Calculator

Pick resolution, frame rate, codec, and duration to get a recommended bitrate and estimated file size.

Video Settings

Resolution

Frame Rate

Codec

Quality Level

Duration

minutes

seconds

Results

Set your parameters and click Calculate.

Recommended Bitrate

video only

All Quality Levels

Quality	Bitrate	File Size

Audio track assumed at 192 kbps AAC. Actual file size may vary with scene complexity.

Summary

Pick resolution, frame rate, codec, and duration to get a recommended bitrate and estimated file size.

How it works

Select your target resolution from the dropdown (e.g. 1080p, 4K).
Choose the frame rate — higher frame rates need more bitrate.
Pick the codec: H.264 is the most compatible; H.265 and AV1 compress better.
Set the video quality level: Low, Standard, High, or Ultra.
Enter the video duration in minutes and seconds.
Read the recommended bitrate and the estimated file size in the results table.

Use cases

Planning storage for a video recording session.
Choosing export settings in video editors like Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.
Estimating bandwidth required for video streaming.
Comparing codecs to balance quality vs. file size.
Budgeting disk space for a batch of video files.
Verifying whether a target file size is achievable at a given quality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by Nham Vu