Bitrate

What is Bitrate?

Bitrate is a measure of the amount of data used to represent video or audio over a specific period, typically measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or megabits per second (Mbps).

In video calling, bitrate determines the quality of the stream. A higher bitrate allows for more visual detail and clearer audio but requires a faster internet connection (bandwidth).

Common Bitrates in Video Conferencing

• Audio: Typically 32 kbps to 128 kbps (using Opus codec).
• SD Video (360p): ~300 kbps to 500 kbps.
• HD Video (720p): ~1 Mbps to 2 Mbps.
• Full HD (1080p): ~3 Mbps or higher.

Impact on Quality vs. Stability

Higher bitrate isn't always better. If the bitrate exceeds the user's available bandwidth, the result will be packet loss, chopping, jitter, or frozen video. This is why modern applications use Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) or Simulcast to dyanmically adjust the quality to match network conditions.

Bitrate vs. Bandwidth

While often used interchangeably, they are different. Bandwidth is the maximum capacity of the network "pipe," whereas Bitrate is the actual amount of "water" (data) flowing through it at a given moment.