Live Stream Bandwidth
Calculate the upload bandwidth and data usage of a live stream.
About Live Stream Bandwidth
The raw bitrate is grown by an overhead margin to give per-viewer throughput, then multiplied by viewers and converted to hourly gigabytes. Underestimating upload demand causes dropped frames for viewers, while the per-hour data figure sets ISP usage caps and costs.
Formula
Live Stream Bandwidth
Per viewer = (video + audio) x (1 + overhead); total = per viewer x viewers
- overhead
- Protocol and packet re-send margin above the raw bitrate
Worked example
With the default values below, Live Stream Bandwidth returns Per Viewer of 6.78. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Video bitrateminimum 100 kbps
- 6,000 kbps
- Audio bitrateminimum 32 kbps
- 160 kbps
- Overheadaccepts 0–60 %
- 10 %
- Viewersminimum 1
- 1
Results
- Per Viewer
- 6.78 Mbps
- Total Upload
- 6.78 Mbps
- Data / Hour
- 3.05 GB
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Live Stream Bandwidth
- 3Per Viewer= 6.78 Mbps
- 4Total Upload= 6.78 Mbps
- 5Data / Hour= 3.05 GB
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Live Stream Bandwidth calculated?
Per viewer = (video + audio) x (1 + overhead); total = per viewer x viewers The raw bitrate is grown by an overhead margin to give per-viewer throughput, then multiplied by viewers and converted to hourly gigabytes.
Why does Live Stream Bandwidth matter?
Underestimating upload demand causes dropped frames for viewers, while the per-hour data figure sets ISP usage caps and costs.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Video bitrate, Audio bitrate, Overhead, Viewers. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.