Bitrate and image quality

[big_ted]

Hi,
I am curioss if anyone is able to explain how bitrate settings under stream impact image quality as i have been uable to see any real difference
on mulitple cameras in day or night and wondering if its just me not understanding how it works.
I have changed settings on multiple cameras for clarity, full res wether it be 4k or 2k, adjusted bitrate from 2000kbps to 8000kbps, changed hardware decoding/software
and cannot see any changein image. This is in windows client (currently v8.8) and android app.
should these settings only change recording quality or also the quality when just viewing on clarity?
Thanks in advance.

[Reolink Fiona]

@big_ted A higher bitrate means a larger amount of 'video bits' are being uploaded within a second. It will generate a higher quality video relative to its resolution. Also, increasing the bitrate will increase the size of your output video file.

[big_ted]

@reolink-fiona
Thanks Fiona.
I have been going through all the Reolink information and guides to see how I can improve my image quality as I believe
the hardware is good, just possibly the software restricting the quality.
on all my cameras I cannot see any visible difference in any bitrate setting. Unsure what else i can do to
improve things a bit as overall the cameras are very good, specially at night, they are just lacking some
image detail/clarity

[big_ted]

@reolink-fiona Another question, does the higher bitrate setting force the camera to use higher bitrate, or just allows
it if required?
if the setting just allows it maybe thats why I havent seen any changes so far?

[Chuck_529633235447953]

@big_ted It just means the change in quality isn't detectable to the human eye. The same thing happens with audio, after while the change in quality isn't undetectable to our ears. In this case I would keep the bitrate up since it might make a difference when you zoom in on something you want to see like a face or a license plate etc...

[big_ted]

@chuck_529633235447953
Thanks for the reply.
After a few days and adjusting brightness, shadows etc and having bitrate higher ive noticed a small improvement in quality. ive never been able to read my number plate in the driveway, within 5m away, and now it is legible. time will tell.

[Chuck_529633235447953]

@big_ted Post a short clip so we can tell you if yours is like ours. I can definitely read a license plate that close.

[Farmers Of Zion_343708760273101]

@big_ted Well that depends on how you're viewing the quality increase. Sometimes, the quality may be recorded at a higher bitrate, but because your laptop or screen resolution, the 4K quality will look choppy. How I usually test the quality is by zooming in, and seeing if the the zoomed image is clearer vs the image at face value without zoom. For example, when you shoot in 4K on your phone and then upload to instagram, the video quality looks choppy and looks like a "lesser" quality. But thats because the upload was compressed, and for viewing on our mobil phones, 1080P is actually better suited (though more recent phones have insane resolution) Often, cinematographers or lots of youtube producers I know shoot in 4K to capture the quality/detail and higher dynamic range, but then compress for 1080P viewing when uploading. Do a zoom test to see if the higher bitrate is actually outputting more quality into your images when zoomed in. In theory, your 8000bit rate images should look clearer then your lower standards.