Source: (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en)
Below are recommended upload encoding settings for your videos on YouTube.
Container: MP4 (wiki)
No Edit Lists (or the video might not be processed correctly)
moov atom at the front of the file (Fast Start)
Audio codec: AAC-LC (wiki)
Progressive scan (no interlacing)
High Profile
2 consecutive B frames
Closed GOP. GOP of half the frame rate.
CABAC
Variable bit-rate. No bit-rate limit required, although we offer recommended bit-rates below for reference
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0
Frame rate (wiki)
Content should be encoded and uploaded using the same frame rate that was used during recording.
Common frame rates include: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 frames per second (other frame rates are also acceptable).
Interlaced content should be deinterlaced before uploading. For example, 1080i60 content should be deinterlaced to 1080p30, going from 60 interlaced fields per second to 30 progressive frames per second.
Bit-rate (wiki)
The bit-rates below are recommendations for uploads. Audio playback bit-rate is not related to video resolution.
Recommended video bit-rates for SDR uploads
Type | Video Bit-rate, Standard Frame Rate | Video Bit-rate, High Frame Rate
| (24, 25, 30) | (48, 50, 60)
2160 p (4k) 35-45 Mbps 53-68 Mbps
1440 p (2k) 16 Mbps 24 Mbps
1080 p 8 Mbps 12 Mbps
720 p 5 Mbps 7.5 Mbps
480 p 2.5 Mbps 4 Mbps
360 p 1 Mbps 1.5 Mbps
Recommended video bit-rates for HDR uploads
Type | Video Bit-rate, Standard Frame Rate | Video Bit-rate, High Frame Rate | (24, 25, 30) | (48, 50, 60)
2160 p (4k) 44-56 Mbps 66-85 Mbps
1440 p (2k) 20 Mbps 30 Mbps
1080 p 10 Mbps 15 Mbps
720 p 6.5 Mbps 9.5 Mbps
480 p Not supported Not supported
360 p Not supported Not supported
Recommended audio bit-rates for uploads
Type | Audio Bit-rate
Mono 128 kbps
Stereo 384 kbps
5.1 512 kbps
Resolution and aspect ratio (resolution wiki)(aspect ratio wiki)
YouTube uses 16:9 aspect ratio players. If you're uploading a non-16:9 file, it will be processed and displayed with either black bars on the left and right (pillar boxes) or black bars at the top and bottom (letter boxes) to make a 16:9 ratio in the player.
Learn how to use resolution and aspect ratios correctly.
