Question about bitrate and video quality

[rastriffler 0]

 

Apologies if this is an obvious/newbie question...

 

During playback on an Apple TV (all, including 4th gen) or older FireStick, I will frequently have issues with the video stuttering, or flat out pausing randomly.  This happens whether on WiFi or hardwired.

 

I've read a lot of similar posts, particularly regarding the Apple TV, but the difference for me is that so far, reducing the maximum bitrate seems to resolve the problem.

 

My question is, is there a down-side to reducing the max bitrate?  Does a lower bitrate translate to lower video quality?

 

Thanks!

[vdatanet 1572]

 

Apologies if this is an obvious/newbie question...

 

During playback on an Apple TV (all, including 4th gen) or older FireStick, I will frequently have issues with the video stuttering, or flat out pausing randomly.  This happens whether on WiFi or hardwired.

 

I've read a lot of similar posts, particularly regarding the Apple TV, but the difference for me is that so far, reducing the maximum bitrate seems to resolve the problem.

 

My question is, is there a down-side to reducing the max bitrate?  Does a lower bitrate translate to lower video quality?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

It depends on the maximum bitrate you select. By compressing a video, quality is lost, the more compression, the more quality loss.

[ebr 15353]

Hi.  As I responded in your other topic with this same question - if you cannot tell the difference, then there is no problem.

 

Thanks.

[rastriffler 0]

Thanks for the replies!  Sorry about cross-posting, I couldn't figure out how to delete the other post once I posted here.

 

So, oddly enough, last night I had to lower the max bitrate (to <2Mbps!) in order to watch the movie without stuttering.  Today I am able to set the bitrate to "Auto" and watch the same movie just fine.  There were no obvious changes in the number of devices/amount of bandwidth being used in the house, but this does imply a network speed or capacity issue, right?

[Luke 38502]

Hi, it depends on what you're playing. Are you testing with the same video?

[rastriffler 0]

Hi, it depends on what you're playing. Are you testing with the same video?

 

 

Yes, exact same video.  The only difference I can think of is that the Emby app was closed between tests.  I wonder if there is a memory leak or something similar that causes the Apple TV to "bog down" after prolonged use, and shutting it down clears the cache.  The other possibility would be issues in the router, which are always fun to diagnose.  ;o)

[Luke 38502]

Or just general network interference? There are random times when my local network won't perform well and it affects all wifi devices.