Bitrate Calculator

Codecs

H.265 / HEVC Bitrate Calculator

Pick a resolution, frame rate and type of content. You get the HEVC bitrate to use, how much it saves over H.264 (about 30% here) and a ready-to-run ffmpeg command.

Your HEVC bitrate

Resolution

Frame rate (fps)
Content

Most games, IRL, vlogs, music

Recommended video bitrate

—kbps

Required upload speed

—Mbps

Range (acceptable–high)
—
In Mbps
—
Video per hour
—
Compared with H.264
—

From our bitrate model for H.265 (HEVC); a starting point, not a guarantee. Test with your own footage.

Same quality in each codec

Video bitrate for this resolution, frame rate and content.

  • H.264 (AVC) —
  • H.265 (HEVC) —
  • AV1 —

HEVC and AV1 need less bitrate for the same picture, but only where your encoder, platform and viewers’ devices support them.

ffmpeg command at this bitrate

Operating system

A two-pass encode hits the average bitrate accurately. Run both lines in order and rename input.mp4 to your file. 

  
 
    
 
HEVC bitrates by resolution
 

Medium-motion content, video only, with H.264 alongside. For talking heads multiply by about 0.7; for fast games and sports, by about 1.35.

 
 
  
 Resolution H.265 (HEVC) Range H.264 for comparison Per hour 
   
  360p 30 · 640×360  750 kbps 550–1,100 1,100 kbps 337.5 MB 
  360p 60 · 640×360  1,300 kbps 950–1,800 1,800 kbps 585 MB 
  480p 30 · 854×480  1,200 kbps 850–1,600 1,700 kbps 540 MB 
  480p 60 · 854×480  1,900 kbps 1,400–2,700 2,800 kbps 855 MB 
  720p 30 · 1280×720  2,100 kbps 1,600–2,900 3,000 kbps 945 MB 
  720p 60 · 1280×720  3,500 kbps 2,600–4,900 5,000 kbps 1.58 GB 
  1080p 30 · 1920×1080  3,800 kbps 2,800–5,300 5,400 kbps 1.71 GB 
  1080p 60 · 1920×1080  6,300 kbps 4,700–8,800 9,000 kbps 2.84 GB 
  1440p 30 · 2560×1440  5,800 kbps 4,300–8,100 8,300 kbps 2.61 GB 
  1440p 60 · 2560×1440  9,600 kbps 7,200–13,500 13,500 kbps 4.32 GB 
  4K 30 · 3840×2160  10,500 kbps 7,800–14,500 15,000 kbps 4.73 GB 
  4K 60 · 3840×2160  17,500 kbps 13,000–24,000 24,500 kbps 7.88 GB 
  
 
 
 
When to use HEVC
 
     
  • Recording and archiving: smaller files at the same quality, especially at 4K and in HDR.
    •  
  • YouTube live: YouTube accepts HEVC, which gives a cleaner picture from the same upload.
    •  
  • Not for Twitch’s standard ingest or for files that must play everywhere; use H.264 there.
    •  
 

Hardware encoders (NVIDIA NVENC, AMD, Intel Quick Sync, Apple VideoToolbox) encode HEVC in real time. The software encoder x265 packs in more
        quality at slow presets but is much slower than x264.

 
 
 
 
Frequently asked questions
 
 
  How much bitrate does HEVC save over H.264?   
 
Our model assumes about 30% less bitrate for the same picture. Real savings range from roughly 25% to 50% depending on the encoder, preset, resolution and content; they are largest at 4K.
 
 
  What is a good HEVC bitrate for 4K?   
 
For typical content, about 10.5 Mbps for 4K at 30 fps (range 7.8–14.5 Mbps) and 17.5 Mbps at 60 fps, against about 15 Mbps and 25 Mbps in H.264. The calculator adjusts for your frame rate and type of content.
 
 
  Can I stream in HEVC?   
 
YouTube accepts HEVC for live streams, and some platforms accept it through enhanced RTMP. Twitch’s standard ingest expects H.264. Check your platform before switching.
 
 
  Why does my HEVC file not play on some devices?   
 
Older devices and some browsers lack HEVC decoding. For Apple devices, tag the file as hvc1 (the ffmpeg command includes -tag:v hvc1) so QuickTime and iOS recognise it.
 
 
  Is H.265 the same as HEVC?   
 
Yes. H.265 is the ITU name and HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) the MPEG name for the same codec. x265 is the most common software encoder for it.