Live Stream Events - How do I make sure my event's live stream broadcast is of high quality?
Your live stream broadcast settings:
When live-streaming it is important that you broadcast with settings that match your internet upload speed from the connection you plan to broadcast from. You should follow the steps below:
Test your internet upload speed
Calculate your broadcasting bitrate from your upload speed
Determine your Resolution and Frames Per Second
Test your stream
Test your internet upload speed:
To test your speed, please search for an internet speed check in the search engine of your choice. You could use speedtest.net for example.
The figure to look for with the speed test is your upload speed. A typical upload speed might be 2Mbps but of course, could be higher or lower. For the sake of this example let's assume you also have an upload speed of 2 Mbps or 2000 Kbps they are both the same.
Calculating your broadcasting bitrate from your upload speed:
Your live stream broadcasting bitrate should be about 80% of your upload speed which allows a buffer of 20% in case your speed dips. So let's calculate your broadcasting bitrate:
20% of 2 Mbps = 1.6 Mbps or 1600 Kbps
So in your broadcasting software, you should ensure that your total bitrate for your video and audio comes to less than 1600 Kbps. So for example:
Video quality of 1450 Kbps
Audio quality of 150 Kbps
Total bitrate of 1600 Kbps
Calculating your Resolution and Frames Per Second (FPS)
Both resolution and frames per second can affect the live stream quality depending on your internet connection speed.
You can calculate this in more detail but for the sake of this guide, we have some default guidelines you can follow to make it easier. Please see our broadcast matrix for more information.
Finally, testing your stream can allow you to work out what streaming settings work for your current setup. We always recommend testing a stream going live.
Broadcast Matrix
