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Definition
Bitrate is the amount of data processed per unit of time in a media file, typically measured in kilobits per second (kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps). Higher bitrate means more data and generally better quality, but larger file sizes. Video streaming bitrates range from 1 Mbps (480p) to 20+ Mbps (4K).
Bitrate directly determines the trade-off between quality and file size in compressed media. For video, Netflix recommends about 5 Mbps for 1080p and 15 Mbps for 4K streaming. A 2-hour movie at 5 Mbps is roughly 4.5 GB. At 1 Mbps, the same movie would be under 1 GB but with visible compression artifacts.
Bitrate can be constant (CBR) or variable (VBR). CBR maintains the same data rate throughout, which is predictable but wastes data on simple scenes and starves complex scenes. VBR allocates more data to complex scenes (action, rapid motion) and less to simple scenes (static shots), achieving better quality at the same average file size.
For audio, common bitrates include: 128 kbps MP3 (acceptable quality), 192 kbps (good quality), 256-320 kbps (near-transparent quality), and 1411 kbps (CD quality uncompressed). Modern codecs like Opus and AAC achieve better quality at lower bitrates than MP3. When compressing media, the optimal bitrate depends on the codec, content complexity, and target platform.