What does “bit rate” mean in a video?


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When downloading videos from the Internet or copying videos from disc to your computer, you may have the option of choosing a different bitrate. Even DVDs have specific bit rates. As technology has advanced, video media are able to achieve higher quality, such as high definition DVD, and this is achieved by increasing the video bit rate.

Bitrate

Definition

Bit rate, sometimes referred to as “bit rate”, is the term used to define compression of audio, video, or other multimedia compression in terms of the amount of data, measured in bits, per unit of time in the printed material. Bit rate is the ratio of quality to time. Bit rate is also often measured in kilobits or megabits per second.

Bitrate

Sense

Videos with a higher bit rate will have a larger file size. For example, it will take longer to download or stream from the Internet and upload to a device or computer, and you can burn fewer videos to DVD. However, a higher bit rate usually indicates a higher quality. In this way, your video can be clearer and sharper. When browsing for video or importing it to computer from DVD or camera, choose the highest bit rate for higher quality. However, if space is your main concern, choose the lowest bitrate when downloading or compressing video files.

bit rate factors

Programs will have different bit rates depending on different factors. For example, the output material may have more depth and quality, thus producing a higher bit rate. High definition movies have a higher bit rate than standard definition, for example. Different types of video files have different bit rates and you can also choose different bit rates for the same file. For example, iTunes allows you to compress audio files with a bit rate greater than 128 kilobytes per second to save space on your iPod.

Standard bit rates

Most standard definition DVDs have a maximum bit rate of 9.8 megabits. High definition television has a bit rate range between eight and 15 megabits per second, while the standard for 720p high definition video is approximately 19 megabits per second. At the time of publication, Blu-Ray DVDs have the highest bit rate of all consumer videos with a maximum of 40 megabits per second. This makes the content of Blu-Ray DVDs more than four times that of standard DVDs.


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What is the bit rate and how does it influence the quality of the videos?

Amid the pandemic we are facing and authorities increasingly asking people to stay home, the use of the Internet, especially broadcast services, is skyrocketing. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Twitch and others have already announced measures to try to ensure everyone accesses their videos without gagging, but there are differences between the measures on some platforms.

bitrate

YouTube reduces standard video quality to SD worldwide

Netflix, for example, opted for a reduction in the data rate or bit rate without lowering the resolution of the video itself. YouTube is already one of the platforms that now forces you to load at a lower resolution while maintaining the data rate, that is, the final quality, and allows you to increase the image size manually by the user.

bitrate

Oops wait! So does reducing resolution not reduce the quality and quantity of data to transfer? Not quite. Resolution is not the only thing that defines the quality of a video image, or even a JPG image, audio and the like, there are a number of factors. Among them, in addition to the image size, the bit rate that will be transferred from a server to a device, for example.

Data rate versus bandwidth

Reducing the amount of data sent to each user can help guarantee the service for everyone (Photo: Pixabay)
To understand metering on Netflix, you first need to understand the difference between the data rate of a media file and the bandwidth of the connection. Both can be called bitrate and throughput, and whether those terms are correct or not matters little. What matters is that it confuses, so it is necessary to clarify it.

The data rate of a media file refers to the maximum size of a second of the video. A video, as you may already know, is divided into frames, the most common speed is 30 fps (30 frames per second). Each table has its own set of information, and the total of 30 (or 24, 60, 120, and the like) forms the bitrate.

The bandwidth of the connection is the speed of your internet. Brazilian 4G, for example, has an average of 20 Mbps. Some fixed broadband operators offer packages of 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps or even more. This rate is the maximum amount of data that your Internet can receive from a central server.

Data volume

YouTube chose to lower the standard resolution without decreasing the volume of data (Photo: Pixabay)
The bit rate of a media file, therefore, is the amount of data it has each second. Netflix reduced this rate to decrease the amount of information that its servers need to send to each user connected to the platform. This reduces the quality of the image because it is less data, which can slightly reduce sharpness and cause noise, which some call “pixelization”, especially in very dark areas of the frame.

The resolution is not the lowest: it is that this image has less information. When loaded onto a large screen such as a TV, details are missing to display. On smaller screens, you will hardly notice the difference.

Facebook and Instagram will reduce the quality of video in Brazil
Globoplay will reduce video quality to meet demand
In short, Netflix’s decision ensures resolution, keeping sharpness a little closer than the user is used to, but reducing the amount of data transferred, resulting in images with a lower level of detail and sometimes , even more noise, even.

By sending less information to each user, Netflix, as well as Facebook, Globoplay and other services with similar measures, the platform avoids what we call server bottlenecks. This could cause suffocation and connection failures. YouTube’s measure also alleviates traffic because not everyone will manually increase the resolution, which in itself already reduces the amount of information to be transferred.