YouTube has the widest range of live streaming quality of the major streaming platforms, from 240p to 4K. YouTube provides bitrate requirements for every resolution and frame rate you may want to stream at.
- 4K at 60fps: 20,000 - 51,000 Kbps
- 4K at 30fps: 13,000 - 34,000 Kbps
- 1440p at 60fps: 9,000 - 18,000 Kbps
- 1440p at 30fps: 6,000 - 13,000 Kbps
- 1080p at 60fps: 4,500 - 9,000 Kbps
- 1080p at 30fps: 3,000 - 6,000 Kbps
- 720 at 60fps: 2,250 - 6,000 Kbps
- 720p: 1,500 - 4,000 Kbps
- 480p: 500 - 2,000 Kbps
- 360p: 400 - 1,000 Kbps
- 240p: 300 - 700 Kbps
We don’t recommend streaming at a resolution below 720p, however, as the quality could be very poor and your viewers may not appreciate it.
Other important settings to note:
- Video codec: H.264
- Keyframe frequency between 2 and 4 seconds
- Audio bitrate: 128 Kbps stereo
- Streaming protocol: RTMP
👉 Pro tip:
Go live on YouTube without having to download any live streaming software. How? Use Restream Studio, our browser-based live streaming solution. You can connect your YouTube channel to Restream in a matter of a few clicks (no stream key needed) and go live from our Live Studio from a Chrome, Safari, or Firefox browser. Restream Studio even lets you toggle your stream settings, so you can choose the resolution and frame rate for your broadcast.
