Technical
VBR (variable bitrate)
Bitrate that rises for complex scenes and falls for simple ones. Efficient for recordings, but live platforms want CBR instead.
Related terms
- CBR (constant bitrate)
Sending data at a steady rate regardless of what's on screen. Required by Twitch and Kick because it's predictable for their servers.
- Bitrate
How much data your stream sends per second. Higher bitrate = better image quality but needs more upload speed. Twitch caps it around 6,000–8,500 kbps.
- Local recording
Saving a high-quality copy of your stream to disk while live. Use it for editing clips and YouTube uploads — VODs are compressed.