What is Bitrate?
Bitrate is a measure of the amount of data used to represent a certain amount of digital audio or video. It measures the amount of data that is used per second to represent a certain amount of audio or video, and is typically expressed in kilobits per second (Kbps).
How Does Bitrate Affect Audio and Video Quality?
The higher the bitrate, the more data that is used to represent the audio or video, which results in higher quality audio or video files. Conversely, a lower bitrate will result in lower quality audio or video files. For example, a CD audio file is typically encoded at a bitrate of 1,411 Kbps, while a streaming audio file might be encoded at a bitrate of 128 Kbps or lower.
Types of Bitrate
There are two main types of bitrate: constant bitrate (CBR) and variable bitrate (VBR). With CBR, the bitrate remains the same throughout the entire file. This is typically used for streaming audio and video, where a consistent bitrate is more important than high quality audio or video. With VBR, the bitrate varies throughout the file, with certain parts of the file encoded at higher bitrates than others. This results in higher quality audio or video files, but also requires more data to be used.
Conclusion
Bitrate is an important measure when it comes to digital audio and video files, as it determines the quality of the audio or video file. Higher bitrates result in higher quality audio or video files, while lower bitrates result in lower quality audio and video files. CBR and VBR are the two main types of bitrate, with CBR being used for streaming audio and video, and VBR being used for higher quality audio and video files.