It's important to make sure your live stream is high quality. Make sure you choose a quality that will result in a reliable stream based on your internet connection. We recommend running a speed test to test your upload bitrate.
If you're streaming in the Live Control Room, you only have to specify your resolution, frame rate, and bitrate in your encoder. YouTube will automatically detect which encoder settings you chose.
YouTube will automatically transcode your live stream to create many different output formats so that all of your viewers across many devices and networks can watch.
Make sure to test before you start your live stream. Tests should include audio and movement in the video similar to what you'll be doing in the stream. During the event, monitor the stream health and review messages.
Encoder Live Streaming: Basics on How to Set Up & Use an Encoder
Stream resolution detection with custom stream keys in Live Control Room
By default (recommended), YouTube will automatically detect your resolution and frame rate. If you want to manually select a resolution, create a custom key and choose “Turn on manual settings" under “Stream Resolution."
Recommended bitrate setting ranges are based on video ingestion codec, video ingestion resolution and frame rate.
|
Ingestion Resolution / Frame Rate |
Minimum Bitrate setting (Mbps) AV1 and H.265 |
Maximum Bitrate setting (Mbps) AV1 and H.265 |
Recommended Bitrate setting (Mbps) H.264 |
|
4K / 2160p @60fps |
10 Mbps |
40 Mbps |
35 Mbps |
|
4K / 2160p @30fps |
8 Mbps |
35 Mbps |
30 Mbps |
|
1440p @60fps |
6 Mbps |
30 Mbps |
24 Mbps |
|
1440p @30fps |
5 Mbps |
25 Mbps |
15 Mbps |
|
1080p @60fps |
4 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
12 Mbps |
|
1080p @30fps |
3 Mbps |
8 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
|
720p @60fps |
3 Mbps |
8 Mbps |
6 Mbps |
|
240p - 720p @30fps |
3 Mbps |
8 Mbps |
4 Mbps |
Encoder settings
| Protocol: | RTMP/RTMPS Streaming |
| Video codec: | H.264 |
| H.265 (HEVC) | |
| AV1 | |
| Frame rate: | up to 60 fps |
| Keyframe frequency: |
Recommended 2 seconds Do not exceed 4 seconds |
| Audio codec: |
AAC or MP3 (5.1 surround sound audio is only supported for AAC in RTMP/RTMPS) |
| Bitrate encoding: | CBR |
Recommended advanced settings
| Pixel aspect ratio: | Square |
| Frame types: | Progressive Scan, 2 B-Frames, 1 Reference Frame |
| Entropy coding: | CABAC |
| Audio sample rate: | 44.1 KHz for stereo audio, 48 KHz for 5.1 surround sound |
| Audio bitrate: | 128-Kbps for stereo or 384 Kbps for 5.1 surround sound |
| Color space: | Rec. 709 for SDR |
| Bit Depth: | 8-bit for SDR |
| 10-bit for HDR | |
| Tiling | Minimum of 2 tile columns for AV1-encoded streams at resolutions of 3840x2160 and above |
- Stream HDR or use codecs not supported by RTMP by using HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) ingestion protocol on YouTube Live. Learn more.
- You can stream to YouTube Live with RTMPS, a secure extension to the popular RTMP streaming video protocol. Your data will be encrypted all the way into and through Google's servers, so nobody can intercept your communication with the service. Learn more.
- HTML5 streaming: Many browsers support HTML5 and either the H.264 video codec or WebM format.
- Live streams are automatically available on game consoles and mobile devices via the YouTube app and m.youtube.com.
- Looking for the 360 live streaming spec? Check here.