Stream Quality and Bandwidth: Choosing Bitrate and Resolution
Most live-stream quality problems come down to one mismatch: the video you ask your computer to send is larger than the connection can carry. This guide explains the three settings that decide quality, how to measure what your connection can really handle, and how multistreaming changes the numbers.
The three settings that matter
Resolution
The number of pixels in each frame, such as 1280×720 (720p) or 1920×1080 (1080p). More pixels need more data to look clean.
Frame rate
How many frames per second you send. 30 fps suits talking and most content; 60 fps looks smoother for fast action but needs noticeably more bitrate for the same sharpness.
Bitrate
The amount of data per second, measured in kilobits per second (kbps). It is the budget the encoder spends on resolution and frame rate. If the bitrate is too low for the resolution, you get blocky, smeared motion; if it is higher than your upload, you get buffering and dropped frames.
Typical starting points
| Target | Approximate video bitrate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 720p, 30 fps | 2,500–4,000 kbps | Good default for talk shows and weaker connections |
| 1080p, 30 fps | 4,500–6,000 kbps | Clean for most content |
| 1080p, 60 fps | 6,000–8,000 kbps | Fast games; check each platform's own maximum |
These are ranges, not rules. Each platform publishes its own recommended and maximum values, and they change over time, so confirm against the current guidance in the platform's creator documentation.
Measure your real upload speed
- Connect by cable if you can, and close other uploads such as cloud backups.
- Run a speed test several times at different times of day.
- Take the lowest upload result, not the best, and keep your total stream bitrate under about 70% of it. A 10 Mbps upload comfortably carries about 6 Mbps of video plus audio.
Advertised plan speeds are often download-focused. Upload on home connections is commonly much lower, and Wi-Fi can fluctuate.
How multistreaming changes the maths
If your computer sends a separate copy to each platform, the upload needed multiplies: three destinations at 6 Mbps need about 18 Mbps up, plus headroom. A relay service avoids this. You send one stream to the service, and its servers make the copies, so your upload requirement is that of a single stream. This is the main practical reason creators on ordinary home connections use a relay or the browser-based path described in streaming without OBS.
One caveat: a relay forwards what it receives. It does not re-encode your video at different qualities, so every platform gets the same resolution and bitrate that you send. Choose settings that satisfy the strictest destination.
Signs your settings are too high
- OBS shows dropped frames (network) or the status bar turns yellow or red.
- Viewers report buffering while your own preview looks fine.
- Audio and video drift out of sync over time.
The fix is almost always to lower bitrate first, then resolution, then frame rate — in that order.
Audio is half the experience
Viewers forgive soft video far sooner than bad sound. A 128–160 kbps stereo or mono voice track, a decent microphone positioned close to your mouth, and consistent volume do more for retention than an extra resolution step.
Ready to configure your encoder? Go to the OBS multistream setup guide.