upload vs download speed when testing internet streaming

But just how much less? Bandwidth limitations are only part of the story! You’ll need to consider some additional factors to ensure the success of your live stream. It’s simple math to realize that if you have 5 Mbps of upload bandwidth, your stream bitrate should be less than 5 Mbps. How to ensure you have enough bandwidth for streaming So be sure to double-check before streaming. Insufficient bitrate will cause your stream to appear choppy.ĭifferent platforms (e.g., YouTube, Twitch, Facebook) have different speed requirements and recommended encoding settings. For example, the recommended encoding settings for 4K streaming at 60 frames per second (fps) will be higher than that for 1080p streaming at 30 fps. For higher resolutions and frame rates, you’ll need higher bitrate settings. The bitrate setting will depend on the video resolution and frame rate. The total bitrate consists of the video and audio bitrates.

You will set the bitrate in your encoder settings. To encode your content, you’ll use either a software encoder or a hardware encoder (like Pearl Nano, Pearl Mini, or Pearl-2). Generally speaking, the higher the bitrate, the higher the video quality, and the higher the upload bandwidth required. When it comes to streaming, it’s usually measured in Kbps, and less frequently in Mbps. Encoding compresses video and audio content into a size and format that’s easy to send to the Internet.īitrate is the amount of data encoded per unit of time. bitrateīecause raw video and audio are too hefty to upload, streamed content needs to be encoded. Because bandwidth sets the upper limit for the data transfer rate, there’s no sense in purchasing Internet speeds from your ISP that exceed your maximum bandwidth. As with download speed, upload speed has a set rate (e.g., “5 Mbps upload speed”) as dictated by your Internet service provider (ISP).

Upload vs download speed when testing internet streaming